I have some quick questions...

(1) What's the redline for the 300 I-6 engine? And where can I find the performance numbers for that engine? Rated HP? Rated torque? Real world numbers?

(2) Anyone know a place I can look up part numbers for a '94 F-150, like if I enter the part name, and the year and model of truck, it can spit out for me a Ford or Motorcraft part number?

Thanks,

Howard
IwishIdid@yahoo.com

 

The Redline question again!
The 300's HP peak is 150 HP @ 3500 RPM
The torque peak is 260 ft-lbs @ 2000 RPM
The torque curve is virtually flat from 1700-2500 and only drops to 225 @ 3500 so the term "peak" is more than a bit misleading.

As to "Redline" what do you mean? To me Redline is the RPM aove which you dare not venture without risking serious and immediate damage to the engine. For the 300 that's somewhere above 5500.

If by Redline you mean the maximum RPM which you should use, then it's about 4000 for the 300. The automatic tranny shifts at 3700 or so at WOT and if you push it much beyond that, all you're making is noise.

 

Yeah, I'm wondering both, the 'do-not-exceed-or-risk-serious-engine-damage' limit and the 'why-the-hell-are-you-driving-way-up-here-at-this-RPM' limit too.

Wow. That's an education. I've installed a SunPro mini tach on my dashboard (no stock tach, WTF??? Why no tach for a manual tranny'd vehicle???) and kind of experimented with shift points after installation and I'm using 3100 as the 'redline' for now. I didn't know I could go over 4000!!! I would have figured I'd have punctured my hood by then. It seems to me that the truck really isn't worth a toss over 3000 anyway, so my normal shift point is really around 2600-2800. I was just curious.

Well, I'm getting close to 19 MPG overall, well over 22 MPG highway, so I must be doing something right. Let's hear it for short shifting!!!

Thanks for the info.

Now onto this brake job I'm starting...

-HJK

 

How in the hell are you getting that kind of mileage? Is that normal? I'm only able to pull off about 15-16, highway!!

 

Tachs were a dealer option, not factory.

You sure you're doing your math correctly? I've never heard of a 4.9L getting anything better then 20 mpg and thats when the drive babies the hell out of it while driving. I can get 18mpg but only if it's like driving to Vegas (no lights or traffic..ect)

 

The last time I got gas I had gone 658.1 miles and fill'd up with 30.123 gallons of 87 octane. That was about half highway miles and half around town and backroad miles. A grand total of 21.847 MPG.

I've recorded all of my fill ups, including date, odometer reading, octane, price per gallon, amount of the fill up and total cost for the fill up since I bought the truck. As of 8-10-03 I have used 4,977.21 gallons of fuel to travel 89,287.1 miles. That's 17.939 MPG for the life of the truck, including 3 years in the mountains of WV. Lately, since buying a cap for the bed and moving towards the flat(ter) land of SC, I'm regularly seeing MPGs in the 20s, and you're right, taking it easy on the interstate is where I get my best mileage. I think the farthest I've gone so far on one 34.7 gallon tank was 733, and I still had 3 gallons left in the tank!!!

-Howard

 

I've got a '91 F150 2WD 4.9L. Bought it new. Best mileage I ever got was about 19.5. I don't drive it hard either, so I'd like to know what you consider taking it "easy" on the Interstate. What MPH? I need to get 20+ MPG!!

 

Man, I didn't think I was doing anything crazy to get this mileage. I've got a '94, F150, 4.9L, 5-spd. O/D. I replaced the paper filter with a K&N unit, but kept the rest of the intake stock. I use the best plugs I can afford at any given time, currently using Autolite Platinums, as well as a quality set of 8mm plug wires, trying to get the hottest spark I can to the cylinders. Whether or not the wires are helping towards that, I dunno.

Most importantly, my truck came stock with 2.73 gears out back. *That* may be the difference in what I expect, MPG wise, and those of you with gears in the 3-range. That and the cap, I've noticed since April 02 when I bought it my MPG jumped a good 1.5 to 2 MPG overall.

Easy on the interstate? Well, almost always at or under 70MPH, no sense in trying to push my brick through the wind any harder than that, and try to avoid the full throttle passes. "If I can't get them going up this hill, I'll get 'em on the downhill."

Wish I could post this Excel fuel log somewhere, and view other peoples as well.

-Howard

 

My 96 is a 300/E4OD, std cab short bed. When I first got it running with an uncovered bed and 3.08 gears, it pulled 19.5 highway at 65 in cruise. This was a trip from Knoxville, TN to Akron, OH and included the entire length of the WV pike. Your setup should produce about the same RPM at highway speeds due to the different OD ratios. With the aero advantage of the cap and the efficienct of a manual tranny, 21+ should be no problem.

 

I've got at 2wd 3.55 ls with the 4.9. I range from 17 to 19 mpg mixed, and I have seen 21 on highway. That'll be hard to beat with the next truck. I wish I could still get a 4.9L. That is a great engine.

 

My optimum shift point went from around 2800 rpm to 3400 after adding a cat back and my K&N FIPK. It still pulls to 3600, but I just don't like taking it that high.

My gas mileage never is better than 16-17mpg, but I drive it hard, and it's always weighed down with tools. Last time it was on the scales it was just under 6000 pounds, with both tanks full and my tools and compressor.

Actually, I'll tell you something I did discover early on. My truck (95 supercab 4.9 / 5 speed / 3.55) get's the best gas mileage right at 55 mph. Unfortunately, it drops off fast above that. Really fast. When I averaged 90 mph coming back from Oregon a few years ago, I don't think I got better than 10-12 mpg. I could almost watch the gas gauge needle drop.

Take care,
~Chris

 

Yuppers....90+ mph daily going home from work and I can just watch the gas gauge go down.

I got 18.2mpg once on a 300 mile trip with my bed loaded down with about 2000Ibs, my rear was sitting lower then my front and I was averaging 75mpg the whole way.

 

Ok.. I had to jump in on this one...

I was driving back and forth from Atl, GA to Jax, FL for almost a year. I have the K&N kit, high flow muffler, still have the stock cats, good tune, BFG 31x10.50s with 3.08 gears, auto tranny and with the bed covered with an Extang and I STILL get 18-20mpg and have over 210K miles. My avg speed is about 73mph ( can nail this trip in 5hrs flat ). I love my set-up.

No its no drag racer but it works and I LOVE IT and its wonderful to park next to the new truck boys at work now and shake my head. Its still looks great and its BEEN paid off a long time.

I plan to be buried in this truck.

The joke is that all three kids have to drive the truck as their first vechicle....If you wreck it its yours ( and you get kicked out of the house ) and the next in line gets what ever they want.... If you take care of it then it goes to the next one and so on...My oldest is 12 and my youngest is 8. And I'm not worried about anything but parts.

Putting the soap box away now....