I have a 2004 F150 I bought used, and now with 135,000 miles its good for only taking up space in my driveway - thanks to very common problem with oil pressure an timing - too expensive to fix so I'm looking for a replacement.

I found a 1996 F250 with fairly low mileage (farm truck) but I don't want to get stuck with another dead truck. Any known common issues with this year and model? Especially concerned with ones that are expensive to fix.

thanks

 

What is too expensive to fix for you?

 

Broken timing chain guide, low oil pressure, the resulting timing issues with cam phasers, and metal shavings in oil. Cost to replace oil pump and timing components almost as much as replacing the engine - which cost as much as the truck is worth. And no guarantee the problem would be resolved.

4 different mechanics told me the same thing - get rid of it. Known problem with this engine, seen it many times and almost never is fixed without replacing the engine.

 

If the cost of a repair exceeding the value of a truck is a sticking point for you I wouldn't advise you to get an obs, especially if you don't plan on doing you own repair work. In general these trucks are simple and cheap to repair but at this point in their lives most are in need of a lot of tlc and will nickel and dime you to death. If you intend to put one to real work it will only be worse.

 

I agree with the statement don't buy an OBS if you don't do your own work; the newest of these is 19 years old and most need work and all need routine maintenance. There are a lot of auto techs out there who don't have experience working on the older models and won't be of much help when you need repairs. Even the OBD2 trucks ('96/'97) are primitive compared to newer models without the electronic support to guide the technician to the exact failure, which most newer techs need to diagnose anything. And don't forget the OBS body style's propensity to propagate rust...

 

On the other hand, if you will be doing most of your own work, '92 - '96/7 Ford trucks are in kind of a sweet spot between being old enough to be simple, but new enough to be simple. What I mean is that anything much older than that is getting into carbs and early electronic ignitions, both of which can be difficult to keep at peak operating efficiency, while newer vehicles can get so complicated with inter-dependent systems that it can be hard to separate out where a problem is without causing more problems.

So they aren't a bad choice for a do-it-yourselfer, but you do need to expect them to be project vehicles.