hey all. I am new to this site, i ave never owned a diesel before, but I need a work/daily driver. I am looking at a 1992 f-350 diesel with an after market turbo. the guy said that the engine was rebuilt at 150k and now has 217k on it. the turbo is an AST I am assuming, thats what it says right on it. my questions are, do you think that a truck like this, crew cab, power windows up front, power locks but other than that pretty basic, with the rebuilt motor and turbo 5 pseed tranny is worth 7700. Also why can't I hear the turbo whine, i am used to hearing it in other trucks, is it cuz its not original or what. another question real fast, it didn't start tright away, probably cranked like 15-20 time before starting. what are your thoughts?
is this AST turbo really that good or what the deal with all that kind of stuff,
Thanks
Dustin

 

well don't know much about the turbo but the excessive cranking sounds like the glowplugs are not working. how long did the wait to start light come on for 10 seconds is about average, anything less usually means a GP or two or more might be bad. also was the motor cold? or had it been running before you started it? i noticed my GP were bad when it didnt start in the morning but anytime after that once warmed, it would start right up.

 

the truck was cold, but after it was warm, it started right up, the wait to start light stayed on for about 2 seconds, are glow plugs expensive to replace?

 

Use motorcraft/beru only. They are about 8-9 bucks at Autozone. If you get it, check back for more details on changing.

Check the coolant for additive to prevent cavitation. If they didn't use any, I would stay away from it. Buy test strips at NAPA, Ford, or International.

 

You say the engine was rebuilt to what extent and were the cylinders bored out....were they sleeved afterwards........ask what GPs are in it, if the PO states Autolite or Champion .........consider a very much lower offer. F350 only have front door power windows.

 

Hey guys, thanks for getting back to me. I am very serious about this truck, mainly because there aren't many others in this area with any less miles, especially on the engine. About the sca's I know very little about them, or where they go or what they do. what I do know is that everyone seems to agree that they are important. where do they go and what do they do. I called the guy, he had no clue what they were, and he called the guy that owned and worked on the truck, and he had no clue. They both talked to a few more people, which they claimed were diesel mechanics, and the same story, no clue. they said, before anything happened to the engine, the water pump would go first. It kind of seems like no sca's were used, obviously, and I would hate to get a rig that would fall apart pretty soon, the engine had the top and bottom end rebuilt, and then the the turbo was added then, so even if no sca's have been used, will 70,000 miles ruin it for me or what.

I hate to be a pain, but like I said I am serious about the truck, but then again I have never spent this mych money on something like this, so if it proven that sca's need to be ran through the truck then I will stick away, but I don't wanna miss out if there is uncertainty on the issue.
thanks again, and please address the purpose of sca's when you reply, thanks
Dustin

 

sca's???????????

 

The diesels have thin cylinder walls and are prone to getting holes in the cylinders coming from the coolant side. There are additives that can be put in the coolant to prevent it from happening. Without it who knows how long it will last. Do a search. there is plenty of info on the subject. Maybe someone else will come along with a better explanation. The cylinders are too thin to be bored out. They must be sleeved. Big bucks.

 

Cavitation is rare from what I've heard. Some of you guys make it sound like it happens on all 7.3's. The point is have a good mechanic that you trust and knows something about diesels look at the truck and then get his opinion. If it checks out and you like the truck and price is fair then buy it.

 

I believe they are reffering to Supplemental Cooling Additive. In addition to coolant another chemical is added to prevent the coolant from forming bubbles on the metal parts of the cooling system caused by the vibration in the block. From what I gather these surfaces can suffer from corrosion or breakdown.

I've purchased the additive from Ford. It's just called Diesel Cooling System Additive. It's mixed 4 ounces to the gallon. There are test strips available from Napa (#4106) or under the Fleetgaurd name.

I really don't know what percentage of engines failed from this and when I bought my truck I just made sure the cooling system held pressure. Had it flushed at it's first service and poured in enough additive to match the coolant capacity. I'm not going to lose too much sleep over it. I believe some commercial coolants for diesel service already has the additive in it.

Good luck.

 

hey guys, thanks a lot for all the help. I will run a search and let ya know what I decide. Thanks again. you guys were a big help!!

 

BTW, its an ATS turbo, not AST. Also, for you information, ATS was hired by ford to develop their factory turbo, which was origional equipment on some 93 and 94 IDI trucks, though ford made a mess of the downpipe arangement. You should not be able to hear a turbo whine, I am not really sure why, but they dont really make any noise, at least nothing that can be heard above that diesel rattle. It sounds like a decent truck, the only major concern I would have is with the potential of cavatation, which seems fairly unlikely but still possible. If you do get the truck I would recomend flushing the coolant system and refilling with a SCA charged mixture. As already mentioned, it sounds like there is a problem with your glow plug system, most likely a few are not working. They are cheep and replaceing them is about like changing spark plugs on a gasser.

good luck

 

I own a 94 F350 with a factory ats turbo (soon to be upgraded) with a k&n air filter and i can hear my turbo whine

 

Perhaps the stock filter muffles the whine and the K&N doesn't muffle it as much???