Hi there,

First post here, I am looking at an 8th Gen F250 that is in decent condition. It's a 1988 with 4x4. Here is the CL listing.

The guy say's it idles/runs rough, so I'm wondering about the types of problems and repairs I could be looking at if I decide to pull the trigger.

This is all speculation of course, I'm looking for everyone's insight on this. Thanks!

https://baltimore.craigslist.org/cto...607188771.html

 

a 4x4 f250 is always (to me) a desireable platform, and for your area, it doesnt look TOO bad, but you would be rolling the dice on the engine. are you prepared to do an engine swap ? expect the worst, i sez.

 

Yeah, that's the thing with vehicles this old is you just never know about the engine. I am not prepared to drop the cost of an engine, I might as well get a higher priced and working F250.

 

Yeah, there are a lot of factors that could cause rough idling. These motors are pretty stout, and 138k miles is pretty low, but who knows what the PO did with it.

Rough idling/running could be caused from bad ignition components (plugs/wire/distributor/TFI), sometimes from vacuum leaks, bad EGR valve and more.

From my experience on these motors, I've almost always had it coming from the ignition system (plugs/wires/distributor), or a bad EGR. That's not to say it can't be something far worse like valve-train issues or head/head-gasket problems, but something like that on these motors would stem from heavy neglect or abuse.