Hey guys.

I recently put my 2005 5.4L 2WD F-150 up on craigslist for trade because I've always been wanting a 4x4. My truck now has 215k miles on it and just had a new engine block put in her. I was recently offered a 2000 7.3L 4x4 with 292K miles on it and my only concern is how long is it going to be before I start having engine troubles.

The guy who is trading it to me has taken amazing care of the engine from what I can tell. He replaced the injectors and glow plugs about a year ago, both alternators 6 months ago, water pumps and radiator hoses 3 months ago, and much more. http://images.craigslist.org/00u0u_l...LV_600x450.jpg

Any advice on weather I should go pick it up now or start running would be helpful, thanks

 

I don't think I would run from a 7.3 trade! Have you checked it out?

 

I'm meeting up with him on Saturday.

 

If it runs. grab it with both stirrups brother.


Denny

 

have you ever done the upside down oil cap test?

 

What would that be?

 

1st When you look at the truck you want the engine to be cold and not wormed up. Take your trustily flashlight with new batteries. Look in the valley for oil or fuel to see if there are any leaks. If possible take the air filter off with the intake pipe so you can look for any dusting on the turbo wheel. Crawl under the truck and look up between the motor and tranny look for oil (doesn't mean rear main which is rear) but could be something from above. Not a huge deal but will need addressing.

As for the oil cap, you take the oil cap off and turn it upside down. If it sits there and bounces around your all good, but if it shoots off you have low to no compression and would mean the combustion would bypass the cylinder or rings and end up in the crank case, which would shoot your oil cap in the air. If everything is good, then the combustion is held in the cylinder (compression) and will exit out the valves like it's supposed to.

 

Do you tow anything, or plan to? If so....and tests/inspections as above pans out....then I'd say jump on it. If you don't tow anything and never plan to then my OPINION would be to consider a 4WD F-150. Not sure why you would need a 250 or Diesel for just a driver duty truck. I wouldn't anyway....but thats just me. I tow a car hauler 4-5 times a year and getting 6 mpg out of a 32V Navigator was enough to drive me to a Powerstroke....and love it!

 

I'm getting it for something to go mudding in and also a daily driver because even though it is a diesel its getting 7 more miles to the gallon than what I'm getting now with my F150

 

I did a similar thing, I traded my 2006 FX4 F150 for a 7.3 Lariat, but then again I plan on getting a toyhauler for family vacations and knew there would be no way my 150 would ever handle that. I agree with what others are saying, if you just plan on playing in the mud and using it to and from work etc, then the F150 would better suit your needs (in my opinion). That being said, I do get about 3-4 MPG's more out my diesel than I ever did out of my F150 (big selling point to the missus ) and therefor it is cheaper to run per mile (minus repair costs, which I may have glossed over a little with the wife).

But, that F150 you have will not last too awful much longer, and the diesels hold their value a lot better, especially the 7.3. So that being said, I would, if I were in this situation, I would do the swap, then if I found I didn't need that big of a truck or the diesel, use this truck to swap for a newer, lower mileage F150. I think you will come out ahead either way on this deal, as long as the diesel is in good shape, and seems to check all the boxes on things to watch for that people have mentioned here. If it were me, I would do it in a heartbeat!