1990 Idi sitting for a long time

Hi, I bought a 1990 F350 bucket truck that a guy used in his business. He shut his business down 2009 I think.

Some idiot stole the battery cables and radiator for the copper, so the truck has been sitting for quite a number of years.

ive got cables replaced, got to buy batteries, any words of wisdom before I try to fire it up?

First, check all of your fluids to make sure that they're at the proper level and aren't contaminated. The next thing that I'd do is to buy a new fuel filter. Pull the old one off and drain it into a clean drain pan. Then look at the drained fuel for algae or some other contaminant. If you can see anything out of the ordinary, it's time to dig into the fuel system. If it looks clear, I'd put the filter back and then try to get it running. If you can get the engine started, then the best thing that you can do is to fill the new filter with ATF. Install it and start your engine again. Let it run for 30-60 seconds. Shut it off and let it sit overnight. This will help to loosen up anything that may be a little sticky in your injector pump.

I know it depends on the area you are in as far a contamination goes, but personally, I'd just make sure the engine is free(breaker bar on the crank), check the oil level and color(hopefully OK), probably drain like 1/2 cup of oil from the bottom(look for water), and see if she starts.

Pulling the fuel filter, IMHO isn't the greatest move - now you've got to get the whole system primed again... which may or may not still be full of fuel as is.
If you do pull the fuel filter, refill with something like ATF; it burns quite nicely.

Once you know the engine runs, then you can go through stuff like filling the filter with ATF again and getting it into the IP; changing fluids(Oil, if not contaminated with water, should be fine... but of course you'll want to change it very quickly just cause).

Also, again, once you know everything works - Plan on replacing or re-greasing any bearings on accessories. Being a 1990, you probably don't have any idler pullies(dealer AC had one though), which helps. You should be prepared to replace the water pump if it starts weeping, and also be prepared to replace the vacuum pump.
These things(in my experience) don't like sitting for many years and while they will work fine for a while, they tend to fail relatively quickly.
The water pump may or may not; it really depends on if the seal fails... But if it's the original pump, it's destined to fail soon anyway.

Once you get fuel squirting out of the shrader valve at the fuel filter, I bet it starts right up. If you get a lot of white stinky smoke out of the tailpipe, but it won't fire off, there is probably something wrong with the glowplug system. If you disconnect them a small shot of ether in the aircleaner will get it going.

Bought new Fender solonoid switch Because some idiot stole radiator, battery cables, just busted out of switch. First switch went bad , AP replaced it, Had starter checked twice, checked ok, cleaned it, put new Sol switch on, it burned up, so I thought starter was bad pulling too many amps, bought new starter, then I find out accidentally that Solonoid switches that were sold two me by two AP stores were 100 amp, ladt one was 80. I found same one with same part number but one letter difference is a 300 amp switch. So I probably didnt need a starter, but going to put new starter and sol switch on this afternoon and see where we go.

New starter won't hurt, although sometimes it's a roll of the dice if it's a reman. One thing you need to check if you happen to read this before you do it, when you pull the starter off, check the surface where the starter mounts. If you need to get a drill up there with a wire brush, do it. The starter that was on there can start corroding against the engine adapter, and then the new starter will have a poor ground connection.

It's good to crank it before trying to start it, build up some oil. Doesn't hurt any.

Good advice on the fuel system. Only extra I'd add is the lift pump takes it's time to reprime the system. The return kit could leak too just something to keep an eye on. After verifying no rust or algae, fluids ok, try to start it up. You should see some grayish white smoke chugging out if its primed, or blackish if the plugs lit up and it's trying to start. Once started you'll be dumping white again till she warms, then hopefully clear or very minor haze. These engines take a lot of heat and crank rpm to start.

A test light can tell you real quick if you have any dead glowplugs, depending on the brand some will test ok but be weak. You should check all 8, if they are champions or autolite they'll screw you over. Motorcraft beru are mandatory if you want the automatic glow plug controller. If you go manual control via pushbutton you could try bosch, I've heard ok with wellman too but never tried them. Bosch run HOT, probably 5 seconds to start when the beru take closer to 10. The automatic controller isnt very smart, it'll spazz out if even 1 plug has issues, cycling like crazy. You could bypass the controller via the relay, activating it manually or jumping the big studs, whatever you use will arc and lose some metal to arcing.

Good luck!