All of this advice has been incredible. I thank each of you for taking the time to craft such thorough responses.

I am scheduled to take a look at the van this coming Sunday. I will be sure to report back how everything looks. I know that I will be exercising much more scrutiny and patience after having received all of this advice.

We will be cautious but hopeful.

And by the way, there is no mileage listed on the craigslist ad, but the seller sent me a screenshot: it reads 2757. No one has any idea whether that is 102,757, 202,757, or worse.

Anyone happen to be in Kentucky know how I might be able to find a history to tell me what the actual mileage is? I guess I could just start with my local DMV.

 

I just called the DMV and tracked the registration/title history of it.

It's been in Kentucky its whole life, since '88.

In '94, it was transferred and had 40k on it.

In 2010, it was registered with 100k.

In 2015, it was transferred and the new owner reported 119k.

This is all the information they could give me. Of course the 119k doesn't make sense, given that the odometer reads 2757. Given that the vehicle stayed in Kentucky its whole life, there wouldn't have been any inspection after 1988, so the mileage is only ever based on estimates.

The actual seller (the guy I'll be dealing with) is selling this for his father. According to him, his father acquired it from his own parents a "couple years back" when they stopped driving. I'm assuming that is the 2015 transfer. And then it would make sense that the seller's grandparents received it in '94, though I couldn't say for sure.

Not sure what to make of it, but there it is.

I wonder if I should be concerned about that 1994-2010 period, that during that period the thing actually accumulated 160,000 miles, not just 60,000?

 

This is a fun thread and I, of course, have $0.02 to add.

Looking at a 30 year old van? Miles are irrelevant.

Current condition is what matters.

Clean, straight and rust-free are the most important.

Mechanical stuff is easier and cheaper to fix than rust, paint, and dents.

Although the C6 is a great transmission, if I'm buying something to drive anywhere other than weekend car shows, it must have overdrive, fuel injection, and disk brakes (at least on the front).

I prefer the 92+ vans. They're quieter (less wind/road noise) to drive and don't rattle. Not enough price difference to justify the 91 & older unless you just want an old square body van. If it comes with OD and EFI, it should be great.

 

I wanted to add a test that can easily be done and will tell you allot about the condition of the engine.. If you are going to be working on your own cars, this tool should be in your tool box anyway...

Harbor freight has a fuel pressure/vacuum tester gauge kit for $12.99
Fuel Pump and Vacuum Tester

The easiest place to connect the vacuum gauge on the 88 van is at the brake vacuum booster line. (unless someone else has an easier suggestion) I circled the line in red. The white piece at the end of the line is is a 90 degree adapter and can be pulled out of the booster. Use some caution and don't just yank it out or it might break.
Once you have the vacuum line disconnected, the fat black rubber adapter in the gauge set should fit right into the vacuum line....
There are lots of other vacuum lines that can be used but without having the dog house off, the brake booster line might be the easiest to access.


If you decide to check the vacuum, do a little reading on what all a vacuum test can tell you...
Here is a started video that will show you what a good engine will read...
He uses a different vacuum line so don't pay attention to that...

There is one other test that is not very invasive and will check for a bad head gasket..
You can pick up the loaner tool at most auto parts stores and get your money back when you return the tool. you only have to buy the test fluid which you can save for later use if you keep it from freezing and out of sunlight



So between the vacuum gauge and block tester, you have about $22 dollars invested to insure you are not just throwing your money away on the van.. I don't know how the current owner will react to you doing these tests but it would be better to do them before the purchase then after! I did both tests after I bought my 2 vans and thankfully they were ok...

The only other test on an older engine that I could recommend would be a cylinder compression test but it is more involved and a if you were buying the van from a friend, they might let you do it but the current owner probably will not... It is a test you will want to do when you get the van home and tune it up... It requires taking the spark plugs out...

As to the combustion block test, you don't have to drain the radiator half way down, just down to the top fins in the radiator so that the tester will not suck in antifreeze during the test,, about a gallon is all you need to draina nd it can be poured right back in the radiator when done..

 

Reported mileage could be misleading, I know when I do a "new" registration, I write in the numbers, the seller "Writes" in the numbers on the title, But here, we have the "check" with the yearly inspection report, and I know you don't have that in KY. So mileage "reported" could be wrong.

But, think of this, most 'daily drivers' roll 10-12K per year, the first 4 years you show are on.

From '94 - '10 it "reported" only 60K in 16 years??? Think about that.

Hard to say, my '05 I put on 18K in 7 months this past year, working out of town, with over 1K miles some weeks. The past month I only did about 700 miles.

The thing is, if this is a 30 year old van, with over 200K miles, the engine is tired.

I parked a '94 cube van (hauled some heavy loads with it) and the 351W had 326K on it, it was tired, but still ran cause the E4OD helped it. My '92, bought it with 108K and at 126K was putting in a re-man engine, it had a bad life before me.

jbwheels wrote - Fully agree with that

 

Interesting I had never thought about the AOD and engine wear..

So would that mean that when people say older engines lasted around 200k and today's engines last well over 300k, it is not so much the changes in the engine but rather the addition of overdrive as pretty much standard?

So my 88 E150 has 111k on it now. It also has a AOD transmission. if well maintained I should expect to get another 150 to 200k out of it if I am lucky?

I am curious about cylinder compression test results. The OP will want to do a compression test after he selects a van just to check the condition of the engine. I have searched several times and never really come up with a answer and I know there are many variables. BUT on a well maintained engine with a overdrive and say 150k millage, what would be a good compression reading to expect?

I was trying to determine if my mileage was 110k or 211k so I did a dry compression check the last time I tuned it up and all cylinders were right around 180psi. That led me to believe that the actual mileage must be closer to 111k. That is based on the fact that my 85 E150 has 149k and the compression is around 160 psi.
That is why I suggested a compression test in my earlier post.. But like I said, not too many people are going to be willing to let you do one before buying from them..

What was the first year the ECM would let you do a cylinder balance test on our vans? Taking a code reader with you when buying a older van would not be a bad idea..

 

The miles the engine will last has a lot more to do with how it was/is maintained, then what transmission it has behind it.

 

Well, we met the guy down the road to see the '88 E-350. It was pretty disappointing and unfulfilling, to say the least.

When we were just a few minutes out, we got a call that the guy had taken it to a gas station to put some gas in it and was having issues with the battery getting it started. Everyone was also running later than planned for the meeting, so none of it got off to the best start.

While the guy was fooling around with the battery, my dad and I began taking a look around the van.

The body was in surprisingly good shape. It had been painted, but we didn't detect major rust/rot that had been painted over. We checked all the places described above, got underneath it, pulled up the mat in the cab, and didn't detect any signs of major rust. The current owner apparently has kept the thing in a large barn/garage for a lot of its life, and it looked it. My dad was blown away at how good of condition the body was in, particularly for its age.

But that was about the extent of the good news.

We checked the oil. Or should I say we tried? It was so low that it wasn't even registering on the dipstick.

We looked inside the radiator, and while we didn't see any rust, we also didn't see any fluid whatsoever.

With all this, we weren't off to a good start when the thing looked like it was completely empty of any power steering fluid as well.

We got underneath it and were able to get the doghouse off. It was dripping oil underneath, and through the cab, I at least got one good lesson: where to be looking for grease/oil on the engine. We were looking at oil on the bottom of the oil pan and on the rear of the motor through the doghouse.

My dad thought the transmission looked OK after checking the fluid and the "rear seal" (?), but was completely over it after seeing all of the above.

I trusted his judgment but felt disappointed that we had given up before they got the thing started. So while we went ready with a vacuum gauge after having studied some of the diagnostic indicators, and were hoping to see how one of these things rode during a test drive, we called it quits for the morning. With them not getting it started and us running behind the planned meeting schedule, we headed back home to get some chores done for the day.

I'm disappointed it didn't work out, but no one expected to strike gold on the first try. I also wish that I could have examined it a bit more, if only to learn a little more about these vans (how they drive/ride, etc.).

Hell, I almost wish I would have been turned off of the entire generation somehow through the process. Because, I'll tell you what, while I'm happy we didn't make a mistake by way of an impulsive purchase, I'm not sure I'm over what some have considered a mistake here from the get-go: looking at these older vans. This generation of van is absolutely gorgeous. And we're not ready to give up on the thought of them quite yet.

I'm probably leaving something out. But I'd be curious what anyone thinks about what I've had to say. The owner said he was having it towed to a mechanic. I was tempted to think that we could inquire about what the mechanic had to say or arrange for a test drive once he had it running. My dad's position was that the mechanic was just going to get it going to get it home and that we need to accept it wasn't the one for us.

Anyway, thanks again for everyone's help. This place is a goldmine of knowledge. We have our eye on a couple more we'll be inquiring about.

 

Sorry it didn't work out, but i am glad you were willing to walk away from a bad deal. With the age of the vans you are looking at it could take a while to find a good one. Just be patient and be willing to travel to get one.

 

theres some truth in your statement for certain. But even changing the oil every week won't compensate for large quantities of time spent at higher rpm.

Think about the controlled chaos inside an engine that is simply idling. Multiply that exponentially when thinking about even 1800rpm under load on a highway. Now swap to a non-OD transmission and you're at 2,300rpm.

Huge difference. All the oil changes in the world won't change that.

 

Lots of good conversation on this thread. Please also consider my viewpoint.

Any 30 year old vehicle is a tremendous gamble. It's a project, not a tool.

Even in perfect condition, a 30year old vehicle has drawbacks that are laughable compared to something just 8-10 years old.

For your $3-4000 budget I bet you could get a 2005 E series with a 4.6 that would perform well, withOUT the drawbacks of something 20 years older.

With that said, the project is do-able. Just be prepared. Prepared for it to leave you stranded. Prepared for mysterious problems that are difficult to diagnose/repair.

But i I fully acknowledge that it's do-able. And there are some advantages as well. It's just that I'm a lifelong, card carrying Car Guy. A motor head through and through. Newer is better in most aspects.

​​​​​​​your 30year old machine is a project, not a vehicle. But if you go into the project KNOWING THAT, then you'll be ok. Take it slow, do it right, be conservative.

 

When you are looking at the 75-91 vans you are going to have to be willing to put quite a bit of work into them. Finding one that has a perfect body and not need any mechanical work is going to be like finding a unicorn. I would be thrilled to find one with a solid body that needs mechanical work. Most of them in my area are rusted away.

You have to decide on how much work you want to put into one and what kind of work ( mechanical or body & structure repair ) . Keep looking until you find exactly what you want or get the best one you can find and fix what needs fixing. The nice thing is, once you fix it that's one less thing to worry about in the future.

On my 89 E350 I'm going to be mechanically rebuilding it bumper to bumper. And when that's done I still need to do all the rust repair/metal work. But the up side is when I'm done I'll have a van that I don't need to worry about. And it will be built to my specs exactly the way I want it. No newer van will have that. Plus I like the 75-91's better then any of the newer stuff. And I also own a 96 E250 so I have some experience with the next gen ones too..











500 rpms isn't enough to make a huge difference. Now if you were comparing 1,800 rpms to 3,800 rpms I might be more willing to buy that.

I personally owned a truck that had a 5.0L with a manual 4spd ( non OD ) with 3.73 gears. It turned 2,900 rpm's at 70 mph. It had over 250,000 miles on the original engine when I scrapped the truck. It ran great, didn't burn any oil. I tore down the engine to inspect it. There was not a single issue with it. I was able to throw in a gasket/seal set and sell the engine. This truck was a well maintained fleet truck.


I've also bought a parts car that was more then 10 years newer had an OD transmission, wasn't maintained, had less then 100,000 miles. And it had a locked up engine. The engine seized while the guy was driving down the highway. Now this wasn't a Ford, so it had that going against it right from the start!

My point is you can't just clump everything into a category based on age or the type of transmission. There are way too many variables and every vehicle will be slightly different.

 

Perhaps we overreacted, fordman75?

I learned from the seller after thanking him for his time that he had the thing towed to a mechanic to get it going. I doubt that he had much done to it beyond getting it running enough to drive back home. Maybe I'm wrong. I do know that he took the Craigslist listing down after this poor showing.

After coming home, I spent hours combing through many listings across various platforms from all across the country. The prospect of finding something else with what I believe are so few miles (~102k), within range to be inspected, and with positive qualities (outweighing the negatives) seems remote. For example, while I know I need to keep shopping and checking over a period of time, the nearest thing I could find is 4 hours away. And I'm sure I'd walk away with at least some sort of doubt. I'm assuming everything will have some sort of problem that needs addressing.

At what point am I going to burn through enough gas/time travelling, that I could have sufficiently supplemented the repairs on a prior vehicle?

I realize this seems that I am talking myself into being impatient. I'm not necessarily being so. What I definitely am is frustrated by my own inability to estimate repair values. I guess I'm just venting. Hopefully it's in a way that is consistent with the original post and can provide something for someone else to learn from later.

I have zero problem spending time with this is a project - reading, learning, watching, doing - to save money on labor for this. I'm also willing to put money into the project - both for what I could do with my dad and what we would need a mechanic for.

The question I'm just dying to get an answer to is this: assuming things are "about average" for such an old vehicle, what would be a ballpark figure for the initial outlay in repairs to get one of these in a condition that we could drive it a few thousand miles?

Is that question impossible to answer? Must I get each particular vehicle in front of an experienced mechanic for a full work over? At what point does a person like me (in tandem with someone like my dad - i.e., probably of intermediate recreational mechanical knowledge, if that makes sense?) take the plunge?

 

You'll have to decide if a certain van is right for you or not. If you look at a van and get a bad feeling about it, passing on it isn't a bad choice.

I looked for a long time for my van. I wanted an extended E350 cargo van. The few I found were so rough I passed on them . There were a couple I passed on that I now wish I would have bought. I found a nice extended E350 Club Wagon that had a bunch of new parts but I wasn't fast enough and it sold. So I basically settled for a supposedly nice extended E350 Club Wagon that was owned by a church. That's the last time I buy a vehicle from a church!! I bought it knowing it had a couple problems. Well I found out a couple more on the way home from buying it. That's what made me decide to do a full rebuild along with some modifications. I've been collecting parts for it. Hopefully I'm going to start the work in the spring.


It's next to impossible to tell you a cost. Every van is going to be different. The more parts it needs the more it'll cost. It could be anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. It will cost more, much more, if you have to pay someone else to do the repairs. The more work you do yourself the cheaper it will be. I'm going to have around $5,000-$5,500 into my van. That's just parts and supplies. I am doing all the work myself except the machine work on the engine. I was planning on around $3,500 when I started planning the build. But I decided to do some modifications/upgrades that are adding to the cost.



Your best bet is if you find a van you like. Have your dad check it over. If it looks ok and you are seriously considering it then take it to a mechanic you trust. Have him/her check it over and make you a list of any problem areas/issues. It may cost a little to have done, but it could save you a lot of money if there is a serious problem.


There will be items that will need your attention immediately. Then there will be other stuff that can wait. I would start with the stuff to make it safe. These would be stuff like brakes, steering, suspension, tires, etc. Then tackle making it dependable. Stuff like small oil leak/s won't cause a major problem. Unless you run it out of oil.

 

97 or newer 5.4 liter gas engine , you will be glad you did. these vehicles can go multiples of 100ks of miles , also the obd11 will save you hundreds to thousands in repair bills and time , the old vans look better but thats it . just my two cents ,and if you ask my wife she will say my opinions are worth one cent . good luck and keep all your options open. When looking for a diamond in the rough ( which a good deal on a old vehicle is ) be prepared to mine a lot of coal .