5.0 Engine Life

Mike opined in news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com:

I dont understand the question. You asking how long the crate engine would last? If you're going to spend that kind of money in the first place, how is longevity an issue?

If you are asking how long you have until you can use the EXCUSE of a worn engine to replace it with a crate, there's an obvious answer... look for a good looking car with obvious maintenance neglect.. or neglect it yourself.

High Insurance, then a few tickets then even higher insurance.

How about driving the Passat... for a while. it's not really a bad car depending on the engineering FU of the particular year... 2 years ago it was the ign coils.

Then with what you save you could get serious about it. You cannot get by with just dropping in a 140 hp stronger engine. You're talking about 5 grand over the cost of the crate itself to have a decent car.

Sfc's, brake upgrades, struts/shocks, tires... better tranny, gears

If you think you can skimp on any of that.. How "cool" is it to go real fast real quick but have to start braking 100 yards ahead of a stop sign? How "cool" is it to get a chick in your car and have her comment that she can see road when she looks down between her door and the side of the seat.

HOw "cool" is it to have the gang comment on your hydrailics... and you dont have any.

How "cool" is it to have a stock GT beat your hopped car... because you are overdriving the same setup as he has... except for tires and gears, which were easy and didnt cost him much

do a google search on this group and look for info on this subject.

snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com (Mike) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com:

mileage

around

5.0s are bulletproof. With proper care and maintenance, they'll go 200k. Mine's pushing 143k and runs like a top.

Joe Calypso Green '93 5.0 LX AOD hatch with a few goodies Black '03 Dakota 5.9 R/T CC

(>ahem

Speaking of dwight... I saw an older guy (45-50) & his wife (??) driving a Fox body 'vert... reminded me of dwight. It was black... dunno what color dwight's is.

-Mike

Gotta love it - Froggy = "old guy". Hmm, generation gap maybe? And dwight looks 10 years younger than me. LOL!

BTW, the Original Froggymobile is black, but it's a hatch. With a dented hood IIRC. Or did you get that fixed, dwight?

Joe Calypso Green '93 5.0 LX AOD hatch with a few goodies Black '03 Dakota 5.9 R/T CC

wrote in news:gzUOc.2368$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr24.news.prodigy.com:

If it has had regular maintenance, a life of 150K-200K miles is not uncommon for a 5.0.

Patrick '93 Cobra '83 LTD

IMO the car will fall apart around the 5.0 engine! I won a friday night bracket race in a 86 GT with 210,000 miles on it! A friend of mine ran about 2 bottles of nitrous per week thru his 5.0,not to mention drag racing it every weekend, the engine didn't really get modified till 100,000 miles ran 7.40's in the 1/8 and it was still running great when it was sold! I also helped and witnessed a 88 gt run 12.99 with 140,000 miles on it after a cobra intake,headers & gears were installed, and the factory engined lx coupe that ran 8.1 in the 1/8! These kind of stories are endless, thats why the 5.0 is and always will be a legend. The 5.0's are torque motors and thats what makes them famous!

That's really not much, though, these days. Toyotas, Hondas, Mercedes, Volvos, and Checkers easily go 300,000+ with average maintenance. I had a Toyota MR2 with 287,000 on the clock and the engine was still strong when I ditched it because the body and suspension went south (the previous owner used it as an ATV). A former girlfriend had a Toyota Corolla with 385,000 on the engine. Like mine, the rest of her car couldn't keep up with its heart. Maybe the 5.0 can match them. Haven't heard of any, though. I really hope I do, because my '94 5.0 has only about 120,000 and the body and suspension are in great shape. I hate to think that it only has another

120k or so left on the engine. I don't race it, either, but--whoa!--I can really merge onto an interstate.

Got news for ya, I've seen dwight in the flesh and he don't look a day past

2. Dave

The 5.0 isn't going to be a problem. As long as it's had regular maint (oil changes, plugs, etc.), it will certainly oulive the rest of the car. And there's the real problem - the rest of the car. At 100K, it's about time to be thinking of things like brakes, ball joints, shocks, struts, etc, etc, etc. Personally, I wouldn't have a problem with that, since I can do almost all my own work, and I know how to shop for parts. But you need to decide if that's what you want to be doing.

I doubt a Toyota engine/drive train would last if it were beaten daily like most 5.0L engines. Many are driven for 200k miles like they were stolen.

I don't know. I mean, I'm all about the 5.0's durability. Never had one fail, but I can say that this damn BMW I have now is about as reliable car as I've ever owned. 192K and starts and drives like it has a 1/3 of the miles. I've put 10,000 miles on it since May and it has yet to use any oil in the 4500 mile oil change interval.

...Did however have a right front brake caliper decide this week that it was gonna start sticking. Took out the new rotor that was on that side as well :-) Oh well, I guess I can't complain the damn thing DID go almost 200K :-)

///Mike

1993 BMW 525i of all the old cars

The 5.0s or the Toyotas? The previous owner of my MR2 was a communications tech who had to check relay stations in the deserts of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Few of those stations were on a main road (microwave, you know), so it involved a lot of off-road driving. It was also run hard in between each desert station because the owner wasn't paid by the hour. I was really impressed at how well that little Toyota engine ran after all those miles and all that abuse.

I seriously doubt that a 5.0 would have survived that kind of use. And I seriously doubt that a 5.0 could ever keep up with one of those Toyotas, but I'd be happy if mine even got close. 200k may be the Holy Grail for a Ford engine, but that's nothing for a Toyota. I should have kept that engine. It'd still be running long after any Ford 5.0 or 4.6, if it had a decent body to go into. Still, I can only hope my 5.0 will last longer than

200k, although there's no reason to expect it, based on the posts on this group.

doc

Yeah, I love my 5.0 and all its torque, but I haven't heard anything on this group that tells me it's any good for long mileage. 200,000 miles may have been a lot in the sixties or seventies, but that's pretty piddly these days. Any decent engine should easily get 400k with average use; 500k or more with a little care. Even dogging it should get you at least 300k if you pay attention to oil and filter changes. Hell, I had a '73 Impala with a 350 that went well over 300,000 before my teen-aged son decided to run it with a stuck-shut thermostat. Before that, I had a '55 Chev six-banger with

295,000 miles on it that wouldn't blow in second gear at 85 mph (don't ask).

Don't tell me about beating a 5.0; I don't want to know that 40 years after that Chevy, Ford still can't build an engine that lasts. I have a 5.0 and I sincerely hope and pray that it'll go at least 350,000 miles, regardless of how I run it. Is Mike Johnson telling me it won't?

doc

I have a 89' Stock LX and I drive it pretty hard and there is 200k and still has 145lbs of compression no oil burning.

Why can't a passat be hot rodded? I bought my daughter one for her graduation that was reasonably quick, by the time the summer was over her various homies made it a rocket..............

I would be willing to bet both the Passat and the 5.0 are a lot quicker than your driving skills. Take some advice from an old fart who has owned dozens of cars, take what you can get, take care of it and spend a lot of time learning from the mistakes of others.

"But now is the time for the younger men to lock in rough encounters, time for me to yield to the pains of old age. But there was a day I shone among the champions."

Homer, The Illiad, 23.715-719 (800 BC). King Nestor of Pylos.

Hey, you guys just made my year.

Mike - the convertible is reef blue over titanium. It's been on display at

Joe - No, the hood is fine. A tree limb came down and put a mild recession in the roof and cracked the plastic grille. Otherwise, TFrog looks just fine. At the moment, I don't drive it much only because the driver side window doesn't go down. Since it's going to be raining much of the day, I might take it out for a romp. TFrog loves the wet weather.

Dave - it's about 6:45 on a Sunday morning, and I haven't showered yet. Believe me, I look ALL of my fifty years.

dwight

With proper maintenance and such, and a decent driving habit, I don't see why it won't go that far, especially if most of them are highway miles. Run some synthetic oil and keep up with the other regular maintenance.

BTW... water pumps, heater cores, and intake/valve cover gaskets are regular maintenance on these cars.

In my experience, most 5.0s are vicitms of serious neglect and abuse. They were graduation presents for teenage girls, and first cars for teenage boys. I bought an '86 Capri 5.0 from a guy who claimed he was the first owner and that his dad bought it for him when graduated. "Oh, I didn't abuse it." Sure. 2nd gear synchro was *completely* gone. Dings and bashes all up and down the fenders and quarter panels. Roof rusting away around the factory sunroof due to someone not cleaning the drains out every now and then. Car fired *right* up though.

Car has 186k on it now and, if I would have bothered to put antifreeze in it when I had to change the lower radiator hose, it would still run. I put in water and it blew a freeze plug. Car still runs, but pukes antifreeze a little too fast to be considered driveable. The only "engine work" I have ever done was a throttle position sensor and the upper gaskets (intake/valve cover).

Also, in my experience, ususally the car wears out around the engine. Suspension components get weak and start to break, especially with years of PA roads beating them up.

Keep fresh oil in it, and maintain it properly... You'll be fine.

JS

You're refering to a different situation than what a Mustang would experience. I'm talking about about high performance driving on paved roads. Plus a Toyota truck engine isn't meant to be a high output motor. It's built for low rpm durability. A 5.0L engine/drive train in a Mustang can see redline often, clutch dumps, 1/4 mile runs and live long with a blower strapped on it AFTER seeing 100k miles.

A good indicator to compare durability between a 5.0L and an import four cylinder is to compare it to a turbocharged import engine. This is a closer comparision. Most of the high output four cylinder engines I see that are turbocharged rarely last to 100k without needing major work. OTOH, I've seen 5.0L get a supercharger installed with over 100k miles, had the crap run outof it and still be running strong at 150k+ miles. I doubt a 100k+ miles N/A import engine could last long with a turbo or blower bolted on it. IMO, they are engineering too close to the performance edge to survive forced induction where a 5.0L engine takes it in stride.

The reason many 5.0L don't see higher mileage is because the engines are modified by the owners. It's not because of engine failure. Parts are plentiful and cheap which makes modification a viable option for most Mustang owners. Mine ran flawlessly until 130k miles at which point I installed GT-40X heads, intake and a blower. Also, IMO, I think the

4.6L is even more durable than the 5.0L. It is capable of handling much higher hp levels than the 5.0L stock verses stock.