Ok so currently we have a 02 F250 4x4 V10 crew cab with a bunch of mods on it and we do not plan to get rid of it but we are hoping to pick up this other V10 to do some work we are wanting to get into.

We are looking at a early 99 F450 V10 and I kinda want to confirm what I believe.
As of right now you start the truck up it will idle great but it has a miss it isn't to bad when just idling but when you rev it up it gets really bad. Everybody keeps telling the guy it is coil packs but if you smell the exhaust it smells really bad of old gas and I looked at the fuel filter and it is the original one with 155K miles on the truck. Me and my dad are thinking all that is wrong is it has really bad gas making it do that. I can't tell if it is a miss or a really bad starving for gas right at one of the cylinders. Their is no CELs on either. I believe he said when he pulled the codes it said one cylinder was missing and it had something about low fuel pressure or something like that but I can't remember if he was talking about this truck or his other personal truck which is acting the same but is a 5.4L.

Please let me know your thoughts. Also the truck is extremely cheap which is why we are looking at it also.
Trav

 

I think it might be coils or boots. How many miles on the plugs?

 

not sure he said he never changed the plugs himself as he was scared to but it has 155K miles on the truck. He barely drove the truck he used it as back up for his dodge.
Trav

 

I don't know how cheap you are talking about but it needs a tune-up and fuel filter with fresh gas. If you put coils on it he might decide to not sell it to you so cheap. The dilemma, do you invest to make it run better to tell if the engine is sound and chance that he backs out of the sell or do you buy it on hope. Tough call, depends on how cheap.

 

I wouldnt put any money in it before taking possession. Have him pull 3or 4 plugs to see what they tell you.

If he wont pull them, talk him down some more.

 

He wants $2500 for the truck. A truck like that goes for $3K not running at all. Running would be $5Kish depending on the shape and it is in great shape for a 99 (especially for out here).

He defiantly won't go down he was asking $3500 and nobody bought it. He said if it wasn't for as much money he has in his dodge he would keep it but he needs to sell a bunch of his trucks.

I know I can't talk him into pulling the plugs this sounds like the guys biggest fear is breaking them like they commonly do.


Not sure if I said or not but the only problems with the truck is:
seat is torn to shreads
dent in passenger door from hub cab flying off.
bumper has a little twist in it (see a lot of that on trucks out here)
no bed
and isn't 4x4. (Being not 4x4 where I am is what is mainly turning people away.
Trav

 

Sounds like he will not let you check the compression or replace the plugs. Maybe he will let you test it with one of your coils? The existing value is largely in the engine. If he knows it has a burnt valve and will not let you pull a plug then he may trick you or he may have a true fear and you get a decent deal. Hard to advise on this one over the internet. If it was a manual transmission 4X4 I would say you could reclaim most of your money on parts if the engine is a dud.

Buyer Beware.

 

Well he has a 06 F250 4x4 reg cab 5.4L that he says he is scared to do also and it has the same problem. So I doubt that it is a burnt valve on both trucks but I guess it is possible.

Also no way could I pull one of my coils I definatlly don't want to take apart my truck and risk having it get messed up especially since I have Bosch coil packs which aren't cheap.

And no it isn't a manual trans it is a 4R100.

I know it sounds like I really want it but I don't want to get it and it is just trouble.
All I would be doing with the truck is I want to start hauling things and make a little money with my brothers.
Trav

 

I cannot stress to you enough just how easy and relatively harmless it is to pull a COP off of your engine. Takes a couple of minutes to pull one.

Well, I suppose if they were not installed correctly, a boot can get stuck and tear when being extracted... but your COPs were installed correctly, right?

I know you said there is no CEL, but throw a scanner on it anyway and see what pops up. Put your COP on that cylinder and see what happens.

While you are at it, test the fuel pressure at idle and with some throttle. If the truck stumbles under accel more than idle, it could be junk stirring up in the fuel filter under throttle.

Sorry, but you are going to have to put in SOME sweat equity if you are going to see whats happening inside that engine.

 

Yes mine were installed by a local shop and they did it correctly (before I bought the truck) I am just worried if something in the truck is causing the COPs to fail then that could cause my Bosch COP to fail and again they aren't cheap.
I don't know if his were installed correctly and I don't want to mess up his truck.


We put his Scan tool on the truck while I was their (we talked to him for 6 straight hours so I know he is a good guy and he used to own my bike before the owner I bought it from so I know he has mechanic knowledge he just sounds like he heard a few to many horror stories about plugs breaking off and it scares the crap out of him). The only thing it showed was missing on one cylinder (his reader didn't say which one) and low fuel pressure.

I don't mind putting some sweat equity into the truck I have some mechanic knowledge but not the most.

He did have the truck inspected by the same mechanic whom did my COPs and he said it was either COPs or a bunch of junk in the tank possibly a bad fuel injector judging by how the low fuel pressure code shows up.



Like I said the only thing I wish this truck was is 4x4 but being so big and heavy I can deal without it. I am not worried about us 3 squezzing into the truck because more then likely they will drive their trucks also (96/92 mutt dog ranger and a 91 F250 4x4 460.)
Trav

 

Unlikely that anything his truck is doing will mess up your COP. But if you are that worried about it, get a cheapie to throw on there.

Have him replace the fuel filter and run it again.

 

He was talking about replacing it and putting seafoam in both trucks but I don't know how serious he is. I may have a spare fuel filter off my explorer or my brother's ranger that was good I can throw on their and see if that helps just will have to verify they are the same.

The mechanic told him to replace the filter and sea foam it and I told to also so I bet he probably will.
Trav

 

Go see him with 20 one hundred dollar bills in your right pocket, and 2 more in your left pocket.

Come home with the truck.

Don't overthink this. The money he's asking is trivial pocket change in the grand scheme of things.

 

considering the fact he recently raised the price back up to 3K I doubt it.
Trav

 

I would offer him 2500 cash. He knows your interested but not that much. Alls you need to do is scare him a little more. Let him know how much all thats going to cost to make it run like a top. Bring it home and do the work.

What does the oil look like? Find out the code from the scanner and post up. It will narrow to a cylinder.