Hey ya'll. I've been a chevy guy almost all my life and don't know much about the F-series trucks. I am in the market for a truck and there's one that cought my eye. It's a 1989 F-250 Lariat 4x4 single cab automatic with a 7.3L engine. It has 154,000 miles on it. Like I said, this is my first ford and my first diesel and I am looking for information on this truck. My concerns are mainly: what, if any, are common problems with this engine? I have heard that the 7.3 uses the 6.9 block bored out to 7.3 making the engine weaker. Is it worth the 2,900 the guy is asking? The body is very straight with no rust. The interior is also in really good condition. I have read that at 150,000 miles, you're just getting out of the "break-in" stage. How many miles on average will this truck live? I will be using the truck for hunting, getting in and out of the mountains and some heavy mud. It will aslo be a farm truck more than likely. Hauling wagons and such. Will this truck have the power I am looking for or will I be short handed? How maintenance friendly is it? I don't have a garage or a cherry picker so a user friendly truck is a must. And I'm not made of money so I'd like to get better than 10mpg. Any guestimates of what the gas milage of a truck of this age on original motor will get?



Any information you can give me would be greatly appreciated. If you can think of anything else I left out but think I should know please share.



Thanks,

-Lars

 

Welcome to FTE........

Not sure of the value of the truck in your area ID...... but that would be in range depending on overall condition..... which sounds good. 500K is the normal life of a diesel engine of our vintages 87-94. Coolant (green) and SCA's (supplimental coolant additives) testing strips are the most important after good fuel/oil and filters.

There is a ton of info available search forum works good here......... also read up on this page........ http://www.intellidog.com/dieselmann/idi.htm

Go to IH ask for the Fleetguard 3-WAY Coolant Test Strips CC2602B contains 1 Test strip.

They show A/F freeze point (EG and PG coolants), Nitrite level and Molybdate levels.

http://www.fleetguard.com/pdfs/produ...es/LT15626.pdf (test strip)



Literature library........

http://www.fleetguard.com/en/product....shtml#cooling

Restore etc....
/LT15108 (coolant chemicals)

There have been packaging updates so the smallest Fleetguard pack may be 10 strips now..

/MB06-07-1 (packaging info)


NAPA has them too..........

 

What is the gear ratio?

 

Is the auto a C6 three speed (worse milage) or a E4OD (better milage) electronic control? The E4OD would be an early version which had problems, if it is E4OD it has likely been upgraded with those kind of milages. (Most didn't make it to 80K). As for power, I have a modified intake and exhaust system non turbo as per my signature and have lots of power, but if you want to tow heavy,fast with the crappy milage they get with powerstrokes, it wont keep up. They are dependable plug along engines.
(by the way the only reason chev's are easier to work on is because you have too).LOL. IDI ford is easy to work on and parts are relatively inexpensive.
Welcome to a great web site of information