Need help making a decision

[dyoung14]

Well im in a situation were work is real slow around here, im running low on money, and my truck continues to need work, well i payed 600 dollars for it a few months ago, and have since sank about 2200 into it,

There is a truck someone here locally has for sale 89(i think) F250 4x4 7.3 E4OD body is a little ruff, not bad tho, interior, aint perfect, windsheild is cracked, he said the trans shifts hard, it just grabs the gear like it has a shift kit, What could that be? but its a good running, good driving truck for 600 dollars, i paid that for mine and it was a non running not drving truck,

I just need some advice what do yall think you would do?

 

[Jake S.]

The shifting would just be the filp on the ip. $600 is a good price, but it is also $600 you could use on your truck...

 

[oldmisterbill]

X2 -on the otherhand $600 could buy you s lot of parts.

 

[Jake S.]

X2 -on the otherhand $600 could buy you s lot of parts.

true dat

 

[Shadetreemechanic]

Shifting real hard means the tranny is in limp mode. That could be anything from a $40 flps to an $1800 rebuild.
Unless you have some more dollars laying around that you could throw at the tranny, I'd probably stick with what I had.....
That is unless you want to make some extra dollars by parting out whichever one you don't keep.

 

[Darrin Tosh]

If it is an 89 it may have a C6, that would be more of a VRV adjustment. Find out if it is E40d or C6.

 

[Diesel_brad]

I would keep what you got. The 89 may need more than the initial trans work, then you could have a complete other money pit

 

[BroncoBreno]

Just a little bit to ponder, if work is slow, you've invested in the truck you have, $600 could mean your house payment or more improvement on your present truck. I have been in your situation and made the decision to buy another just cause I could and down the road sold both trucks to survive until unemployment got straight. I currently have a money pit but I love it and as i get more cash I do more fixin. Just today I had to replace the oil cooler, not too bad but I still haven't drove the truck a full mile down the road and have had it all winter. Let your common sense decide

 

[david85]

1989 should technically be an E4OD but there are exceptions. If this is indeed an E4OD that has not been rebuilt since the factory, walk away - period! Don't give it another thought.

Fixing and updating an E4OD of that era will not be cheap even if you can do all the work yourself. Rare examples can beat the odds but you are still playing the odds for that era.

Do you absolutely have to have a truck right now? I would suggest taking insurance off your truck and buying a puddle hopper car. Not as "cool" but the up front price is comparable or less, and fuel cost drop by half at least. I bought a clean, running saturn SL1 that got almost 40 MPG for $750. Wasn't perfect, but that thing probably would have run fine for at least another year. My dad reamed on that thing on the way home too

Zippy cars if you avoid the autos (what else is new)

 

[The Warden]

Do you absolutely have to have a truck right now? I would suggest taking insurance off your truck and buying a puddle hopper car. Not as "cool" but the up front price is comparable or less, and fuel cost drop by half at least.

I have to second that statement. FWIW, I went and calculated things back in 2002, when diesel was still under $2/gallon and estimated that, even with keeping up on insurance, registration, etc on my truck, I would save over $700 a year if I got a second, more fuel efficient car, and drove it 80% of the time. The difference between 15 and 25 mpg is rather surprising in terms of fuel savings. This is why I bought my M-B, and why it's my daily driver and my truck spends most of its time sitting. I love my truck, but I just can't justify driving it most of the time...

BTW, I saved my spreadsheet I made to make these calculations, and I just updated it for current fuel prices (about $3/gallon here)...and the savings went up to $1300 annualy

 

[dyoung14]

well i use the truck to pile all my tools in, and everything i use, but i was thinkin of selling the 86 and getting the 600 dollar one but idk

 

[david85]

You would be surprised how much you can fit in an econobox car. In the case of my saturn, the trunk space alone is bigger than in the back of my mom's Rav4 and thats before you flip the rear seat down. You can't quite fit a full size plywood in there but there is a lot of room for tools depending on what you are hauling.

I see lots of tradesman around here that get started on an old minivan or compact car and just run them into the ground for years on end in some cases.

Unless you know 120% sure that the transmission in the $600 truck isn't shot or on its way, don't do it. Last thing you need is a truck with a broken slushbox when you are also strapped for cash.

 

[Michael Fowler]

I have to second that statement. FWIW, I went and calculated things back in 2002, when diesel was still under $2/gallon and estimated that, even with keeping up on insurance, registration, etc on my truck, I would save over $700 a year if I got a second, more fuel efficient car, and drove it 80% of the time. The difference between 15 and 25 mpg is rather surprising in terms of fuel savings. This is why I bought my M-B, and why it's my daily driver and my truck spends most of its time sitting. I love my truck, but I just can't justify driving it most of the time...

BTW, I saved my spreadsheet I made to make these calculations, and I just updated it for current fuel prices (about $3/gallon here)...and the savings went up to $1300 annualy

That MB is an IDI, too, so you haven't left your true love.
Love my 300SD!

 

[The Warden]

You would be surprised how much you can fit in an econobox car. In the case of my saturn, the trunk space alone is bigger than in the back of my mom's Rav4 and thats before you flip the rear seat down. You can't quite fit a full size plywood in there but there is a lot of room for tools depending on what you are hauling.

That's still relative...I think you can fit 3 bodies in the trunks of the Town Cars at work we're still not sure what we'll replace them with when Ford axes the Panther chassis

That MB is an IDI, too, so you haven't left your true love.
Love my 300SD!

What he said!! I'm on my third M-B now...they're wonderful cars if treated properly, and even if they're abused, they'll (usually) keep going indefinitely...

 

[icanfixall]

If the tps switch is over 50,000 miles old its time for a new one. To test the voltage on it use the center wire and a digital volt meter. Turn on the ignition switch but don't have the motor running. The idle voltage should be between .96 and 1.2 volts. At wide open throttle it needs to be less than 5 volts. If it reaches 5 volts the computer tells the trans to go into limp home mode. Thats the easy way to determine why its shifting hard... How many miles are on the trans and has it been rebuilt and upgraded... Does the atf fluid look and smell good....