New to forum:
Just bought a ’93 F150 short bed with 4.9L and 5 speed 186k (??). Bought it on the strength of a walk around and short test drive mostly because it is the exact model and equipped just the way I want, plain jane with roll up windows no power but steering and brakes. Drive train seems tight for the miles, engine sounds good at idle with smooth acceleration.
It came from the desert and body is straight with no rust but paint is rough.
The previous owner changed fluids, belts, radiator, master cylinder, and battery. I will be taking it to a mechanic for inspection. Any recommendations as to areas for special attention? Will definitely get a compression check and want a dependable daily driver.

I will post some pics later, thanks in advance.

 

I just recently asked the same questions in my thread!

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-do-first.html

Any pictures?
What did you pay for it?

 

As long as you keep up with routine maintenance, she'll run forever. The 300 straight 6 was by far one of Ford's best motors.

 

Get rid of the nylon cam gear asap, replace with steel.

 

Good suggestion.
Have not been able to document which years the fiber or nylon gears were used. Or if they just assembled the engines as parts were available.
Anyone know how to access that info?

 

Truck is now in storage waiting for good weather. Will get pics out later.
Paid 3k for it. With straight rust-free short bed body, it seemed reasonable. The 186k miles, not so much. Have no idea how it was cared for. I know the reputation of these engines, but low oil or overheating will hurt any engine.

Good luck with yours.

 

I want to say nylon gears started in the 1980s. They thought the noise reduction was worth the hassle of the plastic gear teeth shredding and going into the oil pan and blocking the pick-up... If it runs forever, they miss out on sales of new stuff.

Much more information in the straight-six sub-forum: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forum52/

 

You can read up on my adventure of getting my 95 up to being fully reliable:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...eshooting.html

 

Truck is now with a trusted mechanic. He believes the engine is a remanufactured Jasper replacing the original. Which would indicate the timing gears are indeed steel and the mileage is substantially under the 186k on the odometer. It is leaking oil from several locations but not around front or rear seals or the head. Ball joints, tie rod ends, U-joints, and brakes all look OK. A diagnostic shows a fuel sensor may be bad. Sensor, shocks, and front wheel bearings are all that need attention so far.
Am feeling better about buying this old truck all the time.
Oh, yea, the shift lever has lots of play when in neutral (loose as a goose) but feels tight when in gear and engages fine with acceleration. This is surely not normal– any ideas? It is the Mazda M5OD 5 speed, the R2 hopefully.
I have had a little experience with other light truck transmissions. One was an automatic in an El Comino V6. I was pulling a small sailboat and looked in the rear-view mirror to see gears and washers rolling off the highway. Not something I want to ever see again.

Comments and suggestions always welcome.

Cheers

 

 

... " looked in the rear-view mirror to see gears and washers rolling off the highway " ...

i guess that el camino transmission didn't have proper 'highway' gearing then ?

sorry, couldn't resist.

enjoy your truck ... the 300 is a tough old mule of an engine.

 

He said the engine had been painted, the original should be gray metal. This mechanic is a good diagnostician. I tend to believe him.

Also, the PO said he thought it "might" have had a crate motor installed, which I took with a very large grain of salt. When the compression test is done perhaps it will shed more light on this. It ran especially strong for the mileage on the test drive, my opinion.

 

I didn't know there were such things as strong or weak running 300's, thought they just ran

 

 

Thanks for the heads up. Will look into it.