thinking off doing some trade n for a f 350 with automatic BUT it has 250 k on it what kind of life you guys getting out of these engines and tran.

Get some coolant additive test strips and test the coolant right off the bat. If the strips don't read as they should, walk away.

If they read alright, look the truck over for other wear items. 250k isn't much for a well maintained 7.3

my uncle has a 95 with close to 300k on it and it still runs great. and it has a chip, straight pipe, cold air intake, and injectors. hes never had any big problems with it other than a few stock injectors went out. the tranny is about to be replaced soon but it is a manual so no help on that.

Mines got almost 220k on it and i havent had any serious problems with mine. Just had to replace the alternator and water pump though.

Auto trannys last about 100k or so depending on their use, unless the p/o went with a reputable builder ie GBEvans or BTS. On the engine it really depends on maintenace. Go to Blackstone Labartories site and pull an oil sample and make an educated decision once you get the results back. That many miles is alot of for any engine diesel or not. It really depends on the price you are getting it for. There are also alot of wear items that should be looked at such as steering and suspension (ball joints, unit bearings etc) that can cost you in the long run. Sometimes its better to bite the bullet and spend a little more and get a truck with less miles and little less wear. But it all goes back to you intended use, and what its worth to you. Good luck.


Will

why would you walk away ? Just curious to what your reason is for this? Coolant can be flushed and replaced and if there is some cantaminate in the coolant it could only be a number of things most of wich can be fixed anyway this would give him some advantage on negotiating the price down

One word....CAVITATION!

I've got a 99' f-350 with 201,000 miles on it with no major issues. Still have good power and no problems out of tranny.

My 99 has 258K, original trans went at 238K. Truck is used mostly for hauling so it has some hard miles on it. Just normal maintenance items and you should be good to go.

Coolant without the "motorcraft" additive is prone to cavitate the coolant passages in the engine. You need to test the coolant to see what the "acidic" levels are and it will give you a good idea as to if the P/O took care to put the additive in.
I know several OBS 7.3's with over 250K and they run good, probably smoke a bit especially when cold but that's expected.
I have amost 210K on my 96, and it runs great.

why would you walk away ? Just curious to what your reason is for this?

One word....CAVITATION!

Coolant without the "motorcraft" additive is prone to cavitate the coolant passages in the engine. You need to test the coolant to see what the "acidic" levels are and it will give you a good idea as to if the P/O took care to put the additive in.


Bingo! If they didn't take care to maintain their coolant, besides the cavitation issues, it's a blaring sign that they didn't know to take care of other maintenance issues.

Judging by your username, you have a powerstroke. Maybe time for you to buy some test strips and test your coolant? :p

why would you walk away ? Just curious to what your reason is for this? Coolant can be flushed and replaced and if there is some cantaminate in the coolant it could only be a number of things most of wich can be fixed anyway this would give him some advantage on negotiating the price down

If the additives levels are not right the engine will cavitate and get water in the oil or cylinders, VERY BAD. 5K for a new engine

Ford doesn't test the pH of the coolant. I have this on good account from a Ford dealer-tech buddy of mine. This includes the fleet service they do on ambulances and commercial leases. They just pour in the jug of motorcraft coolant and call it done. No extra additives. I'm not talking about 6.0/6.4L stuff either... I wanted to know the specifically for my 95 and 97 PSDs.

Now if you go to an International dealer, they will tell you different. They do it on their vehicle service, sell the test strips, and the DCA additive.

I think you will have a VERY hard time finding a PSD for sale (except those that belong to us Internet keeners) that's having its DCA levels checked.