[wolfe1]

I am presently looking at a 99 f350 drw 6spd truck. the owner bought it to fix but bought a diff. trk . my question is this he states that he took it to a mechanic that listened to the engine turn over and then said he can hear it has no compression. i am just wondering can you actually "hear" a diesel engine and tell that it has no compression or was this mechanic just trying to take him for a ride on an engine change. I am buying the truck with the assumption that it needs an engine but was hoping it could be another non start issue. the truck has no batteries so i cant do any pre purchase testing. this would be my first diesel so I dont know that you can hear no compression. truck has 200,000 not a bunch of miles for a diesel.

 

[F350_6]

Yes it's possible to hear the difference in no compression. Remove all the glow plugs and crank the motor and you will hear no (or at least minimal) compression. Now with that said, you would have to have a pretty good size hole in all 8 cylinders to hear a no compression issue. A well trained ear might be able to hear a dead hole (just one as opposed to all 8), and if that were the case the motor would have to come out anyway.

There's a chance you're getting a bad description of what the mechanic said. There's also a chance the mechanic has no idea what he's talking about. Good luck and let us know what you find.

And you can always bring 2 batteries with you for the inspection.

 

[wolfe1]

thanks, I do know that the mechanic that the truck is sitting at is not a diesel mech. and i know that the owner didnt want to put much money into it. it looks to be a very basic truck and i suspect that is was bought at auction or something like that. after talking to owner again he bought it to get the 6spd trans for his own truck but then came across a trans that was already out. so he had no intention of fixing this truck to drive and didnt care if it ran or not. I guess being used to gas engines I have never heard of being able to "hear" a low compression situation (plugs in etc) and am now wondering if there is something else other than "dead engine" that is keeping it from running. which is why I am hesitant to do testing untill it is mine. are these engines prone to low compression if taken care of. the truck is not beat up body wise and doesnt look abused like I expected to see so that is good.

 

[sohip]

These are prone to low compression if you run a K&N air filter or it has a broken air box. It is already too late to start taking care of a 200 K plus truck cuz they havent invented anything that puts steel back on the pistons :lol:

I bought mine to fix up as I went but parts are expensive and diagnosis is expensive. She will bleed you dry. On the upside buying the Standard will save you lots on trannies. I have close to 5000 in mine for balljoints, hubs, glow plugs, ujoints, brakes, batteries etc, etc etc. because mine was well used but I would still not call my truck "reliable".

Just look all the people "viewing" the forum its always over 150 for 7.3 driveline and engine. Whats that tell you... lol. We are looking for solution to problems, thank god some people are here to help us !

 

[Oneof6]

I am presently looking at a 99 f350 drw 6spd truck. the owner bought it to fix but bought a diff. trk . my question is this he states that he took it to a mechanic that listened to the engine turn over and then said he can hear it has no compression. i am just wondering can you actually "hear" a diesel engine and tell that it has no compression or was this mechanic just trying to take him for a ride on an engine change. I am buying the truck with the assumption that it needs an engine but was hoping it could be another non start issue. the truck has no batteries so i cant do any pre purchase testing. this would be my first diesel so I dont know that you can hear no compression. truck has 200,000 not a bunch of miles for a diesel.

Maybe the Mechanic could hear it, maybe not, doubt it. But does it really matter much? Go by what you know. In this case you are buying a used truck with a non-running engine. The owner is just telling you that don't count on the engine at all, no compression, maybe he is accuratly presenting what the Mechanic said, maybe not. I would rather have that situation than an owner telling me that the last time he heard about it from a Mechanic it was running OK and that be BS. If you want the truck buy it as if the engine has no more than core value and be prepared to drop one in. After you buy it invest in some batteries and do a compression test yourself. If it turns out that you have a good engine then thats a bonus, if not you didn't buy it thinking you had a good engine.

 

[F350_6]

These engines are computer controlled so it could easily be something simple and cheap, or something expensive that is not related to compression. All you can do is stick the batteries in, crank it, and go from there.

My first guess is the IDM is not firing the injectors so you won't see any smoke coming out the tail pipe while cranking.

 

[wolfe1]

thanks again, I just thought it would be nice to get it running just to make sure all the electronics are ok before I change the engine. i have been there with gassers not fun. he is asking $2500 for the truck i think i could get it for $2000. 99 extra cab drw body is in good shape could use paint good tires, just wondering if it is worth the effort. any idea what a good 7.3 engine goes for?