Ford’s Modular 4.6 Motor Makes the Mustang GT a Bulletproof Monster
Diehard 3V 4.6 Mustang GT cracked more than 140k miles without any major repairs, and many owners report even higher numbers.
More often than not, you hear a prospective buyer of a car ask how reliable it is. With 4.6 Mustang GTs regularly trading under $10,000, they have fallen into the budget of many Mustang enthusiasts. Wondering how reliable a car is as a daily driver is not a bad thing to do. However, for the most part, Mustangs are not daily drivers, so there isn’t a substantial about of extremely high mileage examples. We can also admit that Mustangs, even if well looked after, aren’t typically driven without a little spirit. Reasonably, that begs the question. Is the 3V 4.6 Mustang GT something you can expect to live long term?
Youtuber Zac Lucarz seems to have shed a little light on the subject. In a recent video, he announced his Mustang’s milestone of 140,000 miles and went into detail about the issues it has had over the term of his ownership. While it has run into maintenance items you might expect to see, it hasn’t had any major mechanical failures. In fact, the worst it had is a failed alternator.
“…It’s just been maintenance. Normal wear and tear stuff that’s gone wrong with this car.” said Lucarz, explaining that all he’s done to maintain the car is regular oil changes and brake maintenance. As previously mentioned, he did have to replace the alternator. He also indicates that the vehicle has a squeak from the rear end when accelerating from a dead stop, but not when going over bumps. Unfortunately, he also had to face down the infamous blend door actuator failure. Nothing is without it’s Achilles heel, but overall, this Mustang has been a safe bet.
Lucarz also mentions seeing a Facebook post regarding high-mileage 4.6 Mustangs shortly before posting the video
“One guy had 206,000. One guy had 252,000…” he added, going on to explain the various cars all around or above 200,000 miles on vehicles with a similar configuration to his.
Overall, the Mustang GT is not the first car that comes to the mind of most when they think of a safe, affordable, and trustworthy vehicle. So much so, that the reliability of these cars is in the shadows. Only further time and hundreds of thousands of more miles will tell us, but so far it seems that the 4.6 V8 is an engine you can rely on.
Photos: Zac Lucarz