High Mileage Gassers...not just diesels

[Ncostello]

It appears that with routine maintenance, gasoline powered pickups can rival diesels in the mileage department.



A crane mechanic at work here has a dark green mid-80's Chevy K-30 SRW cab chassis with a 9' utility bed on it. Its overloaded with welders, compressors, autocrane, tool chests etc and has been since new.



He does alot of driving for work getting to and from various jobsites to work on equipment, do crane lifts, etc. His secret to success is simple routine and timely maintenance. When he reaches 1 million miles he will find another truck. He is seriously considering a Ford F-350 SRW with a 6BT conversion and a built up automatic transmission.



His K-30 truck currently has over 750,000 miles and is only on its second 4-bolt splayed-main 350 small block. The first made it to 485,000 miles until the cam lobes simply wore off and the truck couldn't breath. Anticipating this he simply installed a new 350 he had built up the year prior. The secret he said is to only use high magnesium content GM blocks which wear extremely well. On his original engine, he never pulled the valve covers once. Just oil at 3000, coolant at 20,000, plugs, filters etc until the cam wore out. At the end he said it started to consume just a small amount of oil during use.



I'm not comparing the amount of work in terms of load or pulling this truck can do in comparison to a Cummins or Powerstroke. I'm just making comment about miles obtained by a one ton gas truck thats loaded and worked more than many diesels out there.



Further proof that one million miles SHOULD be expected from heavier duty diesel pickups and considered the norm and not the exception. Care and maintanence is critical to any engine if you are to achieve this.



In all respect, that is a lot of verified miles for any vehicle.

 

[Todd G]

In the past I owned a small fleet of Isuzu NPR delivery trucks. Some had the diesel engine, some had the Chevy 350. With identical maintainance, the diesel engines got 13mpg vs 9mpg for the gassers. The gassers were totally worn out at 100k miles, blowing blue smoke and down on power. The diesels were unchanged.



Maybe if all the miles were on the highway and not stop-and-go, the results may be different.

 

[Ncostello]

Yes I'll agree it all depends on the conditions. But I'll say that this truck sees alot of use including pulling trailers to some extent. Just makes me that much more confident in the ISB in my Dodge.



Here is the truck as of today.

 

[WadePatton]

My old 302

Went 330,000 before I sold it and I saw it on the road a year later. Original engine/mazda 5-speed and catalytic converter. It still breezed through emissions and did not smoke. I ran synthetic most of the time, changed it when I felt like it and replaced sensors when the ECM told me to.



Twice I overheated it to the point of "not pulling right" Never developed a leak--gotta LOVE cast iron heads! My gasser motto was "When in Doubt, WIND it out!



It wasn't a heavy truck, but that's more miles than most folks feel comfortable with.

 

[Cummins Cowboy]

it may of went that many miles but how many transmissions has that thing consumed, chevy trans either standard or manual suck. I echo the comments of todd g we had isuzu npr's too the owner got burned cause he had to pay like 12k to rebuild one of the 4 banger diesels a few years back and vowed to only use gas engines from that point on(big mistake). the gas engines where pretty well toast (chevy 350's) at 100k miles and got around 6. 5 mpg loaded to about 11k gross at all times. The little diesels where still running good at 125k and where still worth considerably more on trade. Also I might add that the isuzu npr's are about the worst POS kind of truck made. The trucks need constant repair and generally suck overall

 

[Ncostello]

I should also add that this guy could not stress enough the importance of the high mag content material for the block construction. Apparently the 7th digit of the block serial number tells the magnesium content and GM dealers can crack the code to tell which numeral or letter means what content. He further added that hot rod engine builders who know better comb junkyards in search of such 350 blocks to build up because at 100K they dont have hardly any cylinder wear and are keepers.

 

[machterhof]

Had a '90 Chevy C1500 with a 350 in it that I put over 272000 miles on before I sold it. It would use about 1/2 a quart of oil between changes (every 3-5K with syn). Most of that was from the rear main. Unless I let it sit for over a week, there would never be any oil on the ground.



Needed something a little bigger to tow with. With normal maintenance, I know I'll get as good or better service out of my CTD.

 

[DKayser]

Lot of Zero`s

I think my older brother has more miles on his 96 Dodge gasser than most 318s I have seen. 260K & counting. NO motor work at all, 2nd set of rotors/hubs, 3 full brake jobs, and a ton of regular maintenance. Oo.

 

[illflem]

Re: High-mileage gas engines

Originally posted by Dl5treez

One word: Toyota

No kidding. My '82 has 303k on it. Uses a qt every 5k. Head has never been off.

Just regular stuff, starter, water and fuel pumps, etc.

Driver's side door is on it's third set of hinges...

 

[bmoeller]

My dad had 212k on his Ford Econoline van(300 I-6). Just routine maintainance, with exception for broken spring on carb and 2 coil modules(think that's what they were, can't remember). Got rid of it when the rear main seal went out. The body was SHOT, so he didn't feel like fixing it.



He still has his '94 Ford Aspire with over 200k. Just routine maintainance. Had it Ziebarted when purchased new. Still looks and drives like new. The compession in the cylinders is still almost like new. He has used Dura-lube in the engine oil once or twice after 100k.

 

[1sand0s]

One of the best gas motors ever made... . actually the best whole 1/2 ton ever made.

Ford

1975-1986

300 six

NP granny gear 4 speed

2 wheel drive or 4wd. . take your pick.

Unkillable.

I would match one to a yota any day.

Too bad Ford dumped the 300 :>(



good for 300,000 every time, even with dyno-oil.

 

[bmoeller]

Originally posted by 1sand0s



Too bad Ford dumped the 300 :>(

Same goes for the 400 V8. Had one in my '82 F-250.



Both had a 4" bore & stroke. Can't go wrong there.

 

[Texas Diesel]

Re: High-mileage gas engines

Originally posted by Dl5treez

One word: Toyota

That is because th2 22R or 20R makes about 25HP peak.

 

[illflem]

Re: Re: High-mileage gas engines

That is because th2 22R or 20R makes about 25HP peak.

Nope, 105 HP http://www.toyotaonline.com/22Rstats.htm

 

[Texas Diesel]

Well, I guess I'm wrong about the 25Hp. I missed the 137FT/LB of torque too.



:-laf



How much torque do my lug nuts take? 90FT/LBS? Guess the 25R could be used as a lug nut tightener, maybe.

 

[Rman]

Originally posted by bmoeller

Same goes for the 400 V8. Had one in my '82 F-250.



Both had a 4" bore & stroke. Can't go wrong there.

Really? I've never known a man that liked the 400m or the 351m. I had one, and it is truly the worst engine i've ever seen. A great idea though, a long stroke, big bore, great torque right... however no compression and was absolutley gutless.



I wised up and yanked it out of my 79 and put a 429 in it, now that was a good engine. I like the old FE block's the 390's and 428's. I still prefer the 385 series, 429/460.



Still the 302 is one of the best gas engines i think ever made (i just don't like 350's)

 

[Texas Diesel]

Whatever happened to the little Toyota Diesel pickups? Do they still make them? I heard they got 30MPG.

 

[Steve M]

I drove my '84 Isuzu P'up "pickup" twin to the Chevy LUV "light utility vehicle" 188k miles when the speedo cable broke. Drove it two more years. It ran like a championship racing turtle the whole time I owned it. The body was typical Japanese lightweight.

My favorite second to my '01. 5 Dodge/Cummins was my '94 Ford F-150 300-6 5psd/3. 55 XL. It was alot of truck for $12,485. My cousin's F-250 with 300-6 5spd/4. 10 has over 260k miles towing his roofing tar trailer. He says it just won't die.

I hold the 300cid Ford with the same affection I have for the 5. 9 Cummins. You can see which one got the nod though.

 

[1sand0s]

Actually, for the record here...

Even the 292 GM was an excellent engine. Same idea as the 300 Ford. The 258 Jeep/AMC motor was a good runner as well.



I dont think the gasolins rival diesels for mileage though. THe issue being that most trucks get wrecked/rotted/hot-rodded and blown up/burnt/stolen... etc LONG before the engines wear out.



Things have changed with gassers though. No more cylinder wash with a choke when you start it. Better oils, better sparks, better air flow.

Fuel injection is one of the major reasons for the things to live so long. It was not that long ago that 150,000 miles on a non rebuilt motor was considered unusual. Now, Tercels are seen with 250,000 on a regualr basis. Escorts roll the second time around quite often.

Chrysler still makes junk cars though. The trannies in the caravans have STILL not been changed and have been blowing up steadily since they put the V6's in there. I still see them smoking after idling.

New gasser? I would have to go Toyota... as in Tundra with the V8. Smooth as a Lexus 450... hmmm, maybe that is cause they did not even change the cam in the engine for the truck. What a smooth and quiet powerplant!



(Wearing flame proof clothing, burn at will)

 

[RichR]

Can't flame ya,

Originally posted by 1sand0s



New gasser? I would have to go Toyota... as in Tundra n at will)

I have one. Two years 30,000 miles not one problem.

RichR