Hey guys, first post here but I have lurked around for quite a while. I was looking for a bit of advise if yall are willing to offer it. I am fairly new to the powerstroke scene but I'm just looking for the right truck. I have turned down a few so far but found one that needs a ton of work but seems like it might fit the bill. I found a guy not too far from me selling a 97 crew cab long bed auto 2wd powerstroke with 317k on the clock. The truck is fairly clean but its going to need small stuff. Auto transmission supposedly shifts well. No rust but could use a paint job and a new tail gate. Its got a gooseneck. Now for the fun part. Its got some major issues... Its loosing coolant but no leaks. Coolant degas bottle pukes when you open it upon cold start up. The coolant is dirty and the degas bottle smells like diesel. There oil is contaminated too a whitish greenish sickly color. The kid who owns the truck wants to get 1500 out of it and seems like he wants to get out from under it because he said he cant pay for a mechanic. He bought it from some other guy so there is no real history on the truck Though the truck starts right up and idles just fine. Blowby doesn't seem excessive. I was worried about running it too long without proper lubrication so I shut if off quickly. The truck overheated badly for some reason or another and this is when all the issues started. He hasnt driven it at all since then but said it was smoking quite a bit of white smoke. When I started it up there was no smoke at all. Im perplexed as to what this might be, would it be worth the 1500? Is this a cracked head? Headgasket maybe? Thanks for the advice guys!!

 

Welcome to FTE! Sounds to me like the oil cooler needs rebuilt. Not a bad job to do, but messy. You will have to flush the whole cooling system and engine out. The coolant and oil have mixed. Do a search on replacing the oil cooler and you should find some good info.

 

For $1500 I would pick that truck up

Offer 12.5 >:-)

 

yep, i would pick it up for sure.
these trucks are not hard to work on,
even if you had to do an engine swap, id buy it.

first thing i would do is use a coolant system tester and find out where its coming from.
a stethoscope would be your best friend.

if it turns out to be a headgasket, do yourself a favor and pull the engine.

my first diesel was a 01 with busted headgaskets.
i got her done, and she runs great, but would have been alot easier with the engine out.

 

Thanks for you quick and friendly responses! My friend is going to look at the truck today to make sure I didn't miss anything upon initial inspection. Hes done much time in a body shop and can spot shoddy work in a minutes time. The engine work doesnt scare me, its just the thought of having to do major body work once the engine is in good order. I have enough projects already! Ill keep yall updated as to what happens

 

If nothing else, if you have room at your place to keep it, buy it! These are getting hard to find.

 

Diesel in the degas bottle is cracked injector cups