Looking at a 1997 F250 Crew Cab, 2wd, atx. I dont know much about the powerstrokes so I've got a few questions.

Does the atx still have problems?

How's the gas mileage when not towing?

Any serious problems?

How many miles would the truck need to have before you said "too high"?

Any advice is great, since I know nothing about the power strokes.

Thanks in advice. BTW, it's between Dodge, Chevy and Ford diesels. Input please.

-Andrew

 

Don't know what a atx is, but my 96 4x4 gets 18-20 mpg normal driving

 

Read the Red!

 

Mine gets 14 to 17 depends on how I drive it.It has 278,000 miles on it and it runs like new.Overall these are some of the best trucks on the road.I have heard of them going 500,000 mile on the engines.If you maintain them they will last forever.I love the truck and being a mechanic all my life but never working on diesels I was very sceptical about buying one.Now I specialize in the powerstrokes at my shop and I will probably never own anything else.

 

I just broke in my engine at 115,000 miles. I put two transmissions in the truck but I abused them. Normal driving 18 mpg pulling 10-12 mpg.

 

Well, that's all good news to hear. I stayed away from the IDI and pre-power stroke models since the ATX was so sketchy to me. I've been a trade skill mechanic for a few years now (I'm 22), and never owned a diesel. I definately like them though. Although I drive a whole lot I really don't tow a lot, but I could use a larger truck pretty often. I figure a diesel is the way to go then. Whatever I get I plan on instaling a cooler and gauge if it's automatic.

Hopefully I'm going to be looking at it tomorrow, and with a little luck get it in the next few days. It's honestly between this and a Suburban Diesel. I've been told that the GM diesel is a horrible design with a ton of problems, even though it's still a SBC block.

BTW, do you guys snap rear diffs or rear ends ever?

 

the 6.5 chevy aint bad for what it is, i have them in my hmmwv's at work still. its not the best for plying on the street though and they dont make much to get more power from them, plus i dont care for the overall layout of suburbans, but if thats what you are lookin for go drive an excursion...love 'em to death.
yeah i broke the spider gears on mine at 215k but read my signature and you can see how i drive it. the upgrade to the ford SD 10.5 was direct bolt in and is 10 times stronger

 

Yea, I just did a ton of research on the 6.5L. They're descent built, not actually a 5.7 block like I was told. Apparently they kill the control module for the pump, which kills the pump. Pump is 1200 bucks or so. A module relocation kit is 200 bucks, and then they never have a problem with that. Down side is, they're kinda gutless. They don't mod well, and don't have a whole lot of power. Better gas mileage than the Ford's power stroke though.

If you had to put it down, what are the power strokes biggest problems? I've had bad experience with Fords in the past, being a mechanic. Their transmissions and drivetrain scare me all around.

 

For comparison I have a 1994 F350 SC Dually 5 speed manual 4.10 gears

I can hit a consistent 21mpg pure highway cruise set at 55mph
I average 18mpg with my daily routine of 60% highway, 40% city

I bought mine with 220,000 miles, with nearly 90% of those miles pulling a 30' gooseneck horse trailer. That is the only thing the original owner did with the truck. Great running, nice looking. Original clutch still. The original owner knew how to take care of a truck.

I have a dana 80 rear...I can't see ever breaking this thing unless you totally abuse it. One example would be trying to burn through the ice at redline in 5th gear with 20,000 pounds behind you. However, I think you will have a lot more problems than rear end damage.

I do agree that these are some of the best trucks on the road...but it depends on how well they were taken care of. Mine is in really good shape, but it is having wear and tear and old age issues since it is 13 years old with 1/4 of a million miles. IMO the best combination would be a 92-97 CC dually 4x4 6 speed cummins. Any kind of cummins would do, 12v or common rail preferred. I like the PSD for what it is and it does its intended job very well, but it isn't a cummins. Sadly the dodge trucks themselves aren't worth all that much.

The 6.5L chevy's are an engine. It will get you up and down the road, and is a nice improvement over the 6.2L and the entirely humorous 5.7L diesel. They aren't all bad, but I wouldn't ever own one. I never have, but I know many that have with both good and bad consequences. Reading the wikipedia entry isn't a bad idea, but IMO they make the engine sound a lot better than it is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_GM_engines

Keep in mind that although they say the 5.7L diesel was not a gas conversion...it just takes a few part swaps to make it a gasser.

 

So you would go with a Dodge diesel over your Ford?

 

I think he would say he would go for Cummins powered Ford. As would I but never a cummins powered Dodge. Can't stand the dodge trucks only thing they have going for them is the cummins.

Honestly I consider all the Powerstrokes issues to be minor. They can have Cam Sensor issues, the vavle cover connector for the injectors burn up every now and then, IDM's go bad but not real often, Fuel pumps start to leak after lots of miles, The air filter housing need to be replaced ASAP with a Tymar or Kwik filter and the downpipe is squashed flat so that need to be replaced with 3" round. And Injectors are expensive but they is not so much an issue with this site around http://www.diy-injectors.com/

 

Cummins powered Ford is the way to go. I have a mint 12v sitting in my garage that I bought to put into my dually, but I ended up changing my mind strictly because I couldn't find a 6 speed under $2,500 (which I think is totally insane). I am now thinking I will mate it against an allison and make myself a drag truck. I have the perfect truck sitting in my yard already.

For economy and daily driver issues, I think I will get a common rail with a 6 speed to swap in this truck. That will give me more power at less EGT's and better economy towing than the 12v. The reliability of a 12v is much greater than that of any electronic cummins, especially the early 24v's.

For right now I am keeping the PSD. I won't win any races, but it will pull any legal weight and gets a decent MPG at the same time. The issue I have with the PSD is that it isn't nearly as reliable as the cummins at higher horsepower, the cummins is cheaper to get to a higher horsepower, and the cummins makes power down lower than the PSD (and power doesn't drop off until the governor hits). People will argue this to no end, but this is what my experience with working with both the PSD and 12v engines has taught me. Stock for stock they are both about the same, but when you start cranking them up, the cummins has the edge.

 

Alright, she's got 212k miles and pretty clean. They are asking 7k, and I dont think they're going to drop it much. Does this seem accruate?

 

If it is a nice looking truck, I would guess that would be a decent price. Blue book with no options is $7,000 in fair condition or $8,700 in excellent condition. By the time you add options, you could be nearing $10,000 depending on what options it has.

 

If the truck is in good shape and has been maintained well that sounds like a good price. If it were a 4wd truck it would be a very good price.