✅ Questions about Ford E-450 w/ 6.8 Gas Triton V10…

[magentawave]

I am thinking of buying a 2006, 2007, or 2008 FLEET Ford E450 with the Triton 6.8 gas V10 and the 5R110W TorqShift 5-Speed automatic trans. These are fleet trucks that have had hard use carrying heavy loads but all had full inspections and oil and filter changes every 5000 miles.

I have a few questions, please…

1) Considering how well those were maintained,how reliable are those engines and transmissions?

2) Is it ridiculously hard to work on the engine (tuneups, oil changes, replace starters and alternators,etc.) due to everything being smashed together under that little van hood?

3) How difficult is it to do a compression test?

4) What kind of MPG should I expect if I drive very conservatively at 55 mph?

Thank very much!

 

[Gr8ful]

According to Fuelly, a 2016 Ford E-450 Super Duty with a 6.8L V10 gas engine and automatic 6-speed transmission has an average of 7.9 miles per gallon (MPG). Fuelly also has data for other Ford E-450 models. You just pull the plugs one at a time & screw in a compression tester, it's very easy.
Here's a like hew Chev 5500, 6268 miles, 4wd coming up for auction in a week. It will have much better mileage being diesel. This enginge had some issues but were mostly fixed by 2010. This is from the Duramax forum, "I get around 12 in town, on the highway it's 18-20 cruising at a reasonable speed. City driving kills mileage, highway is all steady RPM and low load, City driving is all over the place." I'd buy a Dodge Cummins 12 valve. Hope this helps!
https://bids.cisauctions.com/auctions/29583/lot/3026-2009-chevrolet-c5500-w-duramax-66l

 

[Fork King]

I am thinking of buying a 2006, 2007, or 2008 FLEET Ford E450 with the Triton 6.8 gas V10 and the 5R110W TorqShift 5-Speed automatic trans. These are fleet trucks that have had hard use carrying heavy loads but all had full inspections and oil and filter changes every 5000 miles.

I have a few questions, please…

1) Considering how well those were maintained,how reliable are those engines and transmissions?

2) Is it ridiculously hard to work on the engine (tuneups, oil changes, replace starters and alternators,etc.) due to everything being smashed together under that little van hood?

3) How difficult is it to do a compression test?

4) What kind of MPG should I expect if I drive very conservatively at 55 mph?

Thank very much!

I use to haul them on my flatbed for a company that did paratransit in Pennsylvania. They had a large fleet of vans e350 and e450. They all had the v10's in them and the head mechanic swore by them. They all were fleet maintained and would auction them off when they hit 300k miles.

Now these vans were used hard in stop and go city traffic and in the back country too. The engines and transmission held up according to the mechanic.

Good luck with your purchase.

 

[WinneNomad]

I have a '97 Winniebago with a E350 Engine. Currently arount 45K miles on it. I bought the RV used 5 years ago with 24K miles on it.

As far as oil changes I take mine to Walmart (high bay). So that is nice and the price is reasonable. However due to the age Ford dealers do not service mine because of its age.

Usually my RV averages 11MPG. With a E450 my guess is you will see around 9 to 10 MPG.

Reliability of the engine and transmission has been excellent. Engine A/C is not so great though will try to service that myself.

 

[Gr8ful]

WinneNomad​

The E350 & E450 are not engines, they are chassis. The E meaning van, th360 meaning 1 ton, 450 meaning 1.25 ton or so. F350s are the same only pickup trucks.

 

[magentawave]

WinneNomad​

The E350 & E450 are not engines, they are chassis. The E meaning van, th360 meaning 1 ton, 450 meaning 1.25 ton or so. F350s are the same only pickup trucks.

I know that, but thanks. Just wanted to communicate what the chassis / platform was to everyone because the E450 was predominantly used with box trucks and motorhomes.

 

[magentawave]

According to Fuelly, a 2016 Ford E-450 Super Duty with a 6.8L V10 gas engine and automatic 6-speed transmission has an average of 7.9 miles per gallon (MPG). Fuelly also has data for other Ford E-450 models. You just pull the plugs one at a time & screw in a compression tester, it's very easy.
Here's a like hew Chev 5500, 6268 miles, 4wd coming up for auction in a week. It will have much better mileage being diesel. This enginge had some issues but were mostly fixed by 2010. This is from the Duramax forum, "I get around 12 in town, on the highway it's 18-20 cruising at a reasonable speed. City driving kills mileage, highway is all steady RPM and low load, City driving is all over the place." I'd buy a Dodge Cummins 12 valve. Hope this helps!
https://bids.cisauctions.com/auctions/29583/lot/3026-2009-chevrolet-c5500-w-duramax-66l

I have done compression tests before but was wondering how easy or difficult it would be to access the plugs in this vehicle with it’s short van front cab. For example, I have a Toyota Sienna minivan and changing the back 3 plugs is h*ll because the engine is mounted transversely.

 

[Gr8ful]

Sorry, I don't know on your vehicle but I'd take the engine cover off & you should be able to tell.

 

[magentawave]

Sorry, I don't know on your vehicle but I'd take the engine cover off & you should be able to tell.

Thanks. Just hoping to find out in advance of driving the 100 miles to check it out so I can prepare.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Magentawave, before you ever pop the hood or get into the drivers seat for a test drive, JOB ONE is to look UNDERNEATH the van at the entire undercarriage.

Bring a little piece of carpet or cardboard to use as a mat, and right in front of your salesperson, lay that mat down, drop down and LOOK.

Look for rust, leaks, oily areas, dented muffler, loose exhaust tubing, oil on the ground under it, cracked boots on the steering linkages, cracked brake lines, leaking or rusty shocks, badly worn tire tread, cracked tire sidewalls, etc etc etc. This wont take you more than 5-10 minutes and might save you THOUSANDS in repair bills. (Light surface rust, if seen here and there, is OK...but badly deteriorating and large chunks of rusty flaking metal is bad news!)

If the van has issues at it's foundation, you can thank the salesman and look elsewhere. If all looks good, THEN continue with your questions and visual inspections and then a test drive.

Those vans tend to have steering problems as they age past 100,000 miles, so when you take it for a test drive, on an open stretch and on level pavement, and at 30-50 mph, slightly loosen your grip on the wheel, and see if the van wants to wander off to the left or right. Then slighlty adjust the wheel left or right and see if the wheel re-centers or stays at an angle.

If so, try again in a few different scenarios. If the van wont stay in its lane, or does not re-center, you are possibly looking at some repairs up front, maybe new ball joints, shocks, new tires, etc.

BTW, working under the hood especially at the rear section of the engine, is a LOT easier if you remove the front seats, and then once the engine cover/doghouse is removed, you have plenty of room to work.

Final thought: You will need to balance your expectations. You are not looking for a van to BUY. You are actively eliminating the vans you should NOT buy.

Good luck!

 

[magentawave]

Magentawave, before you ever pop the hood or get into the drivers seat for a test drive, JOB ONE is to look UNDERNEATH the van at the entire undercarriage.

Bring a little piece of carpet or cardboard to use as a mat, and right in front of your salesperson, lay that mat down, drop down and LOOK.

Look for rust, leaks, oily areas, dented muffler, loose exhaust tubing, oil on the ground under it, cracked boots on the steering linkages, cracked brake lines, leaking or rusty shocks, badly worn tire tread, cracked tire sidewalls, etc etc etc. This wont take you more than 5-10 minutes and might save you THOUSANDS in repair bills. (Light surface rust, if seen here and there, is OK...but badly deteriorating and large chunks of rusty flaking metal is bad news!)

If the van has issues at it's foundation, you can thank the salesman and look elsewhere. If all looks good, THEN continue with your questions and visual inspections and then a test drive.

Those vans tend to have steering problems as they age past 100,000 miles, so when you take it for a test drive, on an open stretch and on level pavement, and at 30-50 mph, slightly loosen your grip on the wheel, and see if the van wants to wander off to the left or right. Then slighlty adjust the wheel left or right and see if the wheel re-centers or stays at an angle.

If so, try again in a few different scenarios. If the van wont stay in its lane, or does not re-center, you are possibly looking at some repairs up front, maybe new ball joints, shocks, new tires, etc.

BTW, working under the hood especially at the rear section of the engine, is a LOT easier if you remove the front seats, and then once the engine cover/doghouse is removed, you have plenty of room to work.

Final thought: You will need to balance your expectations. You are not looking for a van to BUY. You are actively eliminating the vans you should NOT buy.

Good luck!

Does “plenty of room to work” include being able to access all 10 spark plugs for tuneups later and a compression test now? And can I do the compression test without removing the front seats?

Good sound advice. Thank you.

 

[Gr8ful]

How many miles do these have? 300,000 miles on any gas engine is a lot & these don't sound like highway miles.

 

[tx2sturgis]

OK...'plenty of room to work'....I should have said that a reasonably lean to average and fit person has plenty of room to work...but if the person crawling in there is 300 pounds and 60 years old....uh....well maybe not.

But it is easier to get in there if the seats (or at least the passenger seat) are removed along with the engine cover.

As far as removing all 10 COPs and all 10 plugs in sequence to do a compression test on all 10 cylinders...that's gonna be a job, and some years and some engines had the troublesome 2 piece plugs that might break when attempting to remove them.

I'm not sure if the V-10 had those plugs, and if so, which years etc. I owned a 2011 Ford E-250 van for several years but it had the small 4.6L V-8 engine.

You might want to look around on the Ford forums, they should have some good information for you.

One of the biggest is here: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/index.php

 

[magentawave]

How many miles do these have? 300,000 miles on any gas engine is a lot & these don't sound like highway miles.

Typically 150,000 to 200,000 miles. Some have rebuilt engines though.

 

[Gr8ful]

Recent rebuild would would be a big plus.

 

[magentawave]

Recent rebuild would would be a big plus.

Yes, definitely.

 

[LargeMarge]

Zero experience here.
All our rigs are diesel, Cummins without computers.
.
.
An aside:
I am naming all my children Triton TorqShift.
True fact.

 

[Gr8ful]

Zero experience here.
All our rigs are diesel, Cummins without computers.
.
.
An aside:
I am naming all my children Triton TorqShift.
True fact.

Then sell grilles. George Foreman grills are still selling great after 30 years. They were slow sellers till George ebdorsed them 30 years ago & they're still selling strong!

 

[eDJ_]

I used to drive this DAV (Disabled American Veterans) Van for my local VA Hospital as a volunteer. It had the V 10 Triton in it with 200K miles on it. It was well serviced an ran like a top with plenty of power to haul a dozen vets thru the West Virginia hills with no issues. Only quirk was an odd sound when accelerating. (sounded like a sucking scraping sound) But it didn't harm anything and it ran as well as ever. They got a new Van at 300K to replace it. The transmission was a 4 speed overdrive.

I drove this Van once a week on a 15 hour day. Other drivers drove it the other four days of the week.

Working under the hood on one of these Vans would be like building a ship in a bottle.



I used to drive by this large commercial Bakery that fleeted big Bread Trucks which used the same engine and transmission. Stopped in and talked with the Service Manager & Chief Mechanic who told me they didn't fleet them past 300K. (seems to be the point where issues began to begin) They had a connection with Ford where they could get new engines & transmissions to swap. The bread trucks were largely Aluminum and could be fleeted well over
500K. These two guys explained to me that they kept the service up on them and drivers checked the oil before starting them in the morning to go out. Otherwise they felt they were
quite dependable and the drivers drove them in a conservative manner. They said they had less than a week of down time swapping the engine transmission.

Of course these were easier to work on as they would remove the fiberglass hood.

I could imagine you getting over 100K on one of these if you purchase one.

 

[Happy Camper]

Here is a pretty solid video showing how to replace spark plugs and a few other items in a 2004 e450 platform. Really steps though what needs to be removed in order to do it easily.