My last stang was a 91 hatch. The odometer stopped working at 187,xxx miles, that was four years before i bought it, i owned it for two and sold it. I would estimate it had 230k + and it still ran great. I spoke with the two previous owners and they said they did not know of any rebuild. The second owner works with a pesticide place and sprayed my house and started asking about the car. He said he was the second owner, he bought it from an older lady who was the original owner. To his knowledge nothing had ever been done to it. Those motor's are awesome, all though so is the ford inline 6.

 

Great topic. I caught it last night, but figured i'd reply when I had more time. I bought my 90 5.0 GT with money I had saved up for most of my childhood. I got it in December of 1993 two weeks before I turned 17. and got my license. The guy sold it to me for $8500 with 55k miles on it. I paid for almost 5 grand, and my parents helped me with the rest. The only downfall was it was an AOD. I wanted a 5 speed, but I didn't wanna pass the deal by. I had the coolest car in the parking lot at my school. Sold it in April of 2002 with 158k miles on it original motor, and had never been touched. Never left me stranded on the side of the road once. Closest it came was the ignition modual having to cool down in a parking lot, and then I changed it, broke a worn out tie rod end once after hitting a pothole a mile from home, and a fuel pump let go at the gas station once. Hit the tank with a hammer, and it started up. Drove it home, and changed the pump the next day. Other than that I replacedf typical stuff. Motor mounts which were a common problem with these cars. One set of shocks, and struts, a few sets of brake pads, and a set of shoes, alternator, water pump, and thats pretty much it. Oh yeah I rebuilt the AOD around 145k miles or so. Replace an oil pan gasket too. Thats all. It was still a reliable car when I sold it with close to 160k. It was a positive time in life. Drove it to California once, and back with 130ksomething miles on it no problem. Didn't burn any oil except the last year it may have burned a half quart every 2500 miles.

 

ok... 90,xxx miles... oil pump shaft twisted and broke, and threw 2 rods.... top end looked beautiful, no detonation, nitrous wasnt hurting it, etc... bottom end only gave out because it had no oil pressure...

obviously no oil=cam trashed... no big deal, new shortblock had a stock cam

it walked, destroying it and the lifters. this happened in a day... never drove that motor but once for 5 min

now im on motor 3, explorer bottom end, explorer heads/intake, comp cam... im confident that itl be fine

just a few pics

 

I think Ford engines that end in .0 are purty long lasting (3.0, 4.0, and 5.0) If they have regular oil changes and normal maintanance they should all be able to get 200K out of em. 250K is also very achievable. But you never know... but if you overheat one, blow a head gasket, neglect it they could last a lot less.

 

My orignal 5.0 motor lasted to 256,000 before the crank/rodbearings took a sh#t,also added a 100 shot at 100k and added h/c/i at 150k.
Thought i should add some more.Only sensor i changed was the TPS,blew therear once w/3.73's.Other than that and normal matinance, it was a reliable car and that is w/ the orignal clutch and t5.

 

to dang expensive has been my experience!!![:@]but fun none the less!!!

 

When u say the 5.0 motor do u mean the entire assembly down to the last sensor or the bottom and top end? I can tell u ive had a hell of a time with electronics and sensors andaccesorys and this and that. BUT i have never had a single probelm with the motor. 131k on my 95gt and the motor runs awesome, just all that other crap. sensors FTL.

 

yup i shoulda added...ima ****in mech. lol... all maintnence work was more then taken care of...

 

I see nothing wrong with that cam dimebag .

I can't really remark on the longevity of my 5.0since its still under 30k, but like someone said beforeabout the straight 6: wonderful engine. Mytruck's4.9 is still kicking with close to 10x the mileage (that's 300k). My friend has a Bronco with a 351 that is about 270k and running fine. Ford did good with that Windsor line of motors.

 

my experience has been.....expensive and frustrating, dont get me wrong when the car was running it was great...but it seems like it was pure headaches and an unreliable car kinda depressing to say that my 2.3L ran much better and i miss it at times haha (gas mileage haha) their fun cars tho...been looking into the newer 4.6 stangs tho thinking about upgrading to like an 2002 2003 GT who knows