yes they can make it if its a auto tranny. manuals were worse be cause everybody lugged the crap out of them

 

FYI this truck has a manual tranny. But it appears to have been well treated (in general; I'm not talking about the coolant).

 

buy it.....

 

You wouldn't worry about cavitation?

 

honestly, i wouldnt give it a second thought......mine has 370k+ on it and no one put SCAs in it til about 3000 miles ago, and she runs just fine. As long as its fine when you get it, and you do the SCA thing right away it should be fine as long as you own it.....

 

OK, thanks.

There's another question I wanted to ask, but had forgotten about it. I know you guys will have the answer and it should be an easy one. This F-250 has the PRNDL thing in the gauge cluster, but with no needle, and has an opening on the right side of the steering column which seems to be sealed in a way that could be from the factory. It's the first time I stepped into a manual F-250 from that generation, so I couldn't be sure. Seller told me that the heavier-duty Fords for those years always had that standard gauge cluster and column regardless of the tranny type... is that true? That seems weird, and if not true, I'll really have to wonder what's up with that...

 

no way, at some point somebody swapped the tranny, OR did some swapping in the column/gauge cluster

 

no the gauge clusters are not the same from manual to automatic the manual has a tach where some or all automatics didn't i do believe ive never been in a automatic 94 but our 90 F150 351w auto didn't have a tach. also my manual does not have the PRNDL thing in it at all if i had a picture of my cluster i would put it up but its dark and cold outside haha

 

I used to own a 5.0 Mustang which used to have an AOD but was now 5-speed and sometimes the engine would stall when pressing the clutch because of that... I eventually got the habit of giving it a little gas so the RPM wouldn't fall too quickly and that fixed it, but that did turn me off vehicles modified that way.

Thanks for the answer... I wonder if someone would change the gauge cluster AND column. Doubt it.

(My F-150 (manual) didn't have that either, but it's not a F-250.)

 

these trucks have enough torque that it should pull itself in 1st gear without actually giving it any fuel. mine does. unless its on a steep uphill grade or in some thick mud obviously

 

that statement of mine was worded a bit off center.
what i meant to say was, since the engine is at least 16 years old it was taken care of, so worrying about cavitation is not as big an issue as a truck with an engine that has been replaced 3 times because of cavitation issues.

an original engine with over 200k miles on it was was properly maintained.
a truck with 100k miles on it with 3 engines replaced was beat to death and never had the hood opened.

 

OK, thanks for clarifying!

I wouldn't worry too much then, but still treat it ASAP.

 

Do you guys happen to know if there's always a factory shifter hole in the cabs floor regardless of the tranny? (It would actually make sense to have all cabs identical on the assembly line...)

If not, then it's an easy way to tell. I can lift the rubber and floor mat and see if the shifter hole has been cut by someone vs being there from the factory.

 

If it has the indicators in the cluster, and a standard in it, something got swapped. Also sounds like that funny hole/hump whatever you talked about on the column would have been the shifter spot for the auto. (The standards had a different trim ring on the column, and no shifter spot for the auto.)

Going underneath I suspect you would find the electrical connectors for the auto still there, and with more digging you can locate the TCM that is still likely left in the truck. (I'm thinking this would have had the E40D tranny, but read the first part of the thread last night on about 3 hours sleep......)

Another giveaway could be on the injector pump, either a C6 or E40D will have the throttle sensors, (either vacuum or electrical) and I really doubt they removed it. It is possible that the pump could have been swapped out for a rebuilt though and may not have it.

Almost forgot....as to the cavitation. IMO, unless it's a pristine top dollar truck, and they give you a baffled look when you ask about sca's, I wouldn't worry about it. If it's priced reasonable, it's worth a gamble. If you start maintaining it right away, that essentially stops cavitation, the chances of it being at a point where it still 'lets go' after that are slim. Yes, it could happen, but worst case scenario, you track down another engine and swap it out. My general feeling is that with some patience one should always be able to find a reasonable engine for about $5-600, and if you're doing you're own wrenching, have it in the truck for less than $1K.

Drive the truck, it pukes after a year or two due to cavitation. Swap engines, get even another 2-3 years, before that one pukes, and you still have 2-3 years of really cheap driving.

 

OK, you guys have convinced me re: cavitation.

Now though I wish that while I was over there for the test drive I hadn't taken the guy's word about the gauge cluster and column shifter opening, and looked more closely at everything. I don't really like the idea of getting a truck that's been messed with that deeply by someone who might not have done things right (been there, done that once already).

If there are no lingering connexions for the trans that I can see under the truck when I go back there, then I guess the most obvious giveaway would be the clutch cable firewall hole or shifter floor hole?