3.0 essex engine what do you think of them

[Pinto]

The essex is a nice sounding, torquey beast...but was named so because it weighs the same AS essex

[FredTransit]

ok bortaf dont have that problem mines automatic real machine

Mines a manual, real driver.......

[Neil]

do you ever get out of 3 rd gear round london fred more people now want auto s fed up with clutch in clutch out every 10 seconds no matter where you go theres a que so let the box do the work

[tb2]

thanks guys and girls thats great i think i will keep it the biggest problem is the low mpg has any one tried to to convert to lpg (gas) any feed back would be great thanks

[Neil]

if mpg is a worry sell it and buy a bedford rascal

[24vMk2]

thanks guys and girls thats great i think i will keep it the biggest problem is the low mpg has any one tried to to convert to lpg (gas) any feed back would be great thanks

Yup, I have, No problems with it, only thing I did, was have harden valve seats fitted,it ran better on LPG than petrol

[sixwheelphil]

Ahh the good ol' 3ltr, more torque than you can shake a really big stick at, with the right exhaust a wonderful sound, and unless you're unlucky reliability.

A couple of things worth remembering, some will say it's not uncommon for head gaskets to blow, the fibre timing wheels are best replaced with steel, they last longer and sound great, and the oil pump drive shaft will in time wear. Fit a hardened one and there's no problem. As for mpg, most that I've had over the years have returned a fairly constant 20 to the gallon. When all's said and done, in my opinion they're great. Simple, reliable, lazy to drive, and if they just happen to be bad for the enviroment, so much the better.

All hail the mighty Essex.

[madmark]

has the engine got a twinchoke carb or is it single choke(transit engine) ???? if it has single then change it for a twin choke you will be shoked at the extra 30bhp you get and also better fuel consumption!

[FredTransit]

do you ever get out of 3 rd gear round london fred more people now want auto s fed up with clutch in clutch out every 10 seconds no matter where you go theres a que so let the box do the work

bear in mind we have pintos with 4 speeds too, and 5 speeds with 2.5 Dis, I don't have a problem with using a clutch all the time, as I said I am a real driver. Anyway your calves get fat with an automatic........

if mpg is a worry sell it and buy a bedford rascal

If Niel say this again, I say ban him.

[Neil]

do you ever get out of 3 rd gear round london fred more people now want auto s fed up with clutch in clutch out every 10 seconds no matter where you go theres a que so let the box do the work

bear in mind we have pintos with 4 speeds too, and 5 speeds with 2.5 Dis, I don't have a problem with using a clutch all the time, as I said I am a real driver. Anyway your calves get fat with an automatic........

if mpg is a worry sell it and buy a bedford rascal

If Niel say this again, I say ban him.

my calves get fat with carting brick and compo up ladders i need the drive home to relax

[MRspivvy]

I'd agree with what everyone said about the essex 3.0, the low down torque suits the transit perfectly. I ran one in a mk1 granada for a while, never had any overheating although the oil pump drive shaft did need replacing. its worlds away from the v4 as its not inherently unbalanced because of having 6 cylinders. to run on gas you'd need to fit hardened valve seats. my mate had a mk1 tranny coachbuilt with a 3.0, he used to reckon on about 14mpg

[madmark]

i think with a twin choke carb set up you would be looking at aroud 18-22mpg single transit l/c carb then around 15mpg!

[MRspivvy]

yes- ford never did do fuel economy very well in the 70's. my mk2 pinto gets more mpg with a webber than it did with the standard motorcraft carb