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1983 F100: Help Me Get To Know "Baruch"/Help Me Fix Him
Hello.
I have been looking for general information on a 1983 F100 with the 4.9L Straight 6 Automatic transmission with around 200k 229k miles on it. I will be looking at purchasing one of these tomorrow, and I mainly want to know how reliable it is/what are the most common issues with it (Carcomplaints.com was little help for this) along with simply information in general.
Thank you.
Edit to Add (ETA): I have bought the F-100 and named him "Baruch."
In general the 4.9 / 300 six is a pretty good motor, built strong to be used in trucks.
With that said it is not a race motor and will not win any races.
Not knowing what auto you have but if it is the C6 non-overdrive one that is also a strong trany and was used behind large v8's.
Only down fall I can forsee it would have a feed back carb & IGN, rude computer control system. Everything has to work like it came from the factory or the computer goes into limp home mode and lack power and use a lot of gas.
Now that is not the end of the world in less you live in CA or a place they look under the hood and test the truck. If they don't look under you can get it to pass the sniff test with a little work.
So to ditch that computer you need to swap out the carb & distributor for an earlier set and with a litte rewiring you are up and running. Search DSII swaps to see what it takes.
Now like anything if the motor or trany never had maintenance they both may need a rebuild se with the brake system so keep that in mind when looking at anything to buy.
Dave - - - -
Now like anything if the motor or trany never had maintenance they both may need a rebuild se with the brake system so keep that in mind when looking at anything to buy.
This is important. As Dave said, the combo is a good, solid one but there's no way to know how it was used (or abused) in those 200k miles. Is this a truck you plan on doing all the work on yourself? Do you know anyone familiar with older vehicles that would be able to go with you to check it out? We have some local mechanics that will do a pre-purchase checkup but I don't know if they do them on vehicles of this age.
I purchased it. Guy wanted $1000 firm. I tried to work him down, but the car did include over $100 of new parts (brake shoes and such) and he originally purchased it for $1000 and put $100s (probably a few $1000) into it, so I was ok with it. Car runs well, except he idles too low. He has 290k miles on it, but the seller said that the engine is relatively new (<100k miles?) along with a new gas tank. Seller was a BMW mechanic for 8 years, so I assume he took good car of him (forgot to ask about how often he changed oil, etc). Truck bed has a decent amount of rust, so that could become a problem if I don't get on that soon. I'll attach some pics. How bad is this in the grand scheme of things? (I've never had a truck before)
He seems to kind of lightly shake when I am cruising in 4th gear and I am not accelerating, but maintaining speed. He doesn't do it when accelerating or when decelerating. Any idea what this could be?
Also, how do I adjust the idle RPMs? (since I have you here) (maybe it is related to the shaking, even though it if was shaking when decelerating, that would make more sense, wouldn't it?)
Edit to Add (ETA): I am naming him Baruch. It means "blessing" in Hebrew and sounds like a really strong, masculine name.
Well, read the "Bible"! In this case, that would be the Ford Truck Shop Manual printed that year. It will have the Commandments and wonderful songs and parables and wisdom. And also torque specs, troubleshooting and test procedures, fluid types and capacities etc etc.
So Baruch currently has 235/75-15 tires. I found out that the 235 is the width of the tire in MM, the 75 means that the height of the tire is 75% of its width, and the 15 is the size of the rim. I am assuming I cannot get a tire with a different rim size, but what about the "235" and "75?" Can I change those? I'm asking because 215 tires seem to be more common.
First know the only thing that limits you on what size tire you can run now is the wheel / rim size and if you change the wheel size, wider and or bigger is the area to fit it in.
IIRC the 215/75/15 is the stock factory size tire (check the sticker in the door jamb) and 225 or 235 as an option.
If you have the factory wheels then 215 should fit.
Dave - - - -
This is good. I like the idea of having a wider tire (for more traction), but right now I need to focus on saving money and just getting Baruch running so I can use him. Thank you.
So what is your favorite tire for durability and traction? I like the MICHELIN DEFENDER LTX M/S, but they are pricy. Maybe something that is Bridgestone or Firestone? I don't want crappy tires, though.
In terms of availability I am sure you will find plenty of 235/75/15 size tires and they are what I would go with. They were a standard size for over 25 years and almost every major tire company makes a good set of them. They also tend to fill the wheel well a little better then the 215 will.
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