Opinons on a Ford e250 with a 4.2 litre 6cyl

Deville · Oct 21, 2012

I have the oppurtunity to pick up a cutaway van with the 4.2 litre motor in it. It has 182,000 miles on it. My experiance with these vans was only as a company driver. From what I remember they ran ok, a little under powered & most them always seemed to have a slight miss. This one needs a little work, but ran pretty good.

What's the longevity factor on these vans. When I compare it to my e350 with similar miles the v8 is in better shape & I know will run another 100,000 miles.

Anyone have any experiances they can share?

xmudman · Oct 21, 2012

A 4.2? Wouldn't that be a six?

Deville · Oct 21, 2012

Yes. A 6cyl.

Moot · Oct 22, 2012

Are you sure it is an E-250? A cargo box on an E-250 sounds suspicious. What is the GVWR?

Deville · Oct 22, 2012

Moot said:
Are you sure it is an E-250? A cargo box on an E-250 sounds suspicious. What is the GVWR?

Yes, it is a 6. I ran the VIN & looked at themssions sticker. It's GWR is 8600 pds.

Moot · Oct 22, 2012

How big is the box? what is it made of? You should put this van on scale before buying it. If the GVWR is 8600 you will be severely limiting your legal payload. Do you plan on using this van for OTR expediting?

Deville · Oct 23, 2012

Moot said:
How big is the box? what is it made of? You should put this van on scale before buying it. If the GVWR is 8600 you will be severely limiting your legal payload. Do you plan on using this van for OTR expediting?

No, it's for my local work. I have a e350 cargo van & I need somthing bigger, but smaller than my straight truck. Plus it's a single axle so it helps with tolls.

Slacktide · Oct 23, 2012

Had an e250 for a service van, it had the 6cyl. If memory serves it had nearly 300k on it when I got out of the mobil forklift service gig. It ran like a top, loaded to the gills with parts and tools. With regular service the three years I had it I only did brakes and a battery in the way of repairs (i got it used). It was a reliable van, if I were ever to go back into that line of work I wouldn't hesitate to get that setup again. Good luck.

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jeffman164 · Oct 25, 2012

I owned a similar vehicle . 250 cutaway with a 11 ' box - 4.2 , 6 cylinder - 8600 G.V.W. Truck was a bit under powered and wasn't good on gas at all . I think because it was a 6 , it was always struggling . Not sure what the rear end ratio was . I didn't keep it very long to say the least .