Looking into buying an 89 F-250 6.9L 4x4

[BigBadJohn]

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/car/776167205.html

Up for grabs is a 1989 F-250 Diesel.
*4 x 4
*Regular cab Lariat
*Interior is near perfect, red in color
*Exterior is White
*white visor
*white wheel flares
*spray in bed liner
*runs great!

**It will need the front transaxles for the 4 wd to work, (the guy before took them out)
**One tire is the wrong size (I'll put one on it, or I'll give you the right size wheel and you can put a tire on it
**Soilenoid for the glow plugs is bad
**Brakes need bled

This isn't really alot of work, and will make a Really good truck, I just have too much on my plate right now. Don't miss this opportunity!

Let me know if you have any questions. First one with the cash, gets the prize.

Took a look at it last week. Apparently it needs a new solenoid for the glow plug. The owner had to start the engine on ether because of it. I think theyre like $25 and located on top of the engine somewhere. The brakes are really spongy. Had to press down 2 or 3 times to get it to build up pressure. May need bled, or possibly fluid, or a master cylinder.
Has dual tanks so I can use one for waste oil and the other for diesel or both for waste oil and get a used toolbox and put a diesel tank in that
Has a 6.9 litre engine and straight pipe exhaust. Motherf****r sounds mean. Has tons of throat to it

Also, the floor pans especially near the door jams are rusted through a little but thats not a big big issue for me.

A member on nastyz28 is a member on here, 6 nebraska IDI's and he said something about a switch to wire in place of the solenoid and I would actually keep ruining glow plugs because of it. Info on this?

What are the odds the brakes need to be just bled? Could it be smething like the master cylinder or something ese thats shot?

Im not wanting too too much maintenance to get this thing on the road driving decent

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[6 Nebraska IDIs]

Hey John,
Here's a tread about the GP switch.
http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?t=21352&highlight=manual+glow+plug+switch
And here's a tech article on how to do it to the 7.3 style GP controller system if your 6.9 has that system in it.
http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?t=8776&highlight=Glow+Plug

But I'd guess your truck has the old small canister looking controller that screws into the back of the drivers side head by the intake manifold.
The 7.3 controllers are known to be good controllers and they last a long time, but they are well over $300 to replace, and at that point a person may as well just wire them manual.
The 6.9 controller just sucks, flat out. We replaced the original one on my grandpas truck at the 600,000 mile mark because it wasnt holding the GP's on long enough. That new controller only lasted about a week, and we were lucky we caught it, because this time it stuck in the ON position and we noticed the Wait to Start light was on for a very long time. Ended up having to replace 2 of the original GP's because of that.

The brakes could either be needing bled but I'd be very cautious of having to replace that master. Seems like its more and more common these days to get bad brand new master cylinders for these trucks. We went through 3 from our local parts store.

 

[sassyrel]

a 89 with a 6.9???? what happened????????

 

[flatlander]

brakes are more than likely out of adjustment. Put it in reverse build up a head of steam and slam on the brakes 3 or 4 times. They don't seem to adjust like their supposed to. If that's not it, try bleeding them.

The master cyliner went out on both my trucks. I'd have brakes but while sitting still holding the brake down the pedal would slowly go to the floor.

 

[BigBadJohn]

a 89 with a 6.9???? what happened????????

Hell I dont know. Wasnt the 6.9 the stock engine for 89?

 

[Diesel JD]

Nope they switched to a 7.3 IDI non powerstroke in '88. The only way its a 6.9 is if somebody dropped in a replacement motor.

 

[towcat]

here's my take on the truck.
if the back of the cylinder heads aren't leaking and when you pull the oil filler cap the blowby goes away when you bring it off idle, and there isn't oil in the radiator, you just bought a decent motor with a truck thrown in for a bonus. you can't go wrong on the price even though you may have to do some work on it.
buy it.

 

[BigBadJohn]

Whats this switch mod I heard about that you replace the solenoid with it?

 

[Michael Fowler]

Whats this switch mod I heard about that you replace the solenoid with it?

You don't replace the solenoid with a manual switch. You use the manual switch to activate the solenoid. The GPs draw too much current to run thru a switch. A solenoid is simply an electrically operated switch that allows a small current to switch a big current. Check the thread listed above, use the "search" function as the topic has been exhausted.

 

[Agnem]

If it's an 89, with a 6.9 in it, my guess is the original 7.3 cavitated. Production of the 6.9 ended with the 87' model year.

 

[BigBadJohn]

I honestly dont know what size engine is in it. The owner says its original but he also said it has a 6.9 in it. Either he thought 6.9s are original to that year or it is a 7.3 and he confused it for a 6.9


Is there typically a lot of cancer in the floorboards on these trucks? Not too hard to take the carpet out and weld new sheetmetal is it? My uncles got all sorts of welding equipment

 

[Diesel JD]

The easy way to tell i9f its a 6.9 or not is to find a head bolt and try a 12pt 7/16 socket on it. If its a 6.9 that will fit if its a 7.3 it will be too small as these use 1/2" head bolts.

 

[Dsl_Dog_Treat]

Is there typically a lot of cancer in the floorboards on these trucks? Not too hard to take the carpet out and weld new sheetmetal is it? My uncles got all sorts of welding equipment

With it living in the rust belt that sounds about typical. Floor pans and rockers aren't too bad a price and like towcat said, ta got a good motor with a truck.

 

[Optikalillushun]

I honestly dont know what size engine is in it. The owner says its original but he also said it has a 6.9 in it. Either he thought 6.9s are original to that year or it is a 7.3 and he confused it for a 6.9


Is there typically a lot of cancer in the floorboards on these trucks? Not too hard to take the carpet out and weld new sheetmetal is it? My uncles got all sorts of welding equipment

common areas for rust on the interior:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v648/optikal_illushun/Trucks/Smokie/Interior/Rust/

 

[BigBadJohn]

I checked the wikipedia f-series info again. I was wrong. I guess its a 7.3
I want it but I cant justify buying it. I mean it would be nice to have but I already have an 89 camaro, a toyota daily driver, and a 79 chevy pickup and I dont know where Id put it.
Plus as of right now I dont currently have the room to heat/filter waste oil anyway. Its not a bad truck for the price but I really think itll **** my family off getting another vehicle

I cant make up my mind