First post, thanks in advance for any input. I have no experience with poor running psd's, only friends and family with great ones.

I'm considering purchase of a 95 crew cab XLT with psd and 5 speed. Owner says it started to run rough, low on power, and smoke like crazy all of a sudden. He changed the oil, Delo, fuel filter, air filter, and pulled the cat. He does not know how to use a multi-meter to diagnose anything. He found some burned wiring on the passenger side vc, had an electrical shop fix the wiring. Didn't help so he took it to the local Ford dealer. They told him they ran a compression check and found 2 bad injectors on the opposite side from where he replaced some wiring and replaced them. That helped some, but truck still runs low on power and smokes. He says they really charged him a ton and didn't fix it. He got mad and bought a new truck. How can you do a compression check if you don't know whether it's rings or injectors leaking?

I looked at it last night. I could hear the glow plug relay and it started cold immediately and seemed to idle fine, maybe missing a little but not too bad. Smoke smells like diesel, nothing more to me. No burned oil smell like a worn out gas motor, no coolant smell, just thick diesel exhaust. When driving it seemed sluggish to rev, but would eventually get there, smoking light blue all the way. I could hear the turbo, so I assume it's working. To me it felt like a gas rig running way too rich. I never got to get it warmed up as a mile into my test drive the plastic connection between the clutch pedal and master cylinder rod broke. There is a fuel leak somewhere on the top of the motor, running down the back and over the transmission. Crank case vent from VC blowing some steam, but smelled only of oil. Engine never got warm.

The rest of the rig is in nice shape, has 220K miles. Price is $5K, about half what it would sell for in my area if running well. Does it sound like it could be fixed with wiring, new injectors, and maybe some of the control modules, or does it sound more like possible compression problems?

 

I am not a true mechanic but just a do it yourselfer (so take what I say with a grain of salt), but I think it would be a good buy. Most of the problems you describe are ones that sound familiar and show up on these posts often.

By the way welcome to FTE.

Fuel leaks are most often simple and I doubt that the rings are bad, maybe injector seals. Mine smoked alot when cold and it was a GP (glow plug). It also sounds like you may want to look at the HPOP (high pressure oil pump). It may be bleading down. I have found that once you get it warmed up it is another truck, hopefully this will be your case. There are alot of very knowledgable people here and they have helped me tremendously. They will be along shortly to help you better than I have. Welcome.

 

I'd say more bad injectors. But, I don't know jack. I had two fuel leaks on top of the engine. One the fuel filter came loose. The other - there's this valve sticking out the driver side of the fuel filter. I used a tire valve tool to tighten it back up. Been fine ever since.

These are amazing trucks - but cost an arm and a leg from time to time...

 

Well, here is what you should do, buy the truck, give it to me, I'll fix it and drive it, and report to you every month how well it's running.
O.K. seriously, check out this site for thinks to look for when buying a used PSD: http://pages.prodigy.net/stevebaz/_i...az/index3.html

Pull the intake tube and look at the turbo blades, are they nice and sharp or do they look like they have been sand blasted? If they look sand blasted it could very well be a compression problem.
With the truck stone cold (sitting for over 6 hours) get in, and without waiting for the glow plugs to work, turn the key and start it up just like it was a gas engine. If it has bad compression it will be a bear to start (cranking for a long time, and chugging after it fires up).
But if it cranks up decent cold, for 5K, buy it. You could put 6K more into it and still come out ahead.
Possible problems with the truck, wiring harness, VC (Valve Cover) gasket connectors, UVC (Under Valve Cover) wiring, IDM took a hit from the burned wires, bad ICP (Injector Control Pressure sensor) Injector o-rings (light blue smoke)

I hate say this but alot of the Ford mechanics don't know squat about diesels. They just read from the computer monitor and follow what it says.
Again, for 5K I would buy it if the rest of the truck is good. Just my two cents.

 

Oh yea, I forgot to say, WELCOME. And as Tufudi said, the fuel leak could be the fuel pump leaking, fuel filter cannister leaking, fuel lines leaking , etc. No big deal.
Make sure you check the coolant for oil and the oil for coolant. Did the owner service it regularly? Filters (fuel & oil), diesel rated oil, coolant additives, etc.

 

Thanks a ton for the feedback fellas. I've been a lurker here for years but never posted. There's so much info that a search usually answers my questions. I've got a V10 Ex and do research for my not so computer savvy dad and his '02 7.3. Many replies in a matter of minutes, can't ask for much more than that. I've searched and read anything I could find and feel fairly confident this is a good buy provided it's topside troubles and not rebuild time. Just haven't convinced myself yet.

 

Current owner is a truck driver and gets Delo diesel oil at a discount from work and says he changes is every 3500 miles. He has owned it for 2 years with no problems he says till it recently started to run like crap. I asked about coolant additives and he didn't know anything about them but just changed coolant recently. Radiator was full and no oil, but it's probably standard antifreeze in it. I don't understand the coolant needs yet, is it special antifreeze or just an additive added to standard stuff?

 

coolant additive to be added to regular coolant. I would bet that there are more bad under valve cover harness'. I would buy it. if it started right up its doubtful it has low compression. at start-up is when low compression will show up the most by being hard starting. the smoke could be from bad glow plugs.

whats the temps when you started it?

 

Aren't slow to speed up/lack of power and smoke stuck EBPV sypmtoms? Any odd air noises from under the hood while you're driving? Like sucking or whooshing sounds? Just my $.02. Well more like $.005 considering the company I'm in.

 

I'd guess the temp was around 55 degrees or so. It did not need to crank at all, it lit right off. Good to hear that it would probably be harder to start if low on compression, but to be safe I'll try starting it cold without gp when I go back. I didn't notice any hesitation or stumbling on acceleration, it was just slow to do so and very smoky. No strange under hood noises. Only thing that looked odd was the crank case vent was an open hose, not tied back into intake, there was vapor and oil residue coming from it but I assume that's ok when the motor is not warmed up.

 

if the guy was a truck driver he probably set the breather up that way. that's how the big trucks vent the crankcase-right out to the atmosphere. vapor and residue are normal. seems like the compression issue has been dealt with but since the breather is like that you can look at that hose while the engine is running and tell if there is excessive amount of blowby. if you know an experienced mechanic that could look at it he could tell you. i will not try to describe what's ok and what's not. mainly cause i dont know for 100 percent, and secondly i dont want to tell you something that would make you think the rings are bad and freak out on the buy. i would buy it, that's pretty much a steal at that price. in fact, where is it and is it 4x4 cause that's exactly what i am looking for. just kidding good luck.

 

mu dually was exactly as you descibed, and it was the wiring harness UNDER the valve cover. Eventually over about ten times starting, it got too bad and wouldnt fire. Replaced it about 45000 miles ago, and never looked back. buy that truck............

 

Thanks again fellas. It's starting to look pretty likely I'll buy it. Seller is in a bad spot, he found out yesterday that the plastic clutch master cylinder rod is not available, only the newer style and requires the whole kit from master to slave. He'd need to buy and install the whole thing just to get it driveable for anyone else to test drive. I made a lower offer and told him I'd pick it up with a trailer, have to wait and see what he says.