Im a longtime reader [10 yrs+] but have never done any posting. With the search function i have found the answers to every question ive had and more. Many Thanks to all the experts on this forum. I am currently looking at another PSD to buy and have a couple questions. Its a 97 cc bone stock with 125k original miles, clean body and interior. Looks like very little maintenance . Im sure the injector o-rings are original. Its cold out and has a GPR issue,weak batteries,crud in fuel tanks and fuel bowl so it didnt start. It DID turn over but had what sounded like a drop on one cylinder. It wasnt a big slow down in crank speed but noticeable.
Question: Does this mean low compression on a cylinder.
So is it from cracked rings or could it be total failure of injector o-rings on one cylinder or something else.
I didnt do anything with Torque or forscan since it was dark and cold out lol.
I can fix all the other issues with the truck but having to tear into the engine is a big unknown.

 

Could be just the fact the GP are not working and the weak batteries attributing to the "dead skip" you are hearing. Get your batteries from your truck install them in the truck your looking and by-pass the GPR by touching the two large post with a screwdriver fir 20 seconds and give it a go and see if it tries to start.

 

Assuming it has enough functioning glow plugs i could give that a try. So you think low batteries could cause a "dead skip". The truck reportedly had grey and white smoke when he had it running, ran rough and so on. Im surprised it ran at all with all the junk in the fuel system. It needs alot of work and mods to get it up to speed but it has a lot going for it as long as i dont have to tear into the motor.
I can try my new motorcraft batteries and see how it goes. After that ill see what forscan shows me.

 

Yes that dead skip could be from the engine trying to fire. Grey/white smoke could be from bad fuel (algea, water or low fuel pressure) a compression test would be the next best thing to do before throwing $$ at it.

 

It looks like a couple days before i can get over to the truck to run forscan and look at a few more things. After that ill either plop some cash on him or move on.

 

With 125K original miles I doubt it was driven much, probably sitting for long periods of time. That's not necessarily a bad thing. You indicated the interior and exterior looked good but probably poor maintenance, why, your observations sir? Depending on the cost of purchasing the truck I would replace the starter, new batteries, maybe cables, new glow plugs and UCVH's if necessary at a minimum. And of course clean the fuel system as best you can. I doubt it's a internal engine problem as you were concerned about.

Leave the engine stock with no mods until running good then go that route.

 

I am getting information from the current owner who recently got it from original owner. He mentioned that when he went to look at truck 6 months ago it was running and a can of starting fluid was on hood. Thats never good. Hes considering getting rid of it as its more work than he thought. It ran badly every time he took it out. The last time he drove it he said it started shaking violently and bucking and not shifting right. Tranny fluid is clean and smells good. Im guessing a cps and or fuel system plugging up . Every thing he described to me sounds like bad fuel and really dirty tanks. wont know til i get back over there.
I agree leaving it stock until all the issues are worked out.

 

I hope he didn't bend a rod with those drugs.

 

Any way to tell that without taking it apart?

 

Big fire ***** if GPs work and you can spin the engine backwards and break starter mounts

 

Before going down the road of Doom and gloom, get the engine running without using starting fluid and go from there. Everything else is speculation at this point.

 

Well i think he has decided not to sell it and fix it himself. Thanx for the comments guys. If he changes his mind ill re-open the thread.

 

Well it looks like its back on so ill check it out tomorrow and see if i can get it running.He wants 2500 so ill mess around with it in the cold for that and see if its worth it. Just nervous about the low cylinder.

 

Finally I got over to check out the truck today. The truck had not been started since March. Forscan showed no codes. Next step was to get it started. This took an hour as the GPR didnt work and half of the glow plugs didnt seem to be working, at 20 deg. I finally determined that the back tank would not flow fuel but the front would but was low on fuel. The fuel filter and bowl was ok [had been cleaned]. The shrader* valve was leaking [sucking air and blowing fuel] so i put a cap on it. That got it running. At first start it was loud and rough dying several times. Finally it stayed running. It idled rough and accelerated rough until it warmed up. 15 minutes later it smoothed out. I had it on high idle [1300 rpm] and occasionally would drop to 1280 then back to 1300. This quit 10 minutes later and it seemed smooth with EOT at 170. The idle [650] seemed smooth but not quite as good as my truck. There may be a fuel leak into the valley but couldnt tell with the shrader valve making a mess earlier.
Tomorrow i plan to take it for a test drive checking the tranny and will use torque to get some readings and logs. Originally i was worried about a dead skip [ a slight one] when i cranked it over. This seemed to go away. I restarted it several times and it seemed a bit slow to fire up when warm.
Anything i should look for while on the drive? Other than the location of my tow strap. Any other thoughts??

Buzz test, all good and sounded the same.
CCT, had 3 codes but didnt write them down or save them= fail. Two of 3 codes mentioned cracked compression ring, bent rod
EBP, MAP, BARO all good
HPOP @600 @650rpm and 2800 on acceleration to 2500rpm- didnt test drive it yet
IPR @ 11.5 to 12% @ idle
IPW @1.2 @ idle and 5 at crank
Turbo inspected , no play and no dusting

 

AK, I shouldn't have been such a *** about the bend rod! Sorry! I mean it can happen but I shouldn't have rained on your parade. Glad your having better luck with this possible purchase.