V6 orientation - straight or transverse

[RockEye]

I hear it identifies as binary.

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[Hoofnmouth]

E

What do you mean you can’t tell the engine is straight. The picture clearly shows, It’s plain as day ?

every time I see that pic I cringe looks all those lines omg “ I was out in the middle of nowhere and the blue wire came off and it wouldn’t start”

 

[Austin26]

Cadillac is the first one that came to my mind but here's a few others.

https://www.carthrottle.com/post/8-cars-with-front-mounted-transverse-v8-engines/

Those gave me a headache. I'm surprised they fit.

 

[GK6G]

Are you asking if your bronco is gonna be straight or a transverstite? If you believe in it, it’ll grow up to be whatever it wants to be, and that’s Okay. Every bronco is special in its own way.

 

[Austin26]

Are you asking if your bronco is gonna be straight or a transverstite? If you believe in it, it’ll grow up to be whatever it wants to be, and that’s Okay. Every bronco is special in its own way.

Yes, my 12 year old last year attempted to cause a reaction from my wife and I by saying she was transverse with a girl classmate but we just said okay cool be happy. I think she was disappointed lol.

My wife is mounted straight, by me, some times.

 

[Ricepuddin]

This thread makes me wish the bronco came with an actual straight 6.

 

[Ricepuddin]

Well horizontally opposed is fun also, but also a maintenance nightmare. So yes

 

[JohnTaurus]

Well horizontally opposed is fun also, but also a maintenance nightmare. So yes

I love the Inline six in my 1974 Chevy C10, but the V-6 (3.0L) in my 1995 Taurus is just as easy to work on. Yes, its mounted sideways as it is front wheel drive.

That is but one example of a decent V-6, even transversely mounted, that is relatively easy to work on. Many, many are most certainly not, no matter which way they are mounted. A Chevy 3400 V-6 is just as much a nightmare in a Camaro, probably more so, than it is in a FWD Monte Carlo.

The 3.5L Cyclone V-6 in my mother's 2012 Taurus doesnt look too bad, as far as accessibility goes. Just hope the water pump never fails. Its mounted internally. Yikes. But, with nearly 140k, its an excellent engine that has been perfect since we got it in 2012. I do all the oil changes, and the undercarriage of that car is always dry and clean, like its brand new.

Here's hoping the 2.3L in my future Bronco will prove as reliable. From what I have read up on it thus far, it doesn't look like I have anything to worry about. Well, aside from possible teething problems in this particular application, but I seriously doubt that and since mine will probably end up being a 2022, I'll avoid any early teething issues that may occur, hopefully. Perhaps being patient will be worth it in the long run.

Back to the topic of this thread, really? I mean, it is based on a RWD truck with a longitudinal-mounted drivetrain, stands to reason that it would be configured much the same way. I'm not trying to be a smartass or come off as rude, but the OP certainly wasnt thinking clearly when asking about the layout of the Bronco's drivetrain.

Although I have heard of a FWD, body-on-frame vehicle (I believe Mahindra currently makes one, a minivan), they are exceedingly rare and relatively pointless, although I'm sure the engineers had their reasons for designing them that way.

Fun facts:

Lots of FWD cars have been designed to have their drivetrain mounted longitudinally, rather than transversely. Examples include: Chrysler's LH cars of the 1990s/00s (Dodge Intrepid, Chrysler Concorde, etc, I unfortunately owned a 1996 Concorde LXi, horrible pile of trash considering it was a one-owner, dealer-maintained example with low mileage).
Subarus before AWD became standard across the board save for the BRZ (I owned a 1980s FWD Subaru that you'd swear was RWD at first glance under the hood, engine mounted weird and it's a boxer style too, very different from a same-year Honda Civic).
First generation Toyota Tercel (I owned a 1983 SR-5 4wd Tercel wagon that I hated), they used the rear axle from the RWD Corolla to make the FWD Tercrel 4wd/awd. It worked because the engine was mounted longitudinally already, with the transaxle underneath it to drive the front wheels, so they basically added a transfer case to that. It had to be shifted into 4wd, or it was supposed to be, mine jumped in it randomly which caused the vehicle to become uncontrollable at higher speeds when it decided to do that. That crap was the last straw and I dumped it. I was told by a junkyard guy that the issue was relatively common).
Most any Audi, if not all of them. And many are AWD (Quattro).
1990s VW Fox (as it was known here), based on an old Audi platform.

Also, there are MANY FWD V-8 cars. Almost all 1980s-90s Cadillacs, except I think the Fleetwood and Catera. Other GM V-8/FWD cars were even less reliable, speaking of the 5.3L equipped W bodies. Reliability NIGHTMARE.
Ford also has had the 1996-1999 Taurus SHO and 1995-2002 Lincoln Continental, both FWD (same platform), both had standard V-8 engines (not the same engine, though in retrospect, idk why Ford didnt just use the 4.6L in the SHO since it was less complicated and no doubt cheaper to build than the Yamaha-sourced V-8 (which was virtually the same engine used in the Volvo XC90 mentioned above by someone else)).

Last fun fact, there are plenty of AWD vehicles based on FWD/transverse setups. Virtually every crossover you see, aside from a few outliers like the Subarus, Jeep Grand Cherokee/Dodge Durango, and the latest Ford Explorer, which are unibody vehicles, but with a longitudinal mounted drivetrain. Every utility vehicle from Toyota that isnt a 4Runner, Sequoia, Lexus LX/GX or Land Cruiser. Every utility vehicle smaller than the Chevy Tahoe from GM. Every Nissan utility except the Armada. Even our own little brother, Bronco Sport, is AWD and based on FWD/traverse layout.
Some such vehicles, such as the first generation Toyota Rav4, had a low Range transfer case and locking differentials. Idk why the Bronco Sport doesn't have that stuff (at least I've heard no mention of it).

 

[Ricepuddin]

I love the Inline six in my 1974 Chevy C10, but the V-6 (3.0L) in my 1995 Taurus is just as easy to work on. Yes, its mounted sideways as it is front wheel drive.
.

When I say Horizontally opposed I mean a flat 6 or Boxster not the mounting

 

[Cmeyers186]

Did someone just assume Bronco's gender?!?!?!?!

 

[Bestdayever]

It's about serviceability, especially sparkplug accessibility. Just checked - The FJ Cruiser has front axle/differential and not a transaxle. So, straight mount on FJ makes sense.


Find any hint of sparkplug accessibility without major parts removal first.

 

[PhoenixM3]

What do you mean you can’t tell the engine is straight. The picture clearly shows, It’s plain as day ?

My wife's Fusion Sport has this engine, and the way that I can tell that it's mounted normally is by the location of the oil filter housing (plastic hex head bolt with a cross on the inner portion of the head)

 

[PhoenixM3]

It's about serviceability, especially sparkplug accessibility. Just checked - The FJ Cruiser has front axle/differential and not a transaxle. So, straight mount on FJ makes sense.


Find any hint of sparkplug accessibility without major parts removal first.

No, but I'm trying to determine where the OCC (oil catch can) will sit. It appears most of the interference for spark plug replacement is in the form of vacuum hoses.....

 

[Jrod0486]

My wife's Fusion Sport has this engine, and the way that I can tell that it's mounted normally is by the location of the oil filter housing (plastic hex head bolt with a cross on the inner portion of the head)

Wait... did you just say the 2.7 in the Fusion Sport isn't transverse...?

 

[Gloff]

Fun facts:

Lots of FWD cars have been designed to have their drivetrain mounted longitudinally, rather than transversely. Examples include: Chrysler's LH cars of the 1990s/00s (Dodge Intrepid, Chrysler Concorde, etc, I unfortunately owned a 1996 Concorde LXi, horrible pile of trash considering it was a one-owner, dealer-maintained example with low mileage).
Subarus before AWD became standard across the board save for the BRZ (I owned a 1980s FWD Subaru that you'd swear was RWD at first glance under the hood, engine mounted weird and it's a boxer style too, very different from a same-year Honda Civic).
First generation Toyota Tercel (I owned a 1983 SR-5 4wd Tercel wagon that I hated), they used the rear axle from the RWD Corolla to make the FWD Tercrel 4wd/awd. It worked because the engine was mounted longitudinally already, with the transaxle underneath it to drive the front wheels, so they basically added a transfer case to that. It had to be shifted into 4wd, or it was supposed to be, mine jumped in it randomly which caused the vehicle to become uncontrollable at higher speeds when it decided to do that. That crap was the last straw and I dumped it. I was told by a junkyard guy that the issue was relatively common).
Most any Audi, if not all of them. And many are AWD (Quattro).
1990s VW Fox (as it was known here), based on an old Audi platform.

Also, there are MANY FWD V-8 cars. Almost all 1980s-90s Cadillacs, except I think the Fleetwood and Catera. Other GM V-8/FWD cars were even less reliable, speaking of the 5.3L equipped W bodies. Reliability NIGHTMARE.

You forgot the goofiest of the goofballs, the Toronado. Based on a borrowed RWD platform chassis from the Riviera, Massive 455ci/7.5L V8 engine mounted longitudinally, and FWD. But wait, it gets better, in it's third generation, the Toronado was available with the messed up 350ci/5.7L olds diesel that was a converted gas engine which became notorious for catastrophic engine failures.

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