I have a 96 Ford E350 cargo van with almost 300K miles with an upper body that is in great shape, but there is a spot under the front area where it's rusted out where the body attaches to the frame. The transmission is beginning to act up jerking between shifts. I am trying to figure out if it's worth replacing the trans (E4OD) or upgrading to a newer van that has no rust in such a critical location. I've heard you talk about how bad the newer Ford engines are which brings me to my question. What is the Last Year Ford Used Reliable Engines in Their Econoline Vans?
I recently purchased a 13 Honda Civic based upon your advice and I could not be happier with it. A reliable little workhorse that gets me 42 MPG on the highway. I am so grateful to have the benefit of your years of wisdom.
Thank You Very much.
The Econoline (later named E series) was discontinued 2014. Any model prior to economy crisis (2007ish) is probably fine. After 2011 there is no diesel option. Avoid the ecoboom Transits. Avoid the 3-valve Triton.
Avoid Dodge.
GM powertrains are fine. They never put cylinder deactivation in the vans, but you have to deal with the general lack of quality and peeling paint.
The best van now is probably the Mercedes but it'll cost an arm and a leg.
Scotty normally doesn't revisit questions once he's answered them. No later model Ford or Chevy would be as reliable as the years prior to 2007. A good friend has a 2007 Ford V8 and it's been a work horse. He asked me whether he should steer his money toward a later model early this year (217k miles). I told him not to do so, he listened, and he had the front-end rebuilt and is very pleased with his decision.What about Chevy or Dodge? Any later years that have a good engine trans combination? Other than that I guess I'll just have the trans replaced
Well unfortunately you have one of the last reliable engines in those vans. But if you find one safe from '90s to 2000, if it's a V8 it could be decent
@scottykilmer What about Chevy or Dodge? Any later years that have a good engine trans combination? Other than that I guess I'll just have the trans replaced.
Thanks
There are a lot of later model E-series vans available around here but they all seem to have that crap 5.4 Triton engine. It's easy to see why so many are available because nobody wants to get stuck with replacing the engine.
@david40 The 5.4 Triton used in the econolines is the 2 valve version. Minus an occasional spark plug blowout and manifold stud breaking they are great engines. the 5.4 3 valve motors were problematic but never were put in the econoline.