Cargo Star

[cayman]

I am looking to purchase an IH Cargo Star with a 6.9 liter. What should I be looking for in possible problems. The truck is a 12000 pound dump truck with an Allison 545 automatic transmission. The truck starts right up with no smoking and has had the top end rebuilt with new rings etc plus machined heads. Since I know very little about the 6.9 in this iteration I thought I would ask what others thought about this engine in a truck this heavy. Thanks.

 

[towcat]

does it have a two speed rear? any clue on the GVW?

 

[cayman]

It does not have a split rear end. I have the build sheet from IH as I had a VIN and they were able to pull it from their computer. Its total GVW is 19500 lbs. On the build sheet it says that it has an Allison 4 speed but when I drove the truck it only showed 3 gears on the dashboard where the shift handle was. It also has 6.14 gears. I am really tempted to get it but don't want to wind up with a 2500 dollar paper weight sitting in my pasture. I will use it for field work to haul dirt out of where I am putting in a stock tank and to bring in white rock to create a road into the property. When I inspected the truck it did not appear to leak any fluids and it started right up but then we were in 105 degree heat so the truck was warm. Not sure how it will fair in the winter though. I know nothing of the 6.9 in this format. So far the truck has lasted a week on Craigs list but not sure how much longer it will stay there, but I don't want to rush into this.

 

[towcat]

something tells me it spent the first part of its life as a municipal gov't truck.
imho, as long as you aren't hitting the highways with the truck, you should do OK. I'm at the 1300ft mark in Hamilton and none of my trucks have any problems in the winter.

 

[CDX825]

It may not be the fastest moving truck but it will get the job done.

Really the only big issues with the 6.9 was the head gaskets and the block cracking near the block heater. Seeing as how the truck has had head work done it will have the updated head gaskets on it. Being in Texas I dont think you have to worry about the block heater.

The fact that it starts right up without any assistance (ether) and does not smoke is a good sign.

 

[icanfixall]

Only the very early 6.9 blocks cracked. Yours is ok. Here in Ca you need to upgrade the emmissions package to the expensive years. But in texas maybe you are not going to have to do this crap. Someone here will chime in on this. Gees... Having a split gear rear end sounds like a good thing but a 6.14 gear ratio sounds kinda low for the roads... A farm rig... Not a problem... Those gears will pull the paint off the barns easily..... One more thing... That factory injection pump will be governored to around 2800 rpm. Replace it with a f350 or just a ford pump and you will get another 1000 rpm out of the motor easily... May get even more. That will get you down the road a little faster too....

 

[Fordsandguns]

Only the very early 6.9 blocks cracked. Yours is ok. Here in Ca you need to upgrade the emmissions package to the expensive years. But in texas maybe you are not going to have to do this crap. Someone here will chime in on this. Gees... Having a split gear rear end sounds like a good thing but a 6.14 gear ratio sounds kinda low for the roads... A farm rig... Not a problem... Those gears will pull the paint off the barns easily..... One more thing... That factory injection pump will be governored to around 2800 rpm. Replace it with a f350 or just a ford pump and you will get another 1000 rpm out of the motor easily... May get even more. That will get you down the road a little faster too....

Nope, in Tx we don't have that crap. Yet. It seems that what california does so do a lot of other states. The blind leading the blind.

 

[Agnem]

Just read our FAQ and tech articles. Most of the stuff will be applicable to you.

 

[cayman]

something tells me it spent the first part of its life as a municipal gov't truck.
imho, as long as you aren't hitting the highways with the truck, you should do OK. I'm at the 1300ft mark in Hamilton and none of my trucks have any problems in the winter.

It has a placard on the dash that says something about it being in the postal service. Can't tell if it is our US postal service or Canada, but there is also a placard on the door sill that says made in Canada. So it was some government truck at some time. And I was kind of concerned about that low gearing. I won't need it for much highway driving but I will need to take it on the street to the landfill and the gravel yard. Any idea on why the shift indicator only says three speeds when the build sheet says 4. It does not look like the truck was tampered with though.

 

[Clydesdale]

push button O/D?

allison auto selects O/D?

it only reads 4,3,2 and auto starts in 1st, just not lockable in it?

take it out and hammer on it, count the shifts?

 

[cayman]

The shift column only reads 3,2,1. No OD or showing 4th gear

 

[CDX825]

The 545 is a 4 speed.

It may just have a goofy shifter setup

 

[cayman]

I am going to check it out again in more detail and I think there is a D on the selector and then 1, 2, 3,.......so it could well be 4 gears as it says it is. I will let you all know if I pick it up. Here is a link to a few pictures

http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/1918580082.html

 

[Clydesdale]

Cute lil' feller.

 

[cayman]

Yeah I thought so too, though the add says 7.3 liter the build sheet says 6.9 so unless they bored it out when they did the rebuild I am sure they are just mistaken about the engine size.