9th Mar 2014, 06:41
Yeah, the Northstar is totally unreliable. The 4.9 was quite reliable. Old is definitely better - I'd rather have the Olds 307 they used to put in Cadillacs over either of these, but the 4.9 is definitely far superior to the Northstar. What you want is cast-iron push-rod simplicity and durability. All these multi-valves and aluminum are disastrous.
4th Mar 2014, 12:48
At least the 4.9 doesn't spit out its head gasket and warp the head at 51,000 miles... Sometimes older IS better.