It has been a couple weeks since I said I would start a post on the replacement work truck.  Things have been a bit hectic the last several weeks, but hopefully I will update some of the house stuff shortly.

This truck I found while looking for a work truck for my dad.  Ironically, he did not want it cause it it was not "nice" enough.  Also it has some sort of engine issue.  It is a 1992 Ford F-250 XLT extended cab, long bed, 4x4, 7.3 IDI non turbo, 5 speed manual.  I like the older ford diesels and manual transmissions, so it was right in my wheelhouse.  The body and interior is in great shape, no rips or tears in seats, a couple of minor dings but no major rust or dents.  It also has no carpets which is great for me.  The truck had 93,000 miles on it.  That is the good.

The bad is questionable.  I hate the Ford captain's chairs, and that is what is in this thing also one of the armrests is missing.  The cruise control is not working, but I don't use it during the winter so I have lots of time to figure it out.  The dome light is not working, and the drivers door sensor is missing.   When I first looked at this truck I passed even before driving it, after listening to it run.  It was running on 6 or 7 cylinders and dumping fuel straight into the exhaust.  Lots of blue smoke, but it smelled like fuel, not oil. 

I drove it and it felt great, except for the engine.  After thinking about it and doing a bit of research I decided to take a chance and buy the thing.  As I told my wife, it will be a great truck, or a horrible money pit.

I think that a valve is sticking, this truck sat for much of its life.  At idle it made a chuffing noise, making me think that there was no compression on one cylinder.   So I have dosed the engine oil and fuel with Marvel Mystery Oil and am driving it.   It would start to shake horribly at 1800 rpm and would not pull at lugging rpm at all.  It seems to be smoking less, and the lack of power has moved down the rpm range. It will now, after driving it about 1000 miles, start to shudder at about 13-1400 rpm and will run down the road at 17-1800 rpm fine and will pull okay.  I am going to keep driving it for another 1000 miles and see if it continues to improve.  I have a source for a new head if it comes to that.  Also the injectors are cheap and I will likely replace them just to eliminate that question.  The guy I bought it from thought the problem is a sticking injector.

So this is the new truck.

Good looking truck hope you can get the engine going the right direction. I've always been a Chevy guy, typically the Ford's had too much part variation model to model for my taste over the years. But I'm still a fan of sort of older, and older trucks;)

And this from the guy who is currently looking at quad cab trucks purely because I could fit the whole family in them if needed. Though I've been driving 70's Chevy trucks for a long time now;)

Luke

Excellent.