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I just bought a 1985 ford F 350 tow truck for personal use it has a 6.9 and a four speed,I want to change the oil how many quarts does it hold??with the filter.Also somebody has wired the glow plugs to a switch and they dont seem to work,I check for power to the plugs with the switch on and there is power at every glow plug but no matter how long i leave them on it still will not start unless i plug it in and let it sit for a couple of hours.Another thing while its running it seems to have alot of blow by is this normal. does it just need a oil change or is there a blow by tube that could be plugged up.Im going to completely redo the body and interior but was hoping to not have to do anything major at this time,The truck pulls a heavy car real good seems to have plenty of power,Is ther any common problems i will need to look for??Thanks in advance,I look forward to many miles with my ford truck, Craig
The glow plugs may be burnt out. If you take a meter and read between them and the engine block, you should read pretty much a dead short if they are good. You can also take a testlight and put one side to the battery +, and touch the probe to the glowplug terminal. The testlight will light if they are good.
The blowby may be caused by a valve in the rear top of the engine not working. I forget the name of it, but it takes the gases from the inside of the engine, and lets them get sucked down the intake manifold. There is no vacuum on a diesel engine, so they have to get rid of the internal gases a little differently on a diesel.
Look for any small fuel leaks. Any leaks anywhere int he fuel system will let air in the system, and cause it to stall out when you first start it. Go down to the pre-powerstroke forum on this site, and you will find lots of info and help down there.