Ford F-350 4x4's with the V10 gas motor.

[Rockfish]

One of my fishing buddies is looking to buy a Ford 350 to tow larger boats. He is currently looking at a 1999 and a 2008 but both have the V10 motors. He agreed to have me ask what people thought of the V10 motor, reliability, major problems, cost of repairs/parts and service, easy or difficult to work on and gas milage etc.

I personally have some doubts given this is a complicated 10 cylinder that seems to be based on the Viper motor. I am thinking finding one with the diesel may be a better bet as I have heard the V8 is a little under powered.

 

[Jammer]

One of my fishing Buddies is looking to buy a Ford 350 to tow larger boats. He is currently looking at a 1999 and a 2008 but both have the V10 motors. He agreed to have me ask what people thought of the V10 motor, reliability, major problems, cost of repairs/parts and service, easy or difficult to work on and gas milage etc.

I personally have some doubts given this is a complicated 10 cylinder that seems to be based on the Viper motor. I am thinking finding one with the diesel may be a better bet as I have heard the V8 is a little under powered.

I'm not sure about the reliability of the motor, my buddies tended to blow the sparkplugs out of the head, but so did the V-8 triton motors.
The Ford V-10 has no relation to the Dodge V-10.

 

[Rockfish]

That makes sense. Got almost no sleep last night and my brain is stuck in neutral.

 

[profisher]

As a long time Ford guy I would say (seriously) buy a Dodge Cummins. I never thought I would ever own a Dodge truck, but have owned an 01 Cummins since 04 with no mechanical or running gear problems at all. This truck was even an ex-ICBC right off so that makes it even more impressive. It has about 180,000K's on it now, double what it had when I bought it.

 

[-steelhead-]

Fords are way better than Dodges!

 

[profisher]

Steelhead, normally I would agree. Sadly the Ford diesel is not even close to being problem free. However Mustangs do smoke any Camaro or Challenger!

 

[casper5280]

I'm with Rollie. Long time Ford diesel guy,but when it came time for a new truck I bought a 2008 Dodge Laramie 2500 and love it. Still love Fords but now love there Dodge trucks better.

 

[Rockfish]

I will certainly pass on the Dodge recommendation guys but he specifically asked about the Ford V10 motors as compared to the Ford diesel and their V8. If he does insist on getting a Ford should I try and talk him out of the V10 and steer him towards their diesel?

 

[vetteman]

For what it's worth we just had two V10 powered Fords at work blow spark plugs out.
Dave

 

[Labman2]

And just like the 5.4 triton, the plug generally takes out the Fuel Rail and Coil!!

 

[casper5280]

If he's stuck on a Ford I would go for the diesel, a lot cheaper to run than the gas motor if it's the V-10

 

[spring time]

if he is looking for a 99 or 08 steer him towards a o3 or older 7.3 litre diesel, 03-05 6.o litre sucked don't buy big time issues, then they went to a 6.4 and sucks on fuel 11 miles to a gallon no mater what. now if you could put a dodge cummings in a ford truck that would be a truck. ford
owners
recommend
dodge

 

[GLG]

Now if you could put a dodge cummings in a ford truck that would be a truck. ford
owners
recommend
dodge

It can be done and it's not hard.
http://www.fordcummins.com/about-fordcummins.html
GLG

 

[King_Cod]

The V-10 engine will work for towing larger boats but if your buddy is towing them on a regular basis ( as in daily) I would recommend going with a diesel. Yes the ford engines have had issues with spark plugs pulling the threads out of the cylinder heads but if you are looking for a cheaper option the V-10 would work just fine. Things to consider are torque output,fuel mileage and cost of repair. Gas engine will be cheaper to repair but the diesel will save a large amount of fuel.

 

[MRACER]

Finally a thread I can post on with some intelligence--We use a Ford 550 with 7.3 diesel to tow a 50 ft race car trailer- have gone through 4 turbos in the last
1 1/2 years- Hate that truck!!!! the 10 cyl Ford will drive you broke in fuel costs!
looking for a single axle tractor--if you are gonna tow- get something that really tows! The dodge is a much better tow vehicle than the Ford and the troubles with the 6l diesel would fill this page....
now- back to lurking because that is the way I learn stuff here-

 

[Poacher2]

Funny! I have an older 1986 F250 with a 6.9 diesel that is trouble free! It's a Navistar motor.

 

[casper5280]

I had the 87 with the 6.9 buried her at 400,000 miles. Just did not make sense to fix her. The only thing that I did was put on a injector pump when I first got her and that was it and regular maintenance. Have to agree with the 7.3 great motor. That all said I would still buy the Dodge until Ford deals with there issues.

 

[Rockfish]

So now he is looking at a 98 Ford 350 V10 with only about 75k on it and wants to know if they had fixed the spark plug blow out problem by then. Anyone know?

 

[Jammer]

The issue was fixed by Ford in the 2003 model year. Owners had been fixing it with Heli-coil before then.
http://blownoutsparkplugs.com/index.htm

 

[Halilogger]

13 years old with 75k Really, needle in a hay stack.
Chevy Duramax with a Allison Transmission
best motor trany combo on the market.