I just purchased a 1993 f250 single cab 7.3 IDI Diesel truck. I have owed 4 previous f250 gassers, this is my first diesel. Couple questions, if they can be answered while I start my read of diesel threads....

to the right side of the steering wheel on the dash to the left of the radio is a set of lights, looks to be three rows of 4 lights a row ? (truck is not in my possession until later today) what are these lights for ? Are they an aftermarket item ? Sorry no pic's I 'm hoping my question is an easy one to answer...
secondly, the truck. I paid $1300, it has 194k, single cab, no tailgate, rear bumper is trash, but body is straight. Has 5th wheel setup and trailering brake setup. How do I stand price wise ? Did I pay too much, or was this a good deal ? Motor runs strong, and tranny shifts, well like a OD tranny. I know the market for gassers, but not for diesels. Can you let me know...

 

As far as the lights on the dash, are they factory or some kind of aftermarket lights? If its the in dash panel just to the left of the radio, that is where your wait to start light is. As far as what you paid, if it runs at all you did fine in my opinion. You could part it out right now and make money if you had to. If it's clean, meaning straight body with no rust and has no major mechanical issues then I think you did real good. I would bet that the tailgate was a victim of the 5th wheel, someone forgot to let it down when hooking or unhooking their 5th wheel trailer. Tailgates and bumpers are readily available for OBS trucks so those aren't a big deal to me. If it still has the original injector pump and injectors it's probably past due to replace them. And if that's the case, if you think it's running good now, wait til you replace them and you'll be smiling big time. A new (rebuilt) injector pump and a set of new injectors should run you about 800 bucks all together. Don't fool with remanufactured injectors, learned that from experience, the general theory is that it's cheaper to buy new injectors than it is to buy the parts to actually rebuild these injectors so what many "remanufactured" injectors are is just cleaned up old injectors. You can install the pump and injectors yourself and there's a good write up on here somewhere that'll walk you through it step by step. The E4OD transmission in these trucks has some what of a bad reputation but most of the time it's not actually a transmission problem but an electrical problem. The factory transmission controller, the only thing electronically controlled on these trucks, is troublesome. It gets a signal from everything from the dome light to the tail lights to the speed sensor and lots of other things that have nothing to do with the transmission. If it detects a problem with any of these it'll put your transmission into limp mode. The overdrive light on your shifter will start blinking and your transmission will shift hard. I have a '93 IDI and had a '94 IDIT and dealt with these problems in both of these trucks until I about went nuts. There's some very knowledgeable guys on here that can help you sort out the little electrical glitches with these transmissions or you can do what I did and get an aftermarket Optishift transmission controller which does away with the factory controller and be done with those problems for good. Congrats on the new truck and have fun with it!

 

Concerning the lights, yes to the left of radio, situated in that rectangle outlined area in the plastic dash to the right of the instrument cluster. Its either 2 or 3 rows of small bulbs and only two are lighted. PO says its original, I am buying truck in Texas, and have attempted googling images of dash on diesels of the 92-97 f250 era trucks, to no avail. I ordered a diesel owners manual but it won't arrive for a few days. And I have no transportation (Im here on biz trip and found truck) to go get a repair manual ! I'm not sold on the ford OEM original setup as some pics of dashboards I found of other trucks on CL do not show this setup.

I'm addicted to these fords, I have owned 5 f100's ranging from 1968-1971, 2 92-97 f150's and 4 f250s, various years. BUT...first diesel. Any help on this will be appreciated.

I think the $1300 is a good deal, he wanted $1600 and I talked him down, AC will need freon and its probably not r134, I think that was 1994 changeover. Reason I mention AC, is I live in Vegas, and next month I will need it !

I need to also add that I will be driving this truck 1200 miles from Texas to Las Vegas in two weeks.... what shall I check or replace in this time ? Tires are 40% tread left but they are 8 ply. Call me crazy. I'm the only person I know who goes on a biz trip, buys a strange new vehicle, cancels hid flight plans and will attempt to drive it 1200 miles home. I'm a nut.

 

Change all the fluids and let er run! On these old trucks if it looks good it probably is good. I bought an 86 without driving it and towed a BMW the 300 miles home. So far my motto has worked. And I drive 60 mile commute daily in it have have for a year with no probs. I'm moving to az from Idaho which makes me nervous but like I said run er

 

thx ! Any questions about AZ shoot away. I lived there 20 years before moving up the hill to Vegas. Can you list the fluids for me you recommend. That would truly be appreciated. And ballpark price to change them (I won't be changing them as I am tool-less out here in Tx)

 

Lights are (left column) "wait to start" "engine temp" "water in fuel" and (second column) "fuel filter".

And you got a hell of a deal. Congratulations and welcome.

 

thank you flainn. I feel pretty good about deal. Drive to Vegas will be the wildcard. If those 3 lights are it, I'm pretty sure there were more than 3. At least 6. And no cover covering them to let me know what the small bulbs mean.

If anyone has a pic or has the time to take a pic with their cell of their dash on the pre-stroke 92-93 dash, preferably RS of steering wheel plz text pic to 702-466-4673. This might clear my head until I get truck to see for myself !

 

Sorry it's not rotated, Photobucket is driving me kinda nuts.

The "fuel filter" light is at the bottom of the second column. My 94 has no lights in the top or middle boxes of the second column -- there are only four lights in the whole display.

 

that looks like it, mine is minus the cover ! to the right of your 3 lights looks like "room" for an additional 6 lights, 2 each row, am I right ? That may be what I am looking at.

I am wondering what fluids to change on my truck prior to my 1200 mile trek. Since I don't have my manual(s) yet can you suggest:
What fluid
What Brand you prefer
Viscosity if applicable
And what ballpark cost it will be to have someone else do it since I'm on the road without my tools

 

sorry, just saw you had noted under pic.... so when I turn ignition a lighted bulb....is a good thing ?? Again, I do not have truck yet so I'm talkin blind here.

 

It's a 2 x 3 (columns x rows) grid. The lights I have are:

(left column)----------(right column)
Wait to Start----------none (no light)
Engine Temp-----------none (no light)
Water in Fuel----------Fuel Filter

So if, when you turn the key on, your upper left light comes on, that's a good thing -- that means your glow plugs are heating. You should only crank the engine once that light goes off. Others shouldn't come on unless something's wrong.

 

Oil, Rotella-T 15W-40, 10 quarts with the standard (Fram PH3766) filter or 11 quarts with the Powerstroke ( Fram PH3786) filter. yes the Powerstroke filter will work fine, it's the same thread and gives you another quart in your system, which is a good thing.

I have no idea what it costs to pay someone to do an oil change on one of these trucks; I've never trusted anyone to do an oil change for me in my life. ... but I can get the Rotella in 2.5-gallon containers at Wal-Mart for about $30, and the Stroke filter is about $12. if you use the Stroke filter you'll need another quart on top of that 2.5 gallons.

 

Bingo, I think you have perfectly described the answer to my question. Now, when I test drove truck I'm pretty sure when I turned the ignition key, more than the "wait to start" bulb lit up. So I narrow it down to the "water in fuel" andor "fuel filter" bulb illumination.
With that said, and upcoming trip to Vegas (1200 mi) in 2 weeks, what else do I need to do besides forementioned fluid change and if you can give me ballpark pricing...

 

They might do a bulb-check when you first start the engine; I'm not entirely sure. But they shouldn't come on when it's running normally.

Well, I'd check that the coolant was full in the radiator and at the proper level in the overflow reservoir. Check the power steering fluid level and the brake fluid level. Make sure the oil is full and start it up; once it's hot put the transmission in park and check the transmission fluid level (dipstick at the rear of the engine, passenger side). Check tire levels including the spare tire (hopefully it has one). Check tread and sidewall condition on the tires. If they're badly cracked you should replace them before your drive.

Otherwise, you should be good to go as long as it starts up and drives normally. Make sure the brakes are working correctly. Also,the emergency brake light tends to be flaky on this generation of Ford. Make absolutely sure the e-brake is off before you drive. Don't trust the light to tell you. Don't ask me why I say that...

 

What about coolant. Suggestions ? Quantity as well as your favorite brand. Tires are about 40%, they are 8 ply. Is that normal for 3/4 diesel truck ? Spare there.