New to diesels ... and trucks....

Bought my truck at the end of this summer (my wife liked the color) at about 204K. Now about 206K. No engine troubles. Just took a 360 mi round trip drive to look at a property in Northern Maine -- 100 acres with a cabin for less than a new truck.

Anyway, we were running late and running out of daylight on the way up, so I pushed the truck a bit. Cruised at 85 mph for an hour. MPGs of course dropped. Hiway had a slight incline for most of the way. The EGF stayed at about 600, sl more on steeper grades and sl less on the rare down grades, boost was at 12. The stock dials for engine temp, oil pressure and tranny temp all looked usual. The fuel gauge did drop a bit faster than usual. MPGs dropped to about 15.5 on the lyometer.

As a newbie, I did not know what to look for as far as rust problems and there are moderate problems. On of the cross bars for the bed (sorry for the lack of correct terminology) is completed rotted through, the other two are iffy, the bed itself has a lot of rust - told not to load anything heavy back there, the shock mounts are not long for this world - nothing imminent but. Etc. It needs a lot of work.

I wanted to have a thorough engine check up before dumping big bucks into frame and bed repair. I ran into a friend who I knew was into hot rods and it turns out his shop also works on trucks (he's the body side of things).

I spoke to his mechanic who knows 7.3's (the shop's tow truck is a 7.3) and he said not to bother to check the engine for problems because its running so well.

So, is the mechanic right? The engine had the oil pan done at 200K, has a slight valve cover leak, and the infamous dripping AC water behind the front passenger tire. Starts right up so far in low 30's, no smoke at start or with driving, quick off the line, maintained 85mph for 60+ minutes, and 95mph top speed so far.

At this point, it almost doesnt matter. The truck is fun as hell to drive, i've managed to parallel park without the need of an accident report and if the engine needs repairs beyond usual maintenance at its age, well, probably gonna do it.

Advice appreciated!

 

Sounds like you have a good start although frame damage can be tricky. You need to read the stickies at the top of the forum and then if you have any specific questions after that, we are here to help. I am sorry no one responded when you first posted, that is very rare around here. Welcome to the forum.

 

Welcome aboard. Sounds like you have a normal running truck with some rust issues. I would move on to the frame and body so you can load it up.

 

Keep the oil changed, tranny serviced, and change the fuel and air filters like you're suppose to, and drive it.

As for rust, it ain't going to fix itself on its own. Here's a great thread as to what you could do with the bed and frame.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...r-salvage.html

 

Damn, That truck looks like it was dipped in the Atlantic one too many times!

 

I rep'd that dude. He did some serious work.

 

It looks darn nice now though, don't it?!!!

Me too!!!!

 

Oh hell yeah, but somehow I'm thinking if that mess is coming from a few years of Road salt, I'd be moving......

 

If you have a truck with little or no rust, do whatever you can to stop it now!

 

Amen, Brother.....

 

It's amazing the difference of living in the "rust belt" vs not with these trucks.

My 02 had no rust. TX for a year, SC for a couple more, then CO for the rest. Never went through salt roads in the winter. Mag chloride or nothing, of course that mag chloride does a number on aluminum, and also is a PITA to get off chrome parts.

My parents have an 03 in Michigan..... they can't stop the rust. It's everywhere, especially the bed. That's one place that's just collects rust like nothing else.

Might be worthwhile to look for a take-off bed from a non-rust belt area. From time to time you can find them cheap in the south. Look hard enough and you'll find the color you need too (if it's a common color), that way you don't even have to repaint.

 

jk sucks for you guys
Thank God I live in the south west

 

Was just wondering if best to have engine checked out before pouring some real money into the frame. The engine seems to be running fine, but what do I know about diesels? (Nearly limited to: wait for the WTS to go out before starting). It's kinda settled at this point - need the truck frame/bed back strong.

Thanks.

 

You can have the engine checked out if you want and take care of minor issues but remember something can break or go bad after that and really no way to prevent it before you went under the hood. One thing, if you do remove the bed make sure you do the hutch and harpoon mod in the fuel tank.

 

They were on the list!!