So I'm looking at this 93 f250 but has an oil leak...

[texcl]

I'm looking at a really nice extended cab 4x4 7.3 1993 f-250 (after chickening out on a 6.5 diesel sub but that's another story) It all looks real good but he says it has a big oil leak (8" circle in 10 minutes), he claims he took it to someone who says it's the rear main. I was under the impression that the main seals almost never go and when they do they are a slower leak. It only has 190,000 on her. It's 4 hours away, don't want to waste a whole day driving for nothing. does this sound right, is it possible the block is cracked or something? are there any questions I should be asking here? he's asking $2500, but I'm thinking its more of a $1700 truck in non drive able condition.

 

[gatorman21218]

does it have a turbo?

 

[texcl]

no

 

[icanfixall]

I'm beting it a return line fuel leak on top of the engine. That fuel will mix with oily dirt in the pan under the intake manifold and it can only drian out near the rear main oil seal. It actually drains down the back of the block on the passenger side and all over the starter. If its draining down the drivers side then ita an oil cooler leak. Might be a cooler to block gasket. Any of these mentioned are cheap repairs and not a main seal leak.

 

[Kevin 007]

I don't know if I would say the rear mains never go in these, but probably not TOO common. I haven't seen too many leak in these idi's. Not like you would in a gas pot. The front main is leaking in mine, and it will continue to leak as im not going to go through the work to replace it.


Check the oil cooler, could be leaking.

 

[Kevin 007]

Ah, he beat me to it, again . Yeah a fuel leak is a good call....

 

[gatorman21218]

I'm beting it a return line fuel leak on top of the engine. That fuel will mix with oily dirt in the pan under the intake manifold and it can only drian out near the rear main oil seal. It actually drains down the back of the block on the passenger side and all over the starter. If its draining down the drivers side then ita an oil cooler leak. Might be a cooler to block gasket. Any of these mentioned are cheap repairs and not a main seal leak.

With no turbo that would be my guess. Thats exactly what it looks like too.

Except the time I knocked off the rear return fitting putting on a throttle cable and though my transmission blew up haha. Fuel was running out of the inspection cover at about a gallon a minute.

 

[texcl]

Thanks for the advice, hadn't thought about those I bet yall are right. Probably should just low ball him and take it as is . Pretty unlikely it is anything catastrophic? After looking over all the issues with the 6.5 TD guess I'm paranoid of block and head cracks.

 

[vegas39]

Thanks for the advice, hadn't thought about those I bet yall are right. Probably should just low ball him and take it as is . Pretty unlikely it is anything catastrophic? After looking over all the issues with the 6.5 TD guess I'm paranoid of block and head cracks.

Aside of the cavitation issue which may plague many 7.3's and a few 6.9's, these engines dont have block and head cracking issues.
The early 6.9 blocks did have some problems with an area around the block heater with cracking but that issue was supposedly gone after 85.
There is no way to compare one of these engines to a 6.2, or 6.5, these IH engines are far superior to those things.

 

[texcl]

At least with cavitation you can line it, with those sorry 6.5's when the #8 cylinder cracks or the main cracks you have to find a new block and you really can't prevent or stop the cracks besides buying an updated block. I think I'll make an offer tommorrow and go from there. Will have to pick it up with my other 93 IDI and my 22' deck over. Sounds like the makings of a fun road trip.

 

[Mulochico]

Mine didn't leak as bad as you describe, but I had a pretty good valve cover leak. Put new gaskets w/aviation form a gasket, torqued to spec, no leaks.

Seem like all possibles are fairly simple fixes.

 

[icanfixall]

From the description given here it could be all of whats posted but not likely a main seal leak. The owner probably has no idea and took it to a "mechanic" who told him thats the problem and heres my $1500.00 bil for a rear main job. Drive there with a trailer. Look at the top of the engine. Your looking for any wet injecters. Any fuel will leak into the valley pan under the intak manifold and drain out the back down only the passenger side of the engine all over the starter. Sometimes it will leak on the flywheel but not very often. Another fuel leak possibility is the main shaft seal in the injection pump. Then it leaks out under that thru a weep hole. That can make a huge mess too.

 

[texcl]

That's what I'll do. I think if I can get her around $2000 it'll be a good deal. One issue, I realized it has jump seats, was hoping it had a rear bench, can I switch them in the future?

 

[towcat]

That's what I'll do. I think if I can get her around $2000 it'll be a good deal. One issue, I realized it has jump seats, was hoping it had a rear bench, can I switch them in the future?

the bolt holes are there for either setup.

 

[texcl]

I made an offer we'll see where it goes.