Need some advice asap

[homelessduck]

I looked at a 1990 F250 7.3l with an ats kit, brand new trans, ex. cab, super clean.. The guy knows nothing about diesels.. Glow plugs were bad so he sprayed ether in it, which blew the head gasket. He took it to a local diesel shop, and they diagnosed the head gasket. Little to no water in the oil.. What are the chances that it screwed something else up as well? The truck is super clean, 126,000 miles... $1400.

 

[idi traveler]

Offer him $1200 and find out!

 

[homelessduck]

Everything looks clean, turns over and sounds fine.. He sprayed ether in it and it started to fire but I told him no more ether...

 

[idi traveler]

If the head gasket is blown you don't want to crank it any way. No since in risking hydro lock on what might be a perfectly good motor. Get some test strips and test the coolent for SCA's just to make sure it's not block worms.

 

[homelessduck]

Yea. I'm just curious if the head gasket could blow from ether without other things being damaged..

 

[franklin2]

The pistons are aluminum and they could have been damaged, as well as some of the piston rings could be cracked.

 

[homelessduck]

He says he drove it to the diesel shop, they told him he blew the head gasket, he drove it home.. He just wants it out of his yard. Think it would have driven there and back if something serious had happened?

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

I doubt the ether had anything to do with the blown head-gasket; most likely just a timely coincidence.

If he drove it to the shop and then back home, I doubt much is wrong with it, unless it does have a hole eroded through a cylinder.

Myself, I would let HIM ether it and get it started/running and make any educated assumptions from there; buying it without hearing it run is like buying a pig in a poke.

He probably parked it from lack of funds to fix it.

If that really is the case, and he really does want it gone, nine big hunnert-dollar bills under his nose will make it yours.

 

[homelessduck]

Money isn't his problem. He has plenty.. I saw his "toys" . He just bought it to haul dirt and stuff, knew nothing about diesels so it gave him hell, so he just wants it to go away.

 

[Shaguardriver]

Offer him $900 and talk about some high estimate to do the head gasket.

 

[icanfixall]

If you buy this there is some work you need to do. The gaskets including the intake manifold are something you can't get away with not changing. Figure those gaskets are going to cost $100.00. Do both heads because you have no idea what shape the other head gasket is in. If you can afford it do the oil cooler o-rings. You will never has easier acess to it with the heads on the block. Figure all the bent over work your going to be doing if you leave the motor in the truck. That hurts just thinking about it. The pistons are thick. The tops are around .560 thousands so I dought any damage has been done but.... You wont know till both heads are off. Next item to check is are all the pistons at the same height out of the cylinders. If so then the rods are not bent. Really the first thing you should do if you buy this is do a compression test. That will tell you lots about the motor. You will know which cylinder is at fault and the condition of the motor overall...

 

[homelessduck]

Thanks for the info guys! I am going to buy it. For $1400, I could still get my money back if there is further damage. It has a brand new trans, receipt says $2500. The turbo kit looks on the new side as well. The truck itself only has 126k miles. After all of the work that I did with my old IDI, I am not worried as long as it's just a head gasket replacement. I can't really afford to rebuild it, but can manage a few hundred for gaskets and stuff.

 

[timothyr1014]

I would buy it, but try to lowball him...regardless of if he needs the money you are talking $900~$1k vs a lump of steel he dont want.

If you buy it right and run into more than you want to deal with you should be able to part it and come out clean

 

[homelessduck]

I'll get some pics today. I'm expecting to have to do basic stuff as well as the head gaskets. I'm sure it could use a return line kit, filters, fluid flush, know it needs gp's..

 

[icanfixall]

With the heads off its an easy job to replace the glow plugs. In the future you will need a set of injectors and a pump. What you are buying may just be original parts....