I am looking at purchasing a 2004 F-250 XLT FX4 auto 6.0L Diesel....
The truck is very clean.... Awesome interior... Straight body... Well taken care of... Only down side is its at 300,325 miles.... I'm getting a price of $5000
It LOOKS like a steal....
But.......

When I got to the truck I took it for a drive and it ran ok at first... About 5 minutes into the drive the truck started running like total crap.... Bearly idling, wouldn't shift, no power, etc. until bam! It died... Coasted to the shoulder cranked on it a couple times and it wouldn't start... Called the guy selling it and they were gonna send someone to pick me up.... I sat there for like a total of 5-8mins and I tried the key again.... Vroom!!! Started up and literally ran like a bat outta hell!! Ran awesome! Shifted perfect! Mind blown! Got back to the guy and he said he has never seen that happen before... There is a switch on the dash that he states limits the fuel so while idling it doesn't use as much fuel.... I don't know how true that is but when you switch it at idle the exhaust quiets down and the idle drops a couple hundred rpm... Now we were thinking that maybe this was the culprit... But I decided to take it for a spin again....
Got in the truck hit the key and vroom! Ran awesome again!! I to about 5-7 mins into the drive and bam! Ran like crap and died again... Rinse and repeat... Except this time when I got it started again it didn't run right again... Then shortly after died once more... After a few more mins of cranking and not starting it finally ran good enough to get it back to him....
I told him to look into it but I don't want to let this deal go. And defiantly don't want to go back not knowing anything and having to trust he fixed the problem... Any ideas???
Thanks in advance....

And if he won't fix the truck is it worth buying?

 

I'm familiar with 7.3s and cummins 5.9 but not this 6.0..... I immediately thought injector pump.... But as I find out these have a HPOP to take its place?
I got some learning to do......

I'm also looking at a 2001 F-250 XLT X-cab 4x4 short bed 7.3 manual trans... Runs good after I drove it but just seems like it takes FOREVER for the turbo to spool up...through 3rd gear before it kicks in... Is this normal for a manual trans? It also has a little oil in the coolant... He says a tech said it need a high pressure oil cooler....price I'm getting is $4750.

WHICH OF THESE TRUCKS SHOULD I GET!!!
There are pros and cons about both but which would you go with?

 

with all things considered, if u want to do the work which can be considerable, then go for it, but if ur not crazy about the work, then my suggestion is to stay away from it. it's too many miles, no report about work done on her, and with that crazy condition, you may be stuck with a big repair bill if it really is the problem.

personally, i'd stay away from it.

tat "switch" he flicked could have been the high idle. tat dont mean a thing. nobody besides urself is on hand to see what it really is, and we are only making assumptions here on out.

if there's a deal like this, there's bound to be another one somewhere else. heck, even craigslist have 6.0s for about $5000. just gotta know where to look and ensure that the craigslist ad is genuine.

sorry to bust ur bubble, but i wouldnt buy it. dont worry pal. ur gonna find something better than this.

 

Don't get me wrong... I definatly don't mind getting my hands dirty... I was aheavy line tech for Five Star Ford and North Hills Lincoln Mercury in the Ft Worth Tx area for 6 yrs... but I never messed with diesels.... all gas engines.... I'm only worried about my lack of knowledge with the 6.0.... I mean the truck blue books for over 10k...
..... I know I'm just trying to justify buying the damn thing.... but if I could get a direction on what could be wrong I'd be a little more comfortable.... I have looked at tons of truck on CL... but again I run into some decent trucks but they all have tons of miles...
Your advice will definatly be in my consideration... thanks for your comment

 

The 6.0 is really not that hard to work on it just takes a lot of time
so if you not doing the work yourself then it is $$$. If you are doing the work
your going to learn a lot of things and maybe have some fun along the way.
There a few parts that can cost a bit.

Now onto the truck you looking at. I don't like to say this but I would pass on that one.
This is why. If the former owner has been in mucking around with things and you
have to un-do all of that it can take time and money. I think you time is worth more
than undoing someone tinkering and it a F250 so there is not a large amount of
extra scale weight left in it once it's running.

Look for a truck that is running and not dumping you on the road. If you have one that
has the service records that is even better because you know where you stand.

Take some time and do some reading in the tech folder and ask questions and
your going to find a good truck.

Sean

 

If it's not going to be your daily driver and you can do the work yourself, might be a good project. $5000 in parts and you are still under book. Put a monitor on it and see what is happening then go from there.

 

i would still stay away from both. they both seem to have some issues. technically like wat sean said, ur going in blind. it would help with decent records of work done. OASIS reports would help too.

 

Without some digital gauges it's a crapshoot what is going on with that engine.

$5000 is a damn good deal though, especially if you can throw your own wrenches as a rebuilt FICM or new HPOP wouldn't be a big deal at that price.

I doubt it is anything major, sounds electrical to me. But again with no way to monitor the culprit it's a guessing game.

Josh

 

Well I took yalls advice and stayed away from both trucks... I found d a new one! I bought s
2000 F-350 4x4 Lariat X-cab long bed 7.3l. I was still kind of up in the air about the 6.0 and this truck came along.... new HPOP new auto trans all new suspension all services done... and a full tank of fuel!! Lol. Best part he had documents of everything ever done to the truck... owned by a 86 yr old man that never pulled a trailer... got a good deal at $5500 seeing as I have a receipt for the $2500 25,000 mile old transmission..... thanks guys for the advice!

 

Where is the 6.0 for $5000, I'd buy it for parts if it was close enough?

 

In ft worth Texas off of 29th st the guys number is 817-709-7626
It is a really clean truck...

 

I'm happy for u boss! Sounds like a good deal for $5500 and a lariat too! Just the 4wd transfer case is worth something already! Congrats!

 

Thanks I'm excited too.... I don't knowwhy these trucks are selling so cheap in my area but there are a ton of them on craigslist between $5000-$8000...
The truck I bought bluebooks right at 10k... works for me!