hey all, im new to the diesel world. im lookin at a 96 f-350 w/ powerstroke and manual trans. the owner now is original owner and says that it has no power until it reaches operating temperature. i drove it, needless to say it wouldnt do over 35 mph any way. wasnt really smokin or anyting. its bone stock everything. it would smoke just a lil it i downshifted and mashed the pedal but i think it was just a bit of fuel. anyway. he said its been that way the entire time hes owned it. he also informed that it needs to get to operating temperature even when he was in florida in the warm weather. ill also add that when i test drove it we let it idle for like 10 minutes before the drive and it was about 70 degrees F outside. please let me know if this is normal or if this guy is trying to scam me. thanks everyone. be patient with a newb.

 

First of all welcome .
When the engine is cold there shouldnt be any power loss. From what you have described it sounds like the ebpv (exhaust back pressure valve) is closing when the engine is cold (it should only work in cold temps. though). Did it make a whooshing sound when you drove it? If so this can be disconnected. If the price is right I wouldnt worry about it, also how many miles are on it? You can find a lot of info on this site, and the people here will answer most of your questions.

 

hey,

there really was no whooshing sound, that i heard. it was realy weird i had pedal to the wood and it was just dragging along. i turned down a side road to get away from traffic and a minute later it just woke up and took off like it should. it has 133,000 miles on it. it in real good condition but hes askin more than what it should be going for but rest assured ill talk him down. is that exhaust back pressure valve expensive to replace and how difficult can that be. im a pretty good technician, but ive never worked on diesels before. im in ohio so if thats needed to warm up faster i may need that. it can get fairly cold up here in the winters. thanks everyone

 

its the general consensus around here to go easy on er until she is warm. but i also agree the ebpv was closed. its easy to unplug . its made to close to help warm the truck.

 

It acts like the old heat risers in the exhaust of a gas engine kind of useful when it works but when it doesn't just disconnect it you will be fine .

Dave

 

Some people use the factory EBPV as an exhaust brake, so you can imagine that it can make the truck drag if it is not functioning properly.

Thats what the problem probably is.

 

sweet. thanks for the help guys. thats what the problem was.

 

So did you buy it?
Thats funny the owner has never looked into why it did that.