Going To Look At 1985 F250 C-6 Non-Turbo Questions

[wils2527]

Hey Guys,
It has been a while since I have been on the site; to be honest since I was forced to sell my 86 I was pretty bummed out. The good news is I have some cash again and I am going to look at 1985 with 181 documented miles with a C-6 transmission. To be honest I've only owned manuals with IDI's and I have no idea what I should be looking at with a C-6.

Is there anything driving that I should watch out for? It is a 4 wheel drive that I plan on testing out while I am there (in Concord, about 2 hours from my house). Are there any questions about the C-6 that I should ask the previous owner outside of fluid changes.

Any information would be excellent.

Thank you!

 

[Iowa 73]

If it only has 181 miles, there's not much to ask.

A road test will tell you what kind of shape the tranny is in. Check for firm shifts while accelerating. Find a small grade and try and back uphill to see how reverse is. Make sure you get the tranny up to temperature as well. Check the fluid after the test drive.

 

[wils2527]

Ok that seems pretty straight forward. The difficult thing will be finding a grade in Concord. I think I can seek one out.

 

[Knuckledragger]

Drive it to Walnut Creek or mount Diablo, there are plenty of grades there.

The C6 is a pretty stout transmission, most of the problems it would encounter are from lack of maintenance. They are easy and inexpensive to rebuild if necessary, and have lots of upgrades available. I had an 85 F250 IDI with 277,000 miles on it before the trans needed to be rebuilt, and it was used hard for many years.

Overheating is a trans killer, if you get this truck and plan to tow much, invest in a deep sump pan and an external trans cooler. You will be happy for a long time.

 

[OLDBULL8]

The C6 is nearly an indestructable tranny. Check the fluid for color and smell test, if it's brown and smells burnt, then it may have been run hot. Check the level HOT and in park running. You may want to adjuct the intermediate band also, and check the VRV on the IP.

Again, this stupid change to the forum makes it difficult or nearly impossible at times to upload pics. Damn, how I hate this, spend so much time trying to do anything now. RANT RANT RANT.
Even the Webshots can't be downloaded any more, but here is a link for the C6.

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/576966381wmBRfL

 

[hesutton]

My recommendation would be to add a trans temp gauge if you buy this truck. Like stated above, heat kills auto's and the C6 is no exception. Before swapping the C6 for a ZF5 in my crew cab, I watched that trans temp gauge like a hawk when hauling even modest loads, and that was with an axuillary cooler on the truck as well.


Heath

 

[SparkandFire]

My first IDI owned was an '86 4x4 F250 with a C6.

She had over 320,000 miles on her when I got her. Still had the original C6, nothing ever done to it except infrequent fluid/filter changes. The original owner towed a gooseneck three horse trailer all over the country with the truck. There is no debating the stout-ness of the C6.

Chances are good that it's going to have 4.10's, same as my '86 ... Made long road trips interesting. At 65 MPH you are screaming. By 68 MPH you're done, that's it. No more velocity to be had from the C6/4.10 combo...

I say buy it... You can always give it the ZF5 treatment later on...

 

[wils2527]

I like the idea of the ZF 5 swap someday. Thank you all for the guidance in regards to the truck. I will make sure to do the smell test as well as checking the fluid level once I have gotten it on the road for a while. Good idea Knuckledragger I will head to the hills; especially since this will be spending all day in night in the hills if I buy it. Trans temp gauge is noted and will be purchased if I get the truck.

Thank you for the link in regards to the C-6 that was very helpful information for me.

 

[dgr]

Make you taste the tranny fluid, frown slightly, look at the owner out h of the corner of your eye and share your head. Then get the price down

 

[wils2527]

Ha ha. Nice dgr. I like that idea. Anything to not have to pay full asking price.