ford diesel high miles

[murphy4trees]

I was lookingat a '93 F-350 4x4 diesel with a 12' dumping stake body... heavy springs and almost ready for chipping...
Looked and ran pretty well, though with 179K miles, I was a little concerned... The owner wants $7,500...
I noticed a couple of problems... The oil pan was leaking both at the gasket and starting to rust through at the bottom..
The transfer case was hit and slightly damaged by the PTO driveshaft, which got tweaked when the truck was loaded too heavy for the hoist.. Doesn't appear to be leaking badly..
The PTO shaft was just straighrenned and replaced...
I thinbk I have an 86 parts truck which may have the same transfer case..
The muffler had been replaced by straight pipe, when it rotted off... the guy liked the extra power, cause he was hauling a skid steer up a monster hill by his house...
Not too much rust... just a little on the stake body..
New paint and fairly clean interior...

I need a truck to chip into this spring badly as I Am missing a lot of work... Yet I got a bad feeing about this truck...The major thing I can think of is the mileage... How long will that diesel last?.. Black cat ran across the drive as I followed him to his house...

Your thoughts or recommendations are appreciated.. any other sies that could help me here?


__________________
God Bless All,
Daniel

 

[rb_in_va]

Originally posted by murphy4trees
The muffler had been replaced by straight pipe, when it rotted off... the guy liked the extra power

Do you mean the catalytic converter was replaced with straight pipe? I thought that without a muffler it would lose horsepower. Something about back pressure? Without the cat converter, it would no doubt gain horsepower.

 

[Husky372]

hey murphy 175000 miles is'nt that bad for a diesil but the other problms are good to bring the price down. here is a link to a site you really might want to check out it is nothing but ford trucks.

www.ford-truck.com/forums/index.php

 

[Robh]

Its not uncommon for guys to have 400 to 500k miles on their fords with the deisel's. The old pan rusting out is a very common prob and any shop thats worth a dam has faced that prob.

Having a parts truck is a big plus. However i feel $7500 COULD be a bit steep. Take a hard look at the truck and the rest of his trucks. If he takes care of the little things can say alot on how he takes care of the bigger probs. But all in all take your time and dont rush into this deal...Rob

 

[wiley_p]

If the oil has been changed, clean fuel, fuel filter changes done and cooling system maintenece kept up, 179,000 isnt bad at all. the rusty oilpan, damage to transfer case sounds kind of hojo. follow your gut like they said.

 

[Pacific]

Geez thats the truck I'am looking for no joke I'am currently looking for a F-350 Ford 4x4 diesel 5spd with a 161wb so I can put a 12' dump deck on it.

As for the truck you described it sounds like its had a hard life I would have a mechanic check it over if your not sure. The thing with the old 7.3 IDIs is cavitation which is a problem with these engines. If the owner never used cooling additives that prevents cavitation you will have a engine that will have problems down the road.

The 7.3s are fairly reliable they are not the fastest or most powerfull engine but they do have enough power. If your planning on doing alot of highway travel with a loaded truck then the 7.3 might be a bit underpowered.

Without pictures its hard to tell what the value of the truck would be 7800 seems a little bit steep see if the owner will budge on the price.