high mileage on Class C Ford 460 (7.4 L) ?

[Cooncatz]

I am considering buying an older Class C with a Ford 460 (7.4 L) with 93,000 miles (gas.)
What is considered too high mileage on a ford gas engine? The body is in good shape and the engine starts and runs well.

would appreciate opinions.

[j-d]

ernie1 wrote:
...cracked exhaust manifold on the passenger side...

Fair enough. Ours had an exhaust leak on the driver side when we bought it. Warped manifold, and the gasket blew out from under it. I was fortunate, got all the fasteners out, had manifold re-surfaced, installed with new bolts and new gasket. Used a plan I got from a member of another forum.

Later, did the passenger side, same way. Problem did not return. I think there were three reasons:

1. Replaced exhaust with better, larger pipes and muffler

2. Allowed engine to come down from highway speed temperatures by idling before shutting down a stops

3. Manifold installation tips helped by allowing manifolds to "slide" at the exhaust ports as engine heated and cooled.

The "bigger" blocks have "longer" heads and manifolds. Ford 460, GM 454, and Ford V10... Doing "manifold friendly" shut downs helps prevent this damage.

Smaller V8's in vans do this too. Machine shop confirmed it. Much poorer cooling in a van dog house than under the hood of a pickup.

[ernie1]

On that particular engine, check for a cracked exhaust manifold on the passenger side. Cost me $1900 to repair it.

[j-d]

I wouldn't worry with close to 100,000 if decent maintenance. Pull the Dipstick, the Oil Filler, the PCV Valve and see if you find sludge. That'd be from not enough oil changes.

What year Chassis with this 460? We bought an old 1983, I think 92,000 on it. We ran only 10,000 or so before we sold it to get a Class C with walkaround bed. In that time, nothing wrong IN the engine, transmission, or rear axle. I think I replaced all the engine accessories: Water Pump, AIR Pump, Alternator, Starter, maybe Steering Pump (but certainly Hoses). Rebuilt the Carburetor and replaced the EGR valve, Carb and EGR Plate Gaskets.

If the one you're considering is 1989 or newer, the 460 will be Fuel Injected TBI. 1992 or newer, it'll have Overdrive, and Fuel Injected MPI.

I like 460's! V10 is smoother and reportedly more power but 460 has that low end torque to get you "out of the hole."

[radiojeffrv]

96k is no problem if it has been taken care of...you could easily get 190k or more on the engine if it is maintained well

[valhalla360]

So where is the info on the high millage vehicle?

94k is nothing on a modern engine.

[Chris_Bryant]

You could probably double that- the last high mileage 460 I dealt with had over 160k on it, driven by company employees, so not babied.