Test drive?

[dieselford84]

I'm new to diesel's and this site, but have been looking for a truck for a while. I looked at and drove a 86' f350 crew cab 4x4/6.9 diesel with banks trurbo/4 speed/3.55 gears 170K miles today and had a few questions about it. What is the normal operating temp these motors shoud run because the dash guage was reading a little hot and the external guage was reading around 210, and when we got out the radiator was pretty hot to the touch after 20 min of driving. The owner said he did the head gaskets at 150K becasue they were leaking around 5 years ago. Also my friend thought he smelled diesel in the coolant, but I couldn't smell it when I checked. The heater core is also broken so I'm not sure if this would make it run hotter. The truck did drive pretty nice though, needs a new clutch and the front want to shimmy a little when you get on the brakes hard, but I think its just the pass front rotor. The body was in good condition and no rust or real body damage. He is asking $2500, but I beleive he is a little flexible, does anyone have any input? It would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the long post.

 

[dieselford84]

little slow on sunday.

 

[69oiler]

maybe the radiator is plugged up. 210 is not too hot but i think 190-195 is the stock thermostat temp.

for $2500 i'd jump all over it. lucky left coasters with your dime-a-dozen clean truck bodies.

 

[dieselford84]

yeah, but the radiator was frigin hot to the touch, really hot after only 20-25 minutes of driving and the fact that the head gaskets were done at 150k worries me too.

 

[david85]

Does the temp get much higher than that when its run hard?

The top of the rad will be too hot to touch at normal operating temperature. Same goes for anything else on the engine when its at operating temp. If its running hotter than 210 and the bottom of the rad is cold, then you could have a blocked rad or a bad thermostat. If he used a non OEM thermostat, then that alone could cause the problem.

 

[tractorman86]

personally i think 210 is a little warm but not uncontrolable. clutch is about $300, heater core is cheep but a pain in the but, and head gaskets at 150k not too uncommon but definately figure out if they blew out internally or just leaked outside, there is no real way for diesel to get into the cooling system that i can think of. maybe he was smelling a leakey injector return line.

 

[k_williams1982]

Diesel smell in most likely the return lines/caps. I can barely touch the top of my radiator at operating temp, yet it's not "overheating". The heater core in the '86 is a PITA to do, but cheap. Since it's a '86 F350, that means it has the famous D60 under the front, and that axle alone is worth half what the guy is asking for the truck as a whole. Figure the turbo is another $700, and you're already up to almost his asking price. $2,500 isn't bad for a '86 CC 4x4 with a turbo. If there's a lot of interest in the truck and you really want it (once you go CC, you won't want anything else ), then I'd pay the $2,500. If there's not much interest in the truck, offer out about $2,200 and see what he says.

On a side note, welcome and it's good to see another Oregonian here. There's a few right near you, (punkmechanic, typ4, and ottoparts just to name a few), and I'm just over the pass in "beautiful" Central Oregon.

 

[dakotajeep]

If it what you are looking for get it. I wish mine was that setup. Just need that manual tranny.....

Thad

 

[hesutton]

He is asking $2500, but I beleive he is a little flexible, does anyone have any input?

Yes........BUY IT! I would buy that truck in a second if it were here (Kentucky). I've been wanting that truck for years..........and for $2500!

If you pass on it..........maybe a road trip to Oregon is in order for me!

Heath

 

[dieselford84]

we were not running the truck that hard and is was empty on a 50 degree morning, the guy said that the gauges are reading a little off because he used silicone around the senders when he put them back in and he thinks it makes them reader hotter for some reason. About the head gaskets he said they started to seep water around the heads so he changed the gaskets, just hope they didn't get to hot and warp, but I didn't see any coolant leaking from them. I should have checked the bottom of the radiator, but I only felt the top. I really do like the truck and the guy is even going to through in another set of wheels and tires with good tread, but I just wanted to ask everyone what they thought about the motor. The truck also has an underdrive on it, but he is going to take it off beacuse it would pop out of gear every so often, which is fine with me.

 

[david85]

What type of overdrive does the truck have? I would try and get it anyway because it might be repairable. The T19 with an overdrive gear splitter is a nice combo.

 

[typ4]

As David85 said, these trucks are too hot to touch at normal operating temp. Mine will idle at 190 which is the t-stat temp, And I have a fairly new cooling system, running at 210 is not a huge deal ,the gauge could be easily off 10 degrees. I will be in east portland tomorrow or wed if you want a second opinion.

 

[dieselford84]

wow thanks a lot for the offer typ4 thats really nice of you, not sure when I will go back to look at it though. The guy wants to keep the underdrive to rebuild for his next truck and I will not have the money to rebuild it for a long time anyway so we talked about him just taking it off and swapping the drivelines. I just wanted to check with everyone here about the cooling that was the only real worry I had about the truck, I think he said he ran some sealer through the coolant to fix the heater core, but it only lasted a few weeks and was leaking again. So if I could get the truck a little cheaper than 2500, I would be into it a new heater core and clutch and few other minor things so it wouldn't be bad. He is not in a real big hurry to sell nor is it advertised so thats nice.

 

[david85]

Not liking the sound of sealer in the system. I would change the coolant at the very least and maybe have the rad flow tested. Do you know how old the radiator is? Replacements are not cheap unless you are lucky and find a good used one. I was actually able to filter out a leak stop from coolant with a paint strainer.

 

[typ4]

x2 on the sealer. Just plan on having the radiator cleaned when you do the heater core. Figure 200 or so worst case.