I am new to this site; new to Fords; new to Inline 6; translation, "I need all the help I can get."

I am looking to purchase a 1990 E150 van. Before I crawl under the van to give a more thorough inspection (it's sitting on a gravel parking lot) I am hoping that you all could point me to the more problematic areas of this vehicle.

Here are the particulars:
- 300 I-six EFI
- auto trans
- 5,000 miles showing (I don't know if it's 105k, or 205k.) I'll run a carfax for clues.

Thanks in advance for ANY help you can give.

 

One of the strong points of the Ford vans is body integrity. The doors etc all seem to go the distance, and you don't see them rusted out. Check behind the RR wheel, most likely place for rust. Your prospective unit should be fully function in all body areas.

One indicator of mileage is how doors and weather strip look. How word are the pedals? How about the seats? How does the steering feel?

As for the 300, it will keep running, and yours will be the EFI unit, the best power/runner of all the stock motors, as long as it's running right. Rear mains leak, check for drips and/or a puddle. Tranny removal to fix, you can live with it if it isn't too bad.

Your tranny should be an OD. There are plenty of folks rebuilding and beefing the various units used, be they AOD or E4OD. Check the oil and shifting. Good oil, good shifting is a "go", poor means work some more off the price.

Check front end alignment. Are the tires worn unevenly?

All the electrics, A/C, heater, wipers etc work?

Hard to go wrong with a unit like this, unless it's been wrecked "crabs" down the road because of a trapazoid frame.

They are durable to begin with, and fairly cheap/easy to fix when they fail.

Better minds will chime in.

Mine's an '85, the '90 was an update of that methinks.

Good luck and happy motoring!