How Long Until Vortecs Ditch Pushrods?

[jro909]

Will gm ever retire the pushrod design and send the vortecs in OHC territory?

[Wingnut]

I hope not. Pushrod engines are so much easier (and cheaper for that matter) to work on.

 

Plus...They're getting equal power, longevity, and efficiency numbers as the OHC engines...

[jro909]

is there really any pros to OHCs? vs pushrod design?

[Wingnut]

 

I'm not real up to speed on OHC engines. I just know that my engines make at least equal power/reliabilitymileage to comparable Ford OHC stuff. Plus mine is easier to work on.

[MS3DALE]

I agree,I'll stick with pushrods!

[Doug_Scott]

Ford went the OHC route simply to reduce manufacturing costs. That engine was introduced as a modular engine. The main advantage was the ability to swap single parts over and get a different engine easily and cheaply. As an aside, I have not kept up on the fords at all, do they have durability issues on the modular engines? Other than spark plugs breaking off in the head.

[Badbird2000]

I'll chime in as i currently drive one.. i have the 4.6 in my 02 F150... So far i have 139,000 miles on it, uses maybe 3/4 of a quart of oil between oil changes, however i use Royal Purple and usually go 5,000 miles. Twice i have had to remove the throttle body to clean all the carbon out of the egr passage, other than that it has been fantastic. A little low on power, but i bought a tuner and had custom tunes written for it. It has a lot more balls now. My biggest gripe has been changing plugs. Took me a few minutes to figure out the coil-on-plug thing, which maybe it shouldn't have as i went from a 2000 T/A with an LS-1 to this.. i know i know.. don't ask, long story, lol. Overall the engine has good mid-range torque..but i don't see the difference in power and relaibility between ohc and pushrods. My 1979 Cutlass had a 305 with over 200,000 miles and it ran great...the plugs in the F150 took me about 2 hours and four differnt socket extensions...and i taught myself a few new words in the process..

And yes, sometime in the future, i am going back to a GM product. I am the only one in my family to drive something other than a GM ever, i think... but i just paid the truck off 2 months ago, and want no payments for awhile...

[kdixer]

Strictly a perspective of theory:

 

More moving parts in an engine = more parasitic loss

 

The pushrod design is a very efficient design so why consider over head cams? With the use of roller hydraulic lifters and a single cam, rotational friction is kept to a minimum. Not to mention the difference in timing chain designs. One small timing chain is peace of mind to me compared to two very long timing chains with various tensioners.

 

Honestly I am perfectly content with a pushrod engine.