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Got a few "Furd" ???'s and a question for Alaska folks!

blowedupmotor87

blowedupmotor87

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Okay, so... as usual I am looking at trucks since I miss having one!

Had to chase after my dog when she got out of our fence and saw a nice looking truck for sale right near my house! 1994 Ford F-250 XLT 7.3L turbo diesel, 5 speed manual, 4x4, Regular cab, long bed, 139k miles. Saw Alaska dealership tags on it, turns out it is originally an Alaskan truck used to haul a guy's fishing boat. Completely stock, only "mods" are a dual friction clutch and a drop in bed liner. I haven't gotten a real good look at it yet since it was in their yard and nobody was home, didn't wanna be "lurking", lol! So, all I know about it is from talking to the owner on the phone. So, on to the questions:

Owner says they don't use road salt in Alaska so there's no rust, is that true about the no salt usage, Alaska peeps?

Are there any problems specific to 1994 Ford diesels that anyone knows of? Given that 1994 was the first year of the Power Stroke turbo, is it wise to stay away from it or were they okay? With 139k will it last a good while?

Looks like there's not a spot of rust on the body but it has surface rust on the frame and axles (just a quick glance but, owner claims this as well). Looks as clean as my buddy's 1998 truck that's been in NC its whole life (once again, not an in depth look yet though). Only problem I could see is the windshield is cracked (bad, needs replaced), he's asking $6000 ("not a penny less") for it, what do y'all think? Might this be worth it? Looks like that's more than KBB but, from what I've been seeing price wise for trucks like it, seems like it's a good price!They seem priced like solid gold!

I'll try and get some pics when I go to check it out again.
 
Seems like all the 7.3 Powerstrokes in that body style are the same and they are all pretty solid. I have my eye on a '97 from az with 140k for 3500 so the price does seem pretty high to me.
 
If it was a f350.,is say wait a bit for the price to go down. But 250,resale value is way lower than a 350. not worth owning with the crappy butt suspension
 
I'd inspect the oil pan very closely!..many 7.3's here had them rot so bad they cant be fixed in only a few years,and the cab of the truck needs to be lifted in order to get the pan off it,along with the engine!...watched a friend do one last spring on a 2003,it was not a fun job...the pan is "glued" to the block with special sealant ,rather than a gasket too,which costed 75 bucks a tube alone!...

I think the pan was almost 300 bucks from Ford...later my friend heard some aftermarket ones are available for half that...and supposedly some company has invented some kind of slip-on "cover" that you can epoxy over the remains of the original pan without doing any wrenching!..sounds mickey-mouse to me though....

Maybe if Alaska dont use salt,the oil pan is fine though...I dont hear many complaints about 7.3's other than that--see many in those airport limo van/busses with 500K on them,still going strong...the turbo ones were the berries...they held up way better than the 6.0 powerstrokes...those I rarely hear anything good about!..just bad experiences!..
 
They really are awesome trucks, and I would LOVE to find one like that.

The diesel does bring the cost up though, and if its as cherry as you say, thats maybe a little high but still ballpark for price.

Check the front and rear rocker area where the rocker is welded to the A and B pillars for rust, that usually shows rust before anywhere else on the cab. just in front of the rear bumper and around the rear wheel wells are other areas where rust develops first.
 
No salt used in AK, but trucks out on the coast get hammered with salt air off the ocean
 
Oh and all trucks in AK have cracked windows, I think its a state law.
 
Like was said before, check the oil pan, they all rust out. My dad had his done on his truck and about two years later it was starting to rust again. What he did was get some good two part epoxy and coat the bottom of the pan with it. He did that about 2 years ago and it has held up great.

As for the motor, they are probably the best diesel motor that ford ever built so far. My dad's crew cab short bed is a 96 and it moves pretty good and gets 18mpg.
 
Ford didn't build the 7.3 that is why it is a good engine.
 
94 is the first year the powerstroke was offered, could also bo the 7.3 IDI turbo diesel.

both very dependable motors, but the IDI is cheaper to work on.
both have pros and cons, figure out which one it is, and if you have any questions ask away as I work on both regularly.
 
Ford didn't build the 6 liter either........ That's an international vt365. Everyone makes lemons sometimes.


And way too high on the price
 
DEMON44 said:
Ford didn't build the 6 liter either........ That's an international vt365. Everyone makes lemons sometimes.


And way too high on the price
Click to expand...

ford didnt build it, but programmed it at a power level above what IH was comfortable with.

They would have been way better off sticking with the (7.3) powerstroke and upping the hp to compete with chevy/dodge.
 
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Ah, no. LOL. The vt365 is still 325hp in international mxt's and optional in the 4200 trucks. Thats not the reason. I can assure you that my friends at the international dealer had and still have all the same issues. The main engineered deficiency is lack of headbolts.

The 7.3 couldn't meet EPA04 emissions, that's why its gone.

Ford owns the name powerstroke, any diesel they put in is a powerstroke. The in-house 6.7, the 6.4, 6.0, 7.3. They all sport powerjoke on the fender.
 
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I could have sworn that atleast early on there was a big hp difference for the pickup motors. regardless, they are, like you said, a lemon.

and yes I meant 7.3 powerstroke, just forgot to type it.

Do you know what the EPA04 emissions were? The early 7.3 stroke, can be a very clean motor.
 
Strict strict strict. Emissions - its not black carbon particulates that is the issue. That doesn't make a "clean" running engine. It's the oxides of sulfur and the oxides of nitrogen that was on crackdown.


Yes......... They put DPF filters in 07. To stroke out all black carbon output. But the 04 was the first big kick in the nuts to efficiency of burn.

You can notice that no manufacturer of a diesel engine for use on road in north American maintained the same diesel platform over the 02 to 05 years. Heavy duty or pickup or VW.
 
1994.5 is the first year of the powerstroke, a 1994 is a 7.3 IDI either turbo or non-turbo diesel. If it has the "POWERSTROKE" badge under the F-250 then its a powerstroke or it would either have a diesel page or turbo diesel for the IDI. ALso pretty easy to tell when you pop the hood as the Power stroke has a big plastic cover on it saying Power Stroke.
 
Thanks for all the info everybody!!! I've yet to even get a chance to go look at it again since I have been so swamped with school work. I will (hopefully) get caught up this weekend and go look at it sometime next week.

It's a good ways over KBB but, it is by far the cheapest F-250 that I have seen for sale that's in good shape! The only ones I ever seem to be able to find that are actually at book value are destroyed!!! I'd rather get an F-350 but, they seem to go for even more! (rightly so, but still...) Anyways, seems like a solid axle swap isn't difficult and I could plan to do one later on down the road.
 
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