Engine reliability

[fng]

This is probably an old question but, Just how reliable is the 230 engine?
Are they weak or have weak points that make them undependable? I know the technology of the day was pretty crude, one bbl carb's and whatnot but how well do they holdup over the longhaul? Do they wear out excessivly because of some internal design flaw? If I dump money into a rebuild will it last more than two years?
Got some thinking to do.

[fisherman]

Depends how far you go with the rebuild, I spent over 3 grand rebuilding one. In my opinion it was still a turd. I figure I wasted that money, I couldn't sell it for anything. I gave it away to a fellow zone member to keep for a spare.

[kwai]

My stock 230 in my ranch truck is great. It can sit for months and start right up. Runs great and gets the job done around the ranch. I think the 230 will outlast any new motor operated under the same conditions.

On the road, it doesn't have a lot of power so in Houston it certainly wouldn't be a very practical vehicle for daily driving. It does have pretty good torque so it is capable of hauling 1.5 tons of feed from town back to the ranch with no problems. And the ride is much improved as a bonus.

[brute4c]

The rear main seal loves to leak...the oil line from the block output, drivers side rear, to the back of the head likes to leak...if you use nos stuff...and is a pain to change...exhaust manifolds like to crack...waterpump is burdened with a very heavy pulley and it isnt the cheapest thing to replace...lots of the parts are hard to find/expensive.

[white433]

We tried real hard to live with one, it was low mileage, had a burnt valve that gave it a little miss. I thought it did fine for regular stuff, it would run out of steam on a long up-hill pull. But it seemed like every 3 or 400 miles, it needed to be worked on. Luckly I had a complete extra motor for parts. We finally gave-up and went 350 chevy. Rarely work on the thing anymore.

[fng]

All very good to know, thanks. Would I gain anything by adding a 2bbl?

[Warthog]

Many people have put the two barrel setup on their trucks. It does increase performance. If I recall right Brute4c has one on his truck. When I was gathering parts I bought one. If you decide to try it let me know.

Warthog

[Jester]

Many people have put the two barrel setup on their trucks. It does increase performance. If I recall right Brute4c has one on his truck. When I was gathering parts I bought one. If you decide to try it let me know.

Warthog

Not to barge in but if FNG is not interested in that 2 barrel set up, I might be.

[brute4c]

The big increases for performance in the 230 are the 2 bbl intake and carb and the civvy ignition. The ignition swap helps because it adds vacuum advance, smoother across the rpm range, especially just off idle...and adds some power and mpg...I would say it adds more mpg than power but both do go up. The 2 bbl setup adds POWER to the mix and still increases mpg...here power is the bigger benefit...though one does lose a bit on the low end, due to the larger throttle bore sizes I believe, just right off the line...need a bit more rpm to start out.

I have told this before...there is a long fairly steep hill out this way...over a mile long. In stock trim, I got 7 mpg and was able to do 48 mph at the top of that hill when hitting the botom at 60 mph and holding my foot on the floor. First I added the civvy igntion...then after that I added both the Selector hubs (another big power increase) and the 2 bbl setup at the same time. With the civvy ignition, the mileage went to 10-10.5 and the speed on the hill rose to 53 mph. With the 2 bbl and hub, added after the ignition, I get 12.25 mpg, gps checked, and can hold 60 mph all the way up that hill.

The 1 bbl setup, you can hear the carb sucking air when you step into it...the 2 bbl, you never hear it...the 1 bbl is restrictive on this motor...it, to me, is too small to work properly...on sacrifices both mileage and power with it.

[brute4c]

If anyone is looking I believe I know where one 2 bbl intake for the 230 is....pm me and I'll set you up.