new here need some pointers

[fury9]

Hello to all you diesel freaks, I'm hopefully going to get a 86 F250 4x4 6.9 with supposedly 99000 miles, heard it run, sounds good to me, dont know what to listen for though, body solid with surface rust especially on the roof,flip down seats in rear, no a\c compressor, manual gp switch, block heater which owner says will need to be replaced, looked around but cant find one online so i was thinking of going with an inline heater... anyways, What are the main things i need to look at\listen to when i go to finally buy this beast today (hopefully) owner is gonna take 1500 any help would be great as you can probably tell that I have never owned or maintained a diesel before. Thanks

 

[ameristar1]

Welcome to the board! Make sure that the engine is cold when you get there, tell the previous owner not to start it. If you touch the valvecover and it's warm, or they make an excuse as to why they started the truck, walk away. See how quickly it starts; if it lights off immediately from cold you have good compression. Check the smoke on start up, a little is normal; but if there's excessive white smoke (fuel smoke) glowplugs are on the way out or there's something wrong with the glowplug system, injectors are leaking, pump is out of time or worn out.

If it passes all the tests as far as shift quality, no crazy noises from the brakes or driveline, then change out all the fluids front to back, change all the filters, flush the cooling system and go to a reputable shop and check the pump timing.

After this, put together some money to get a fresh injection pump, injectors, lift pump, glow plugs. Put the parts to the side for later; the injection system needs to be freshened up after 100-150k miles and it's not that expensive.

 

[fury9]

thanks ameristar1 i take it i should use antifreeze with anti-cavatation qualities, thanks again

 

[sootman73]

yep you should get some DCA4 coolant additive from a international dealership. like 6 bucks a bottle will need 3 or 4 to get the right mix. and get some test strips from them as well to check the different ingredients in the coolant.

 

[fury9]

Went to look at the truck, called the guy no answer so i figured id just go over there, got there the truck was running but he had a possum in a trap and said he was going to go drop it off at the forest preserve, i offered to go with. Everything sounded great, only thing i was a little concerned about was it shifts hard, not snap u joints hard but hard nonetheless. What could this be? Then i took it for a ride down the road got it up to 55 no problems. drives straight, stops good, good tires 235/85/16 load range e , bad tailgate,manual windows,no tach,hubs clicked in when i locked em,headliner more like a neck liner, BUT I couldn't get her today as the owner says he can't quite find the title and wants a notarized bill of sale to rid him of any liability if i crash on the way home (understandably) . No currency exchange open within 20 miles to do this, said he was gonna have a hard time parting with it hopefully he doesn't change his mind by tomorrow. wish i would have got the vin so i could look up some codes. also has a detailed service history starting in 01 when he said he bought the truck from the dealer with 56000 on the odometer. will update tomorrow hopefully with pics

 

[sootman73]

sounds like a sharp ride if its truly got that many miles on it but it has probably been rolled over at least once. running the vin will be able to tell you that.

 

[Michael Fowler]

fury9,
Welcome to the foum.
You are ahead of the game by being here, and asking for help. More true knowledge here than MANY professional mechanics would give you. These trucks are obsolete, so many mechanics have absolutely no experience with them. Here, we live and breathe these things.

At the top of the page there is an IDI tech section. Go there, and read.

You still need to observe a cold start before completing the deal.

 

[Agnem]

If you can't get a cold start experience, check the vehicle and any premise you have access to for empty cans of either. That can tell you if this engine has been abused much. Glow plug problems are not that big a deal, but if they are bad, and the wrong brand, you could be looking at pulling the heads to get them out. Be warned.

 

[RLDSL]

I don't care how bad you are drooling or how good she looked, put it back in your pants ! ( err, your wallet without seeing a cold start, you do not know a thing about that truck. For all you know he had to have a buddy come over with a D9 and drag that thing on a chain for 6 blocks in gear to get it started that morning
Never never never never never never never never never never never never, By the way did I say NEVER buy a diesel without seeing the first start of the morning! It should fire right off after the glow plug controller starts clicking /cycling, about 8-15 seconds depending on outside temp. watching the volt gauge will tell you it will drop hard while glow plugs are on hard and let up a little when it's ready to fire in about 8-15 seconds, after that with right foot at half throttle it should cough right to life, if not it has problems, the extent of which you must be prepared to accept as severe if you still want the thing. As Mel said, if the wrong plugs are in it, you can count on the heads having to come off. If you see the guy reach for a can of starter fluid, RUN away( I don't know about in IL, but around here , guys who trap possums, usually mainline starter fluid

You want to check the fluids on the truck right after getting warmed up to temp then again after about a half hour run( pay the guys fuel) If oil or coolant dissapear after a half hour something is bad wrong, it will happen on a worn engine. can just be stuck rings in the case of oil, but you don't want to take that gamble unless you want to factor in the price of a new engine and whittle the truck price down to match if coolant goes, it's cavitation or head gaskets, either way, you don't want it.

 

[fury9]

owner called and said he still couldnt find the title, asked if i could go over for one more look before we go to the dmv tomorrow to apply for a lost one, he said sure, i said i wanted a cold start. He said fine, went there he told me to open the hood so i could feel the heads to see if they were cold, he knew what i was doing, they were. I hopped in turned the key did a 6 count on the toggle switch, didn't touch the gas she popped off in about 3-4 secs, I was pleased, didn't see any smoke,checked oil, trans (relatively clean and didnt smell burnt) antifreeze good so I'll post pics of the truck tomorrow Thanks again for all the tips and help, it's really appreciated

 

[zpd307]

 

[ameristar1]

Mainlining starter fluid. I don't care what you say, that's funny!

 

[david85]

Aside from taking a temperature reading of the engine there is another way to detect if the engine has been run within the last hour or so.

Pop the oil filler cap off and look for vapors coming out. Doesn't matter how cold the engine is, if you have vapors there, it was run recently.