Within the next few months I'm looking to buy an older [read: cheaper] used van, diesel powered. It's going to be an occasional use vehicle for "lite" towing [max 5000 lbs]. My current van's 300 inline 6 gets about 15mpg unloaded [not bad], but towing ~4K lbs mileage drops into the 10.5 - 11mpg range [ouch].

Here's my question for you diesel pros: Is there a particular year/ displacement diesel engine I should look for that will give the best mileage and general reliability? From reading the forums there seem to be plenty of quirks and inherent problems with all the diesels, so would be nice to start off on the right foot. Not looking for mega power, just the "best bet" option that will tow a 5k lb load up a hill without slowing down too a crawl and get the best possible mileage pulling it down the interstate. I'll only be putting 5k-6K miles per year on it, so I'm willing to buy a higher mileage vehicle to get the price down. What's a "safe range" to look for mileage wise on a diesel that would allow for 50k- 75k miles before needing any serious work? I can/do rebuild gassers in my garage but am not equipped to tackle rebuilding a diesel.

 

Look for a 98-02 E series van with a 7.3 powerstroke in it. Some of the things in this thread may be different, but look at this as a general guideline to follow.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/5...ruck+questions Good luck!

 

My next door neighbor has a 2000 E350 with the 7.3L with 95,000 mi. and its been a workhorse. The vans do get worse fuel mileage compared to the trucks though. But they last a long long time.

Austin