B190 Enthusiasts

I'm looking for info from some of the B190 Gurus. I have a 91 with 50k and the 460. It seems like this engine should be strong enough to handle anything but on a recent x-ctry trip I was surprised how quickly it faded on hills. I wasn't towing and not overloaded so I'm wondering if maybe the cat is bad. I averaged 1-12mpg. Is this struggling up hill normal for these heavy vans? Just wondering what people think before I start spending $$$. Thanks for any help. This is a great site.

I have a 93 B190 with the 460. I get a consistent 10 mpg uphill, downhill or level ground. Sometimes it does a little better but 10mpg is very consistent. I live in Kansas City and spend most of the summer in Oregon and Washington. I've made the trip to and from the coast the last 6 years. My route has varied but mostly doing this on the interstate trying to get to the cool coast before the summer heat hits the Midwest and I stay there until the temps start to moderate in early September. I do not run my air conditioner because it's not cooling and I had an estimate of over $1k to fix and couldn't justify it given I would only use it 3-4 days a year. I've had no problems going up the hills n the cascades and northern rookies. There is some slow down from 65mph to 55mph cause I just can't see pushing a 20+ year old vehicle since I'm in no hurry. The one bit of advice I can give you is manually take it out of overdrive when climbing. I have never had to use 2nd gear while climbing doing this. I've been to Lasen Volcano, Crater Lake, Olympic, Mt. Rainer, Glacier, Yellowstone and the Tetons and have never had a problem. I weighed the beast a couple of years ago and it was right at 10k pounds.

Hope this helps and have fun exploring the country.

Mike

Thank you Mike, it helps a lot. My Overdrive disconnect switch (button) was inoperable on this trip so I couldn't get it out of OD. I have since fixed it and will see how it goes using your method on hills. I am going to try to install a tach so I can keep an I on rpms. Barry

I use third gear a lot on hills with my 93 (Overdrive Off). Using more rpms on the hills takes a bit of the load off the transmission. Remember this is an 8000 beast. It's still one of the faster "houses" on the road. I average 10mpg unless I slow to 65mph.

I am glad to see this post. I live in the Asheville, NC area and recently took the camper to Lake Chatuge area in Georgia for an Airstream gathering. That being said I had to pick the route I was going to take because there are hills, mountains, steep grades both up and down. The camper 92 with 51,000 and 460 engine does great down hill because has great brakes but, seems to have a lot of inertia going down because of the top I suppose(air resistance) so I only have to lightly pump the brakes at times. Going uphill is where the engine strains for sure but, I go slowly and pull over when practical and let cars pass me to keep their frustration to a minimum. I find on straightaways on interstates or four lane highways this van is at the best. Can look down and see 65 which normally I am at 55miles per hours(even less on two lane roads).

I did wonder why with this powerful an engine and not towing anything why it seems to struggle. However, it is 25 years old but, is that ageism?

I know what you are talking about, my '90 460 acts the same way but differently depending how I approach the hill and were I am at w/respect to what gear I am in. I have played hell making it to 40 mph on some hills while not on others. I find that as soon as I start loosing speed, say the cruise is on, I will kick her town into the passing gear to try and maintain speed and not piss off someone behind me. Still learning the nuances of this Beast. Chiltons specs on the engine claim 230hp @ 3600 rpm and Tq of 390 @2200 rpm. The 460 makes it's hp low in the rpm range and it is easy to forget that we are not driving a 4,000 car but a square/non aerodynamic , 9,000 lb brick, that of course, that we love.

Makes me feel better hearing this. I have a mechanic that said for all the cu the 460 has it really doesn't have the umph you would expect. I was suspecting catalytic converter and at one point going to jam a bunch of holes in it to see if it helped. But like you I have just learned to drive it differently, kicking it out of OD as I approach a hill. And thanks for the tach specs. I've bought a tach and plan to install it next Spring.

I think the general consensus is that the fuel injected 460s are a bit short on power - maybe Ford choked it trying to meet emissions.

skater wrote:I think the general consensus is that the fuel injected 460s are a bit short on power - maybe Ford choked it trying to meet emissions.

And trying to recoup some of that horsepower is not cheap.

I’ve got the 351 200hp. It’s pretty slow uphill but have never had an overheating or engine stuttering problem. No transmission problems either.


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I have the 351 and am towing an aluminum trailer with a race car (4,000 lbs +/-) . First trip out was dreadful as I thought we would never get to Portland. Tried searching for Banks Power Packs, even thought about putting a new crate motor in it. Talked with my mechanic who asked me if he could have it for a couple days. Three days and $700 later, we were ready to go. They told me that the stock exhaust is so small it was really impacting our travels. We went to the next race and I never lost more than 5 mph on any hill and am still right at 65 mph and 10 mpg.

I have read that the exhaust was restrictive, imagine that, will have to look into that for my 460, thanks !

Choptop wrote:I have read that the exhaust was restrictive, imagine that, will have to look into that for my 460, thanks !

I agreed Choptop that you really get a feel for how to drive the truck. A running start helps tremendously and if it does struggle some be patient. I find that I am driving B so much that it feels natural now and I am learning how to handle her in different situations whether in town, open road or mountain terrain. When you are talking exhaust should I consider getting an upgraded exhaust system which not to sound stupid but, I we talking about a new muffler system?

They changed my exhaust from the mainifold, all the way back to the tailpipe. The smaller pipes were restricting the flow from the engine. This weekend, I will pull the invoice so you can see what was involved. So to answer your question, yes, the muffler, but much more.

mountaindent wrote:

Choptop wrote:I have read that the exhaust was restrictive, imagine that, will have to look into that for my 460, thanks !

I agreed Choptop that you really get a feel for how to drive the truck. A running start helps tremendously and if it does struggle some be patient. I find that I am driving B so much that it feels natural now and I am learning how to handle her in different situations whether in town, open road or mountain terrain. When you are talking exhaust should I consider getting an upgraded exhaust system which not to sound stupid but, I we talking about a new muffler system?

It is probably something I will do in the spring and probably get rid of the catalytic converter, they can become plugged and effect performance. We all know that manufacturers have to meet government regulations concerning pollution and fuel economy and power suffers, granted we are not driving a performance car w/a 460 and we are greatly hampered by size limitations and the cost involved in trying to implement performance upgrades because of how tight everything is, I think a higher flow exhaust would be an excellent place to start. Will be interested in seeing Oldbagpipes invoice concerning which way he went.