Looking to get a new E 150, Mileage is main concern, Will the V6 get any better than the V8? I know the early 4.2's had issues, as I had a 98, but surely by now they should be proven engines. The 5.4 will have to work less to get the job done but is the fuel mileage going to be a concern?

 

The mileage difference will not be alot if you ask me. It all goes on how you plan to use the van is it going to be just a daily driver from point a to b orwill it be use to haul heavy loads all the time if you plan to work I would get the V8.

 

in theory the v8 would not have to work as hard to move the vehicle, in turn less gas used.

 

I tow a 3000# bass boat with my 01 f-150 5.4L 4x4. I get 14 mpg with the o.d. off in the mountains. I have the 3.55ls rear-ends, 4r70w tranny.Get the biggest motor, toughest tranny and biggest brakes, towing takes its toll.

 

Obviously get look for a V8 model 4.6 or 5.4. I would would only get a V6 if it a too good to be true deal of a lifetime.

 

what are you going to carry around in the van?
if you are going to just drive it around empty or carry around a couple hundred pounds at the most then the v6 will do fine.

i've always found that 1/2 ton vans in general are useless for carrying stuff around. i'm an electrician and we usually have a few rolls of wire and other miscelaneous materials in the vans and a couple of small ladders on the roof all the time. it usually adds up to somewhere around 600lbs which really isn't very much. this will cause a v6 to burn more gas than a v8 and the brakes wear out really fast. i've seen a guy go through a set of front brake pads every 2-3 months in a chevy 1/2 ton.

 

While it is true that the V8 does not require as much work to make the van move, it does require more air due to it's extra dispacement. Since you will require more fuel for the air each cycle you will not get better mileage out of a V8, in fact it will be less. At least with a V6 you will only suck down more gas when you need it by romping on the gas pedal.

Your main decision is if you can live with the V6 or if you want to shell out the extra money for a V8 along with more gas use, higher insurance prices, more oil per change as well as 2 extra cylinders with spark plugs and electronics.

 

with my 04 van- i have a 32' ladder on roof rack on 1 side, a 6' & 8' on other side- aerodynamics suck!-loaded down inside to the gills-full tank of gas -me in it=8k lbs-5.4L,3.73-9500gvw-13.5 mpg winter mileage[ethanol blended fuels-15-1.5 in summer-i strictly use 93 performance tune on my custom tuner by troyer performance-i babey it for fuel mileage- with the part throttle massive torque improvements his tunes gave me were worth 2.0 mpg city driving with added power-i'd recommend the old 4.9 inline 6 over the 4.2 v6- i had a 94 3/4 ton work van-500k on it then the motor went my .02$-phil

 

I was just going off of the MarkIII conversion van i had years ago which are slightly heavier.

 

After looking, the V-6 isn't even available! Looks like the 4.6 V-8 will be the one, Thanks for the info!