Advice on posible purchase - Diesel Forum

sgf · 03-20-2005, 09:10 PM

My hunt for a $4,000 or less 3/4-1 ton truck continues. I'd like opinions on a dually I looked at today, knowing full well how difficult these things are when you can't see the truck. It is a 1994 turbo diesel Ford F-350 XLT with 5 spd trans. It has 190,000 miles on it.

It isn't a perfect situation as I'll describe, but after 4 months of futile looking, I have to bend a "little". The bad news is the truck is about 2 hrs. away and the owner dropped the insurance and plates to set up his new truck. Now the bad part is I can't drive this truck to a shop I trust. I'm mechanically competent but not with diesel engines. That's why I'm here, to seek input

The owner seems pretty up front about the truck. It has a hole in the driver side manifold that will require welding or probably replacement. He says it needs glow plugs. He also told me, and I saw myself, that it puts out a lot of white smoke when it first starts up. The smoke tapers off to normal after a couple of minutes which he also told me it would. He said he had diesel mechanic look at it. The guy told him a couple of the injectors that were bad and that they were drawing air causing the problem. He says the guy said $800 would fix it but he and I both know that's a guess without really getting into it.

I'm willing to put some money into the truck but I'm not interested in a money pit. I'm going to call my local shop tomorrow to get an idea on repair prices but you know how that can go...one thing leading to another. Should I assume that all injectors will need replacement, the pump?

Please give me your opinions based on your own experiences. This truck will pull a horse trailer so dependability is very important. We took a ride in it and it seemed to shift and run fine other than what I mentioned.

Thanks.

IHpower · 03-21-2005, 02:31 PM

Can help you more when we find out some more info. Is it a 94 Turbo IDI or a 94 Turbo Direct Injection? If it is an IDI and you would have to replace the ENTIRE fuel system, it would still be less than $800. That is if you perform the work yourself. 8 injectors and the return caps and lines will run you bout $240, injection pump 350, and a lift pump is about $25. The smoke on startup could be mostly from the bad glowplugs you mentioned. Actually from the sound of what the previous owner was telling you, your best bet would be to go ahead and put all new Beru glow plugs in, 8 new injectors and a rebuilt inj. pump. Cause there is a chance that the pump and injectors are original.

argve · 03-22-2005, 02:16 AM

If it were me I would check for anti-cavitation treatment (DCA = Diesel Coolant Additive or SCA = Supplemental Coolant Additive) usage. Do some searching here in the archives and this forum for DCA or SCA or cavitation. I know that linked to a post here in just the past couple of weeks that explains cavitation in laymens terms. It's something that you need to be aware of with diesels (especially these 7.3 IDI's)

If I'm not mistaken (memory slipps from time to time ya know) she'n as how she's a bolt action tranny in a 94MY it's got the IDI under the hood and not the PSD (Powerstroke Diesel). Either way your good to go really but the IDI is the perfered engine (friendly rival with the folks upstairs ya know [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img])

Now he is correct you can walk through the ENTIRE fuel system on an IDI for 800 clams.

380ish for injection pump - rebuilt
$35 each for injectors (new) (8 x 35 = $280)
and $25ish for injector install kit (new washers, o rings, return line caps and fuel line).

This is doing the install your self, then $80 to have the timing set at local diesel shop (typically one hour of labor).

Leaking o rings on the injectors is a very common problem - these things leak if you look at them wrong - nature of the beast.

Now for glow plugs - 9 bucks each at autozone or 20 bucks each at Ford Dealer (same part). Both Autozone and Ford Dealer sell Beru brand parts, both come in same bag, just walk into local Autozone and ask for part number ZD-9 (comes in Motorcraft bag [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]) Try and steer clear of the Champion, or Autolite brands (Autolite is dog doo doo and sometimes the older folks around here will use the word Autolite in place of the word **** (poop) because this what we think of this brand). Reason we don't like either of these brands is they have a very nasty habit of swelling and then break off the tips while removing them which can if left alone break a piston or damage the autolite of the head (major monies spent to repair damage from 10 dollar part).

If your comfrontable working around a gasser you will love working on a diesel - much easier to grasp (no lean/rich to worry about, no ignition system) just timing, compression and fuel [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img] If you have these three you are motorvating (notice no spark thrown into the mix).

Don't know why this post was getting over looked - this is not the norm for this group, we are a bunch of "chatty cathy's"

Welcome to the basement and hopefully you decied well on this truck. Any other questions don't hesitate to ask. That's why we all hang out here (help.)

sgf · 03-22-2005, 08:21 AM

Thanks for the input. In chimes in perfectly with a conversation I had yesterday with a local diesel shop that has a very good reputation. The continuity of opinion makes me feel good about this.

The truck is not a Power Stroke. I asked the seller last night just to make sure. I also made him an offer on the truck. He is currently considering it so we’ll see what happens.

The seller says the truck gets 15-18 mpg since my 89 F150 6 cyl. gets 15 mpg those numbers don’t seem too bad.

argve · 03-22-2005, 01:26 PM

What gears in this dually (most have 4.10's)? I would be surprised if it pulls 18 with six on the ground - that just seems a little out there now 14-15, yeah if you have light foot, now if your a lead foot (like myself) then your talking 12-14 with a bolt action and 6 paws.

The Enterprise (last truck) was a 91 F350 CC Dually with an auto and tons of junk hanging off here always got 12~13 empty and 8-10 pulling the TT. Now again this was with an auto loader trans. Bolt actions all swing better numbers but 18... [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]