I am skeptical of the high mileage. Anyone experience buying a used 7.3 with this many miles. It is a 1999 and he has owned it since 2006. It is a clean looking truck (from pictures) it has 340k and he wants 4500. I am probably going to talk him down of course but it is a Lariat 4 door dually 2wd.

What should I look for if I do pursue this truck? I am going to be looking at 7.3's so either way I'll need the checklist.

Here is the link to the advertisement: F350 Lariat 7.3 PowerStroke turbo diesel

 

I bought my truck 5 years ago with 190k on it. Within the first two years I had to spend close to 11k in repairs and maintenance. Not complaining, I knew what I was getting myself into, but the higher the mileage the higher the probability of bearings, axles, transmissions..etc etc

Seller says it runs "pretty good" I would worry about that

 

Wellll... to some folks, "pretty good" is just a humble way of saying "excellent".

With it being a dually work truck, he may have already replaced the transmission and or other big ticket items like injectors, turbo, etc. Just have to ask.

 

It is a zf6 I believe. Do zf6 transmissions commonly go out? I know e4od are common of going out. I've heard of some as early as 100k. What about the zf6?

What should I check for under the hood? Only thing I really know to check is blow by and see if there is crust caked on the coolant reservoir.

 

The ZF6 is a beast of a transmission.

I bought my truck with 228K miles on it for $9200 and have put about $5000 into it so far. Although, it has a tuner, air bags, traction bars, E rated tires, the list goes on and on. It is a rock solid truck that I have run cross country twice pulling heavy trailers.

One of the best things I like about my truck is the ZF6 transmission. It will pull anything I throw at it and just laugh. The granny gear will pull a house off the foundation if you can get enough traction.

There are minor issues with the ZF6, but nothing that a few hundred dollars doesn't normally take care of.

Without seeing the truck in person and finding out if it is a 99.5 or higher it is hard to say if it is a good deal. The price is good, based on what you can see in the pictures.

Things to check are see if it has the stock air box, if so insist on removing the inlet to the turbo to see if the wheel is beat up. Just look around and see if you can identify loose wires or things that look like they haven't been taken care of. Just because a truck is old does not mean it is not in good shape or has minor issues that you don't mind resolving.

Here is a picture of my truck engine bay which is a 2000 with 242,000 miles now.

 

Check the book value and pull a carfax to make sure no major accidents.
should be good to go.

 

I am going to ask if any major repairs have been done. Such as injectors turbo etc I will also ask for a vin# to run a car fax. I think it is an early model because of where the power stroke decal is

 

From the looks of that badge on the front on the fender it's an early (E)99. Not a show stopper, that's what mine is but at least you know it. Check blow by and the other guys have you covered pretty well.

 

what do you mean show stopper? Is there something wrong with the early 99 late 98?

 

In short...no. Truck looks good. Go check it out, give it a whirl, open ur up and then decide

 

I believe that truck is an Early 99 as well Walleye. Differences I can think of off the top of my head are that the turbos are smaller, intake spyder different, and depending on the engine serial number no forged rods.

Key areas I would look at are:

Turbo - Dusted wheel, and shaft play
Batteries - Date Manufactured and installed/bought
Coolant - Look in the degas bottle for oily film on the coolant, this tells of oil cooler leaks
Driveline - Inspect Carrier bearing, u-joints, etc. for excessive play
Clutch - When last replaced and if the fork was upgraded
Clutch Hydraulics - Solid, even feel throughout tells it is A-OK
Oil Analysis - Can be done before or after truck purchase. Will give insight to how your engine's innards are
Fuel Bowl Drain - Look at the back of the fuel bowl at the lever and see if it is wet. If so, a new valve would need to be acquired soon.

At the moment that is all I can think of, but will add to the list if I can think of anything major. Mayhaps there is a FTE Brother close-by that had AE or another reader that would be able to go with you to get some more insight on just how the truck is performing.

For what it is worth, I bought my truck back when it had 342k from a dealer that had some pretty deceptive practices in play with the truck that missed my eyes. Have I put money into my truck? Yep, but it is all the better and will last longer because of it. There is a decently comprehensive list in the tech folder of what to look for. I recently replaced my transmission fluid in the ZF6 and found that it was a chocolate brown (making me believe it had never been serviced), but no shavings on the plug or where I could see with my camera when I shoved it inside the drain hole. The 7.3/ZF6 combination is one that is hard to beat, and I love mine. In fact, I wouldn't hesitate to take it across the country right this second if I needed to.

 

Well this is starting to make me less scared. I contacted him to get more info and hopefully I can look at it in person soon!

 

I was under the impression that forged rods were used from the beginning of 7.3 production up into 2000. No?
NOT a show stopper, in other words I wouldn't let it stop the show, or the purchase as it is in this case.

The changes also include some different front suspension things, nothing serious.

 

ok phew I thought something serious lol thank you

 

I have always gone by 99.5 through early 2001 7.3s had forged rods. I saved the serial numbers that were supposed to get the Forged/PMR offline, but can't remember exactly where from.

7.3s from the start of production through S/N 1425746 have forged rods.
Engine S/N 1425747 through S/N 1440712 have powdered rods.
Engine S/N 1446713 through S/N 1498318 have forged rods.
Then all engines from S/N 1498319 through the end of production have powdered rods.

I am not sure what was used between S/N 1440712 and S/N 1446713 as I would have figured powdered would have been used up until the switch back to forged.

The serial number gives a good basis to go on (Mine is 1111070 IIRC) but I would go through the inspection hole in the block to verify (IIRC 5/16" plug by oil filter). Going off the engine serial numbers seem to confirm your theory Walleye.