Went for a test drive!

[yowen]

So I went for a test drive in the F-350.

For those of you that didn't read my earlier thread it is here: http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?59009-93-F350-Crewcab-with-ZF5/

The Good!:
It looks extremely good when you crawl under it, very rust free, as claimed.
It still had the bumper mounts so I can put a stock bumper on it
I getting it for a good price! He said he'd take $1100
It has a new starter

The Bad:
There is dents and dings all over the thing
The paint is in bad shape
needs new tires
missing a few interior parts here and there, handles, switches, etc.
needs vacuum pump for brakes
one of the batteries is only 640 cranking amps

Stuff I am not sure on:
- You turn the key and the truck says "wait to start" then it seems someone wired in a switch that you need to push to start the truck. Does start very nicely! Seems to idle pretty steadily too! A puff of white smoke came out (not very big), after that it was a much lighter clearer smoke.
- While we were on this drive we turned the headlight switch and the odometer came on! It read 313,000, how do you guys feel about that?
- The coolant reservoir had a Very slight film of oil on it, it seemed. It did look nice and green, also when we opened up the radiator cap.
- The power steering pump makes noise, I imagine it will need some attention...
- We tried to hit the fuel tank switch, but did not see the gauge move.
- The oil was low when the guy got the truck and he topped it off... Is this an indicator of anything?
- The motor compartment looked "well used" but I am not sure I could find anything glaringly wrong. Follow the link below for various pictures I took!

detail pictures of the ZF5 F350 crew cab

I am leaning towards pulling the trigger on this deal, the thing I am mostly uneasy about is the high mileage, even for a diesel it is getting up there!

Also can't compliment this message board enough! The wealth of information you've created here has made me dead-set on getting an IDI.

 

[GOOSE]

Was the start cold? If so thats a pretty good indicator. The slight film of oil in the coolant tank could indicate an oil cooler in need of a rebuild, easily tackled on a Saturday afternoon. The push button could have been a on the fly fix instead of replacing the ignition switch, everything else looks like normal things that may need attention on an old truck. The return lines looked rather dry, the original Motorcraft fuel filter isn't there, two good signs.

313,000 miles, its really hard to say. I am a big fan of compression testing an engine that has me scratching my head. That and test for sca additive in the coolant. You can buy test strips at Napa. Some engines get closer to a million miles, some don't see 200,000, depends on the circumstances of each truck. For $1,100, you should at least have some change to work on it. I'm not a 2wd fan but I'd roll the dice for that price. Probably take the front bumper though, kinda liking that.

 

[justinray]

Go for it. If you replace the ps pump, and need a vacuum pump, i'd definitely look into going hydroboost with it. Needing a battery, may be time to change over to group 31's. Last time I bought a vehicle looking at the mileage, it bit me in the a$$, also, being in michigan, the truck may be a canadian runaway and that would mean the odometer reads in kilometers, which 313000 wouldnt be too bad.
Seems like the bads just leave room for easy improvement, and motive to get it done.

 

[Devon Harley]

My personal first test buying a used car I pop the hood an put my hands all over the motor an manifolds to see if it is the first start of the day. The key switch goes out often takes longer to take the colum apart instead of just replacing an using the button. Pop the oil fill cap an check for blow by its smoke read about it or if you know diesels judge it. Mine smokes like a train rings an motor are tired never let me down though. but there is a point when it's to much post a video on it. Oldbull on board said there's a tool that screws in an measures it. Honestly I think mine would fail but you can point it out to the owner an lower the price because the od came on an flashed you 313xxx. That mileage is high but that truck will get you buy that's a ok price I would depends to if you really wanna keep it for the long haul cause one day it will need a motor my guess it's been used. Mine has same mileage tons of blow by drowned in smoke using only a quart in 3k an it leaks oil lol she's weird but I would drive it an where. these motors can get to over 700k just know its a risk but these things drive better the harder an heavy there loaded.

 

[BrandonMag]

-I normally wouldn't worry about the manual glowplug switch that's been wired in as long as it was done correctly. However, after looking at the pics you posted, I see that some pretty chintzy wiring has been done under the hood. Be prepared for some weird electrical problems.

-If it was a one-owner, well taken care of truck, 313K wouldn't be that big of a deal in my mind. However, in this case the maintenance history is unknown. That's a tough call. It really boils down to what you're comfortable with.

-When you say the coolant reservoir had a slight film of oil on it, do you mean on the outside of the reservoir or the surface of the coolant in the reservoir?

-It's very possible that with 300K+ miles it will be time for a new PS pump. Before you buy one though, Lucas makes a well-regarded PS pump additive that may help.

-The fuel selector switch may be broken or the fuel selector valve may be stuck. I haven't done work in either of those areas, someone else may have that information.

-If the engine was a quart low, don't worry about it too much. Depending on how much it leaks or how worn the valve guides are, it could just be either leaking it or burning it. IIRC, the IH allowable limit is one quart every thousand miles.

Something I noticed in the pics you posted: the spare tire is missing.

All in all, I'd say it's a reasonable price. However, remember when buying any used vehicle, especially in the price range we're talking about, it could catastrophically fail in a month. If you are able to live with that, I'd say go for it.

 

[yowen]

-I normally wouldn't worry about the manual glowplug switch that's been wired in as long as it was done correctly. However, after looking at the pics you posted, I see that some pretty chintzy wiring has been done under the hood. Be prepared for some weird electrical problems.

-If it was a one-owner, well taken care of truck, 313K wouldn't be that big of a deal in my mind. However, in this case the maintenance history is unknown. That's a tough call. It really boils down to what you're comfortable with.

-When you say the coolant reservoir had a slight film of oil on it, do you mean on the outside of the reservoir or the surface of the coolant in the reservoir?

-It's very possible that with 300K+ miles it will be time for a new PS pump. Before you buy one though, Lucas makes a well-regarded PS pump additive that may help.

-The fuel selector switch may be broken or the fuel selector valve may be stuck. I haven't done work in either of those areas, someone else may have that information.

-If the engine was a quart low, don't worry about it too much. Depending on how much it leaks or how worn the valve guides are, it could just be either leaking it or burning it. IIRC, the IH allowable limit is one quart every thousand miles.

Something I noticed in the pics you posted: the spare tire is missing.

All in all, I'd say it's a reasonable price. However, remember when buying any used vehicle, especially in the price range we're talking about, it could catastrophically fail in a month. If you are able to live with that, I'd say go for it.

The reservoir, I saw the film inside of it...

I am thinking that at this low of a cost of entry, even if the motor dies on me, it'll be worth putting in a new one.

 

[yowen]

Another thing I noticed was that when I crawled under the truck the bottom of the block was covered in a thick layer of oil/grime/sludgy stuff, I suppose this would be the oil that leaked over time? The area around the PS filler neck (if I remember right) was like that too.

 

[GOOSE]

Another thing I noticed was that when I crawled under the truck the bottom of the block was covered in a thick layer of oil/grime/sludgy stuff, I suppose this would be the oil that leaked over time? The area around the PS filler neck (if I remember right) was like that too.

Lots of degreasing and power washing.

 

[towcat]

being a former TX truck, you're lucky the bed is still fairly intact.
you have two choices....pretty looking rusted out MI trucks with nice interiors or sunbaked dented-to-hell-n-back body panels with sunbaked interiors. personally, I wouldn't think too long on this deal and buy it. all the issues you pointed out can be fixed reasonably.

 

[yowen]

Someone mentioned the spare tire being missing, it is actually laying in the bed.

Another thing I remembered this morning, while telling the guys at work tales of how awesome the International Diesel sounds, was that the steering column seems to be loose, I don't imagine that should be too hard of a fix?

Also we weren't sure what tank it is running off of, as the gas gauge did not move when we tried to switch from one to the other...

 

[GOOSE]

The crew cab and 5 speed would be desirable to me, I'd listen to Towcat and jump on it. Plenty of guys use the steering wheel as a means of ingress to the truck and wear it out over the years, nothing abnormal there. Once you get the truck and run it for a bit, you will figure out the fuel tank issue. Selector valve is well under a hundred bucks. I would pull the bed and service both sumps in the tanks, clean and paint the frame as best as possible, same to the bed's underside as well.

 

[8seconds]

The push button that you spoke of is a starter push button, turn the key to activate the glow plugs and other accessories, then push the button to start. That means the pot metal actuator in the column is broken. The part can be obtained from any parts house; look on the help aisle. Believe they cost around $6 or $8.

Also get a copy of the Haynes repair manual for that year of truck and also a copy of their diesel repair manual for the navistar 6.9 and 7.3 engine.

By the way welcome to the forum........

 

[yowen]

The push button that you spoke of is a starter push button, turn the key to activate the glow plugs and other accessories, then push the button to start. That means the pot metal actuator in the column is broken. The part can be obtained from any parts house; look on the help aisle. Believe they cost around $6 or $8.

Also get a copy of the Haynes repair manual for that year of truck and also a copy of their diesel repair manual for the navistar 6.9 and 7.3 engine.

By the way welcome to the forum........

Thank you for the welcome 8seconds! Once I get into this truck a little bit I hope to bring some knowledge to the table here as well. For now I am just taking in as much information as a I can.
I will definitely have to pick up some repair manuals!
If the push button functions well, I am happy with that.

I was looking into a jack so I can work under this thing, is a 3-ton enough to lift up the front end on this? (provided of course I have jack stands as well).