I am considering trading a car for an old 7.3 idi. It has like 110,000 miles but has sat 5 years. Non turbo 5 speed, owned by older person that passed away. Anything I should know about this. They good trucks or should I stay away from this. The old man bought it new back in 94 to tow his camper around.

 

Barely broke in at 110K,
Read the FAQ to learn about the ins and outs of the IDI.

 

ok so how would you go about starting this. Shouldn’t I build oil pressure? I would like to hear it run before i trade with they guy

 

I'd crank it over and see what happens. Make sure there's oil and coolant in it.

If it doesn't want to start, keep it floored. Crank a bit longer.

Still no crank? *unplug* 3-4 glow plugs, then give it a 1/2 second shot of ether into the air intake and crank.

WARNING: DO NOT USE ETHER IF THE GLOW PLUGS ARE STILL WORKING.
Unplugging 3 glow plugs will make the controller short-cycle the plugs to the point they won't warm up at all.

Do expect that once you do get it to run, you'll probably have to give it plenty of throttle to keep it running and it'll run really rough and smoke. You'll need to keep it running for a few minutes to let all the injectors clear out and run better.

I rescued a '85 F-250 this way; it had sat for 7-10 years, moved between owners. Wiring was shot, so I ran a single wire to the fuel shut off solenoid and cranked. Gave it ether and a floored throttle, and had it running within about 5 minutes.
Somewhat surprisingly, 10 year old diesel worked just fine. It now starts quite easily on the same ancient fuel.

 

Someone said that I should build oil pressure before cranking over? Do you think that’s important? if so what’s the best way of doing that

 

 

that thing is pretty rough looking .i would not go any more than around $2,000 running.

 

It'll get oil through it while cranking. Just make sure oil is topped off. It's a diesel built like a tank, not a delicate gasser that needs to be primed.

Start it up and drive it outta there, and change the oil when you get it home.

 

This is the car. 2006 freestyle with wiring issues and makes snapping noises.
So this would for sure be worth trading for a 800 dollar car that has a few issues lol?

 

I would not do that trade. Selling that car could get you a much nicer daily driver truck if that's the route you want to go.

 

i agree. buy the truck outrite and sell that car for a lot more.

 

The car has a lot of issues. We was goIn to junk it. It doesn’t shift sometimes and will take a while to kick into gear when taking off at interection. Has suspension issues and everything under there is all rusted so it is horrible to work with. The things worth 2500 in perfect condition. That’s the dealer price

 

Do it, then.

The 1993 is a bit rough, but looks all there. It's a stick, so it'll be a lot more bulletproof and easy to keep running than an auto.

I would definitely invest in some tools if you dont already have a good set; harbor freight wrenches and sockets are good.
Just be aware that a bunch of bolts on the frame are 18MM, an "odd size" that you won't find in most harbor freight sets.

Also, buy a battery-powered impact driver and impact wrench if you need to do major work.
I spent the extra money for my dewalt 20V brushless impact driver and (recently) a 20V brushless 1/2" impact and... it makes wrenching on my trucks *much* easier. Especially with some rust on things.

 

We have tools. We have a 60’ x 60’ garage that we work on our trucks for our trucking company in. But honestly harbor freight tools seem to be cheap. Stuff breaks easy. It’s ok for some things that you don’t use much but stuff you use a lot your better off with craftsmen or enouther brand like that. Really good tools. What do you think I would need to change on that. When it was parked all it needed was break work but the guys grandfather wasn’t in good enough shape to run it so it wasn’t fixed.

 

with the rust/rot on the body i would closely inspect the body and cab mounts, and spring mounts.
but seeing as you are in Maine, i am sure you already know that.
bring fluids to top everything off, 2 batteries, and 5 or 10 gallons of fresh diesel.
fire it up and drive it up on the trailer to take it home. once in the shop drain and replace all fluids, replace the brake lines with the nickle copper alloy lines, inspect the brakes, and run it.