Purchasing a 7.3 IDI from relative, need advice ae!

[Drake Smith]

So my cousin has a 92 F250 Ext cab long bed hes wanting to sell me for $1500. Guy trade him this truck plus $500 for his 99 jeep grand Cherokee. Anyways, the truck has the zf5 in it and currently needs a new clutch. My cousin says it also has a hard time starting but it does run. If he plugs it in and charges both batteries he says itll start eventually after cranking. He says he hears a clicking noise and he thinks that's something to do with the glowplugs. But he thinks the fuel bowl heater is bad which is causing the no start issue. I'm more inclined to believe it's the glowplugs. Truck has a 6" suspension lift on 35s. Has the ATS turbo as well. There is a little bit of blowby but not much. Truck has 245k miles. The coolant looks yellow/goldish. He said the previous owner had it a few months and the clutch went out and he needed something more reliable so he traded it to my cousin. That previous owner bought it from a guy in Missouri who had the truck for 8 years. Whether he ever used the coolant additives or long life coolant and maintained scas I have no clue. What I'm trying to get at is, is this a good buy or should I stay away? I'm supposed to make the 5 hour trip to Salt Lake City on Friday after work to pick it up. I'm gonna help my cousin put the clutch in and drive it back to Idaho. Will the truck make the 5 hour trek back to Boise? Should i be concerned over the little amount of blowby? How long will it take for it to get worse? My cousin also told me the previous owner unfortunately put autolite plugs in the truck. So I'm instantly swapping those out for the Motorcraft Beru plugs. There also is an extra injector pump included with the truck. And a new front bumper because one of the previous owners used it as a plow truck. Is this a good deal? If I flush the coolant and refill with the VC8 additive, and theres already slight cavitation, will that stop it at least for awhile? Any info would be greatly appreciated! Also, the batteries drain pretty quickly he said.

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[Jake60]

$1500 with a zf5 I'd jump on it. I'd take it for a good local test drive before a 5 hour trip but if an IDI starts and runs and has oil it'll generally go till you stop, the iffy part would be the rest of the truck.

 

[Drake Smith]

Yeah theres no four wheel drive because the drive shaft is missing for that or something. I'm just worried if wont make it back. Or that I'll get it started and running and driving and itll just randomly die or shutoff and I wont be able to start it again.

 

[YJMike92]

Life's an Adventure go for it. If nothing else it worth it in parts.

 

[Drake Smith]

Okay but I'm buying this for a daily driver. I dont ever tow anything but I often times haul things that require a truck. I wanna make sure this thing is gonna be reliable for a daily driver. Dont really care about it as a parts truck. I currently have no running vehicle because I havent been able to get my 84 Camaro up and running completely yet.

 

[Randy Bush]

My personal opinion. Batteries are probably a lot of your start problems they have to spin good to start. Check all fluids. get it started and warmed up good and see how it restarts and sounds. One thing about an IDI , got fuel and power to run pump they will run. 5 hrs is not a long trip , take it easy with it , You will know real quick how things may go.

 

[Drake Smith]

Okay. Yeah the speed limit o. I-84 between here and salt lake is 80mph but I dont plan on going more than 70mph in the truck. My 95 GMC Sierra with a 350 didnt even do well at 80 and that was with a good engine with low miles. I'm just more worried about the blowby and cavitation than anything else.

 

[Drake Smith]

My cousin also told me that the previous owner used starting fluid to start the truck on cold mornings when it wouldnt start. I know it's never a good idea to use ether on a diesel as it can warp the heads (or so I've been told). Should I be worried about this? The truck doesnt overheat. I'm wondering if the brownish/goldish/yellowish coolant is possibly oil in the coolant? That does kind of worry me.

 

[chillman88]

$1500 is good for what you're describing as long as the body is in decent shape. Looks rusty so I would want to check it over and make sure it's not about to fall apart. Can't always tell from a picture. I've had trucks look better than that and not have any floors left.

The fuel bowl heater has ZERO effect on the cold start issue. It's definitely something with the glow plug circuit. Two years in New York with my fuel bowl heater unhooked without issue.

The coolant COULD be a good sign. Some of the newer diesel coolant is gold. Are there any traces of oil? Think rainbow floating on the coolant. That's the only way I know to describe it. If you've ever seen oil or fuel in a water puddle you'll know what I mean.

As far as the drive as long as it starts and runs good you should be ok as long as you don't shut it off.

Replace the fuel filter. Keep it over half a tank on the trip home.

CHECK YOUR ALTERNATOR! I would hate the batteries to die on the way home because of a bad alternator.

Other than that we can help you fix whatever it needs when you get home. Good luck!

 

[chillman88]

My cousin also told me that the previous owner used starting fluid to start the truck on cold mornings when it wouldnt start. I know it's never a good idea to use ether on a diesel as it can warp the heads (or so I've been told). Should I be worried about this? The truck doesnt overheat.

Not necessarily. It's more of a problem if the glow plugs are working. If he used it correctly it won't lift the heads. If the heads lift someone is using too much. Ether can cause problems but nothing you are describing worries me.

I'll bet if you get those autolites out and get good plugs in it it'll probably start fine.

Mine was way off on the timing, had bad batteries, a bad starter, bad grounds and a very dirty fuel system when I got it. It would fire but took forever cranking. I got everything up to par and she'll fire after one or two revolutions now. It's kind of impressive how much of a difference there is between one that "starts eventually" and one that just works the way it should.

 

[YJMike92]

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Okay but I'm buying this for a daily driver. I dont ever tow anything but I often times haul things that require a truck. I wanna make sure this thing is gonna be reliable for a daily driver. Dont really care about it as a parts truck. I currently have no running vehicle because I havent been able to get my 84 Camaro up and running completely yet.

If you think this truck is going to be a daily driver Monday morning after just a clutch replacement then no don't buy it.
If your willing to do a lot of work in the next couple weeks to get it dependable then I'd say go for it. It's an old truck and it will be an adventure.
If you have no other means of transportation and you have this many concerns about this truck, don't buy it. Just my two cents

 

[Drake Smith]

I know I'm gonna have to fix it up for a bit to get it running good. I was just planning on fixing the clutch and driving it home and parking it until I could fix it more which wouldnt be too long. I know for a fact that the starting issue is probably the glowplugs and the glowplug relay. If the batteries dont have the correct cold cranking amps, I'm sure that has something to do with it too.

 

[Drake Smith]

The thing that concerns me most is the blowby and the coolant. The truck gas 245,000 miles on it. Pretty high mileage granted it is a diesel. Just dont wanna have to drive the truck back and then rebuild or drop in a new engine shortly after.

 

[snicklas]

How much blow by are you seeing? At idle it will puff out the oil fill if you have the cap off. If you bring it off idle, it should clear up on a healthy engine. Both of mine do this. The puff at idle, but bring it up to 1000 rpm, there is almost no blow by.

If no matter the rpm and it looks like a steam locomotive climbing a pass, the I would be concerned.

 

[nj_m715]

this looks like a decent truck for the price to me, but it looks like a project not a reliable daily driver
at least not without a good bit of work first

if you're worried about the drive get a trailer or dolly and drag it back
or get AAA for 100$ they'll tow you 100 miles

take it from someone who has always driven old junk,
with a 30 year old, lifted, rusty, 1/4 million mile DD you might want AAA anyway