Truck buying time... need advice
 

Hey everyone, long time no... err.. post. Anywho, I'll get straight to the point. I sold my excursion to a friend who offered 500 bucks more than I paid for it 3 years ago. I'm now looking for a replacement truck. I found a 97 PSD/zf5 fairly cheap and cosmetically challenged, and would like to have a mechanic look at it before I pick it up.

It runs decent, doesn't blow me away as far as power goes - seemed on par with the excursion at best, after it warmed up. It does put out a fairly good amount of blue smoke on startup, which I read that it could be as simple as injector o rings, or as bad as piston rings or bad injectors... Does anyone know of a shop or mechanic, preferably in the shakopee/south west area, that I could take this thing to and have it looked at, just so I know what I'm getting myself into?

Thanks!

Wish I had a good recommendation for you. Hopefully someone chimes in that knows someone in that area. Good luck with the truck.

Could be a glow plug issue as well. I don't know of any but hopefully someone will. Good luck!

Blue Smoke would be oil burning. From what I've read, injector o-rings are common. This seems likely, especially since it goes away as the engine warms up. The o-rings expand and seal up when they get warm. I've got a 96. It could be something else as well, but o-rings are cheap and relatively easy to do. Check in the 94.5 - 97 forum. There is alot of good info over there.

White smoke would indicate unburnt Diesel (glow plugs). I know mine smokes when I start it up. The colder it is, the more white smoke I get. Even one glow plug can do this.

1994.5 - 1997 7.3L Power Stroke Diesel - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums

Yeah, I went through that forum a bit.. Found out that the old body styles also never hit 400k miles displayed, and just roll back to 300k... so makes me wonder how many miles are on this thing. As far as the blue smoke is concerned, the second time around it started much easier and with a lot less blue smoke; so it very well could be the o rings. There were a few other things on the truck though that turned me off and I think I will pass on it. The fan blower doesn't seem to work, only got a hint of cold air out of the AC. Also, under the hood i found a cardboard wrapper from a stop leak product in the engine bay... along with a plastic funnel. I don't mind extra accessories, but the stop leak stuff worries me.

It's at Apple Suzuki if anyone wants it; 97 f350 crew 4x4, 337k, surprisingly little rust on it, none on the underbody/suspension, just a bit on the body, and sporting some bling bling 20s with good tires on it. they have it listed at 4500 bucks.

I appreciate the help :)

Sounds like walking away is best in this case. Good luck in the hunt!

I'd definitely walk away from the stop leak stuff. Who know what that crap has done to it. You could very well be ending up with a truck that costs 2X-3X what you paid for it.

Yeah, that's what I thought... If I didn't depend on it this winter, and had time and space to work on it, I'd pick it up in a heartbeat. At the very least, it would be an awesome start for a cummins swap - having the manual tranny would mean basically no electronics... :D

He Festers, go buy something with a 6.0 in it. :D

I'm passing up a 7.3 because of possible reliability issues... not gonna touch a 6.0 anytime soon :P Once I'm in az, maybe I'll get a 6.4 or something, for now I just want a winter beater that can tow more than my cherokee :-X04

Did that clean 7.3 on TCS ever sell?

the 2wd one, yes. The 4x4 that LTD has, no, but that's a non turbo. I can pick up a mod motor f150 with more hp and torks. :-X04