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I am the proverbial new guy to the forum. I have a question for all of you wise and exprienced fellows out there. I have had an old Mercedes 300 turbo diesel while in college and have just moved out to a ranch. I loved the old benz and made biodiesel for it. I plan on buying an old Ford to use on the ranch and continue making biodiesel for it. I saw a particular truck on ebay and was wondering if anyone could sound off on it for me, especially with the guys quasi-diagnosis of an injection pump problem. The link is: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=250069104355&ssPa geName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=015
I should also mention that I'm not totally incompetent (but pretty close) when it comes to diesel motors (we also own a machinery business and I work on tractors) and I feel comfortable with the rest of the drivetrain. It's the motor that I'm mostly curious about. Any feedback would be certainly appreciated.
Welcome to FTE. The truck does not look bad. Remember you have to add in the cost of repairs, and they probably have to be done to get it back home. When I first came here I was new to diesels. They were a complete mystery to me. But I am getting better. Just take one thing at a time. I never changed an injection pump, but a lot of the gurus here can tell you how to do it. Good luck with it. I'm sure someone will be along with the injection pump info you need.
I had my eye on the same truck. An IP is not the hardest thing to do, but by far not the easyest. A little elbo grease will save you a lot of money. An IP will (last i looked) cost around $300, and prolly 3-4 hrs to put on.
Yep, sounds like it needs an IP. Good looking ride
Ditto that....
Like 86fu50 said, if you're a reasonably capable mechanic, the pump will cost you $300-$450, and take as little as an hour and a half, but not more than four hours, to put on....
call around and try to find a local rebuild shop. i found a good shop that gave me all the advice (correct too) and how to remove and install. after, i removed it, and took the old pump and injector line "octopus" down to the shop to tradein the old pump for the new pump ($350-$400). the guys at the shop, flushed my lines out and attached them to the new pump for me.
it was my first ip changeout. took about 45 minutes to remove and the same to install. you will need a stubby offset wrench for the lower pass side mounting bolt.
p.s.-----if you get the truck and plan on driving it home. get a bottle of Diesel Kleen and add a double dose to the fuel tank(s). also have a few bottles of water. before i changed my ip, it would not start when hot. a couple bottles of water poured over the ip would cool it down enough to start. saved my behind several times. even had people in parking lots think i was crazy, giving my old truck bottled spring water.
It's tempting to remove the four bolts that hold the housing in front of the pump.
Don't do that because then you'll have grief getting it timed again (been there,
done that). You'll need to separate the pump from the housing...I've only done it
the hard way, but I'm sure someone else would be kind enough to explain
exactly how to disconnect the pump.
I have been running Biodiesel on both my 7.3l trucks for almost a year now and other then watching out for Biodiesel freeze-up the stanadyne injections pumps seem to do well on biodiesel.
I have been running B40 blend and cut back to B20 during the recent cold weather.
Make sure you got a good 2 micron filter and buy only good quality Biodiesel.
Since you have been working on farm tractors - you should do just fine in the changeout. Just get a good book read it front to back and do it again. I learned by trial and error method and reading the book and getting LOTS of help here on FTE. The first time I did it. One thing - keep everything extremely clean. IP and fuel sysems don't like dust/dirt.