walk away from no SCAs?

[jim_22]

I found a possibly decent truck, 89 4x4 reg. cab 7.3 with 190k, lots of new stuff, ball joints upper and lower, all brakes, glow plugs, etc. The guy has a good reason to need to sell it and it may be cheap... (whatever that means). He has had it for 1 1/2 years, BUT he has never hear of SCA... should I walk away? I could test it but what is the point, I will not find the additives. Walk on this one?

 

[Diesel JD]

Ask yourself how upset you'd be if you had to replace that engine.... would it still be a reasonably good deal for all the other stuff? Is the price right? Many factors to consider.

 

[starmilt]

Personally I don't use that as a deciding factor. Some motors are more prone to it than others and most that I have seen were in the 110,000 to 150,000 when they went down. Even if you test it or any engine and they test perfect it doesn,t mean it has always been maintained that way, so it is always a gamble.

 

[m67tang]

I would simply ask myself how upset I would be if it needed a motor. besides there are lots of hidden things that could kill an engine.

 

[jim_22]

Thanks for the replies guys. I figure SCA in the coolant is not a guarantee. I bought my 94 with 130k on the clock and had good assurance that it was maintained. But I paid good money for it with a Banks turbo. Here is a truck with lots of new hardware, I am sure the guy spent 2k on parts plus he told me 4k for the truck (he admits to overpaying). He is going into the Marines and needs to move the truck. Sounds like an honest kid. I can probably get it for (2+)k. Too much money? Would I be upset if the engine blew? Only if I ignored a tell-tale sign before I buy. I don't mind taking a risk.

 

[Sycostang67]

May as well test it, just because he doesn't know what SCA's are doesn't mean the PO didn't.

 

[jwalterus]

I had the same decision to make with mine, but the price was right, and everything else with the truck was what I wanted, so I took it

with mine, the engine is very strong, and doesn't use any oil, but the SCA's tested negligable (I think it was .3 or so, small enough to need the precharge load), but I bought it

why not talk to him about SCA's and test it, if it tests low or none, maybe he'll let you have it for a little less?

 

[69oiler]

i bought a truck for $1200 with unknown history and when i tested the coolant it showed NO SCAs. well i have since added them, we'll see if i end up with problems or not. the truck sees less than 1000 miles a year as a beater trash hauler/firewood/plow truck so i'm not that worried.

bottom line is don't pay top dollar for the truck...but if you feel like it's a good deal, then it's ok to take a chance on it.

 

[jim_22]

I just drove the truck, 89 F350. Starts good, sounds good, no smoke. Fuel dripping from the filter. Lots of nice parts Dana 60 front end, new ball joints, shocks, and steering linkage. New seat with seat cover on it. New diamond-pate tool box. New headlights. New mirrors. C60 tranny. Newer stereo and CB. New GP. Box has been off and frame cleaned up. Frame looks good. Some rust starting to show here and there on the body (how could there not be...). Straight piped it is loud and peppy. Oversize tires (not balanced) on Mickey Thomson wheels. Clean green coolant with no measurable additives. The fuel tanks are connected together, he fills in the back and selects fuel from the front (?) 190k, only was driven 10k in the last 1.5 years. the kid put money in it like he wanted to keep it. (receipts for $3200 of parts he said, famus last words). What she worth?
http://images.craigslist.org/3n03o03l75O25P05Rda35db6742715e771cac.jpg

 

[Fozz]

If you like the truck, buy it and then put sca's in it. I wouldn't be scared of the cavitation-thing. But you need to accept it if it does happen. Yes we hear of a few bad engines here and there, but think of all of the engines still out there running and I guarantee not everyone is using sca's. There is a engine serial # you can search for that before that # the engines were more prone to cavitation. I can't find the #, I used to have it written down, but you could check that for extra peace of mind.

 

[Ironman03R]

My dads 88 never had any put in it. We put 160K on it and never had a problem. My 94 probibly never had it done, 150 on it when I got it. Now that I think of it I havent tested it for well over a year...

 

[towcat]

what the heck are you going to do with a std cab truck?
it also smells like a D60 conversion job. '92 and up trucks have the ball joints, '86-'91 has the kingpins.
if the price is what you can live with.... buy it.

 

[jim_22]

what the heck are you going to do with a std cab truck?
it also smells like a D60 conversion job. '92 and up trucks have the ball joints, '86-'91 has the kingpins.
if the price is what you can live with.... buy it.

Hey Towcat---
So I have two vehicles (not counting wife's pig), a 1982 Mercedes 300SD and my IDI. The Mercedes is my daily driver and it goes 25k per year. I spare no expense to keep it in perfect shape which works out to very cheap transportation. The IDI gets used for chores and fun. Although I do it on occasion, it is really too big to drive into downtown Boston and park. I am thinking the Mercedes I could get good money for and replace it with either a reg. cab IDI or a 12V. This truck would have to be maintained to daily-driver standards with my IDI as a backup. I drove a 1991 1 ton 12V this week and it was totally awesome but the guy is asking $7600. So what about the truck for sale in your sig.? And how about the Redneck truck?

 

[mankypro]

did 89's still have 6.9's?

 

[Sycostang67]

As far as I know, 87 was the last year ford put a 6.9 into a truck. It could have been swapped in though.