Posted by Sarah Atkins on June 29, 1998 at 01:09:57:
In Reply to: Re: 250 engine posted by Joseph divito on June 24, 1998 at 17:51:57:
: At the risk of changing the subject, I didn't know the Fairmont offered a 250 six. I thought the only size six was the 200. What year was it? Of course, the 200 and 250 were almost identical except for size, so it probably
: doesn't really matter...
: Personally, having both an '81 Zephyr and a '76 Comet, I'd say the '76 is the better car. The '81 is just too big of a car to put a 200 six into (the Zephyr is about 4,000 lbs). I also find the build quality to be better on
: the '76, which is probably related to the time the Zephyr was built. Ford wasn't too far from bankrupcy by '81, so I'm sure the money wasn't there to do a good QC job.
: ---------------
: : Ive seen 320,000k org. on a 250 6 cyl. not a mav though.
: : in a ford fairmont
:
: :
: : : : we all have heard the tales of the Mopar Slant 6 engines. I am wondering, did the 250 ever have an incredible reputation for durability? If so, would like to hear stories of the amazing durability of this engine.
: : : ----------------------------------------------
: : : I can't speak for the rest, but I've gotten almost 182,000 miles on my '76 with a 250 engine. Never had any problems (one rebuilt carb, one water pump, replaced some of the electronic ignition parts).
: : : Overall, I've found it a very solid and reliable engine. Not exactly a high performance engine, though it's not bad. Of course, there are those out there who think that anything that's not high performance or a muscle/sports
: : : car is not worth getting excited over, so it's nice to hear that some people have an interest beyond raw horse power.
I don't know about everyone else, but I've had good luck with my 250. It has about 120,000 miles on it. Last year I replaced the head and put new lifters in it. I'm putting a 302 in it next weekend just because it was free and I can, basically. But, my 250 runs surprisingly well, in my opinion, anyway. I don't really know what kind of performance you can get out of a straight 6, but mine does really well considering.