help me decide

orange150

orange150

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
Fairfax City, VA
'97 F-250 off ebay. He had to relist it because the original winner didnt pull through. I watched before and am watching it now. what do y'all think about the truck? I like the way it looks and what he says, but i tend to be an impuls buyer and dont really want to rush into a truck unless i know its going to be good. So please give me your opinions and knowledge.
Thanks!
 
good looking truck and a 5 speed is a plus. but the guy just sounds like he is full of shit and ebay scares me. do all that work, spend all that money, and then 2 weeks later you have financial problems and have to sell. either he cant balance his accounts or he is full of shit.
 
If they had to replace the glow plug relay and harness..tells me it may have had a starting problem. His buddy at the Ford dealer may have also told him it really needed a set of injectors, not cheap..Ford gets about $400 a piece for them last time I checked, I got a set of navistar remans a few years ago for about $250 a piece (x8) even at that price and doing the work myself, my ass hurt for weeks and cured me from ever wanting another powerstroke. That may not be the case here, but I'd be cautious.
 
97s have forged bottem ends. Injectors schminjectors, I got some 150cc single shots we can toss in, add in an intercooler, an exhaust, and a hot chip and that thing will be smokin.
 
here is an email he just sent me: "hey mike,i really cant speak for the injectors,i know it runs flawlessly right now so that gives me the indication that they are in good order.And i could not tell you if any were ever replaced or if they are the originals.As far as the smoke,it smokes a little white upon startup for the first 10-20 seconds and then its good.When the engine is under a load,it smokes white and the amount depends on how much its being pushed,but hey name a diesel that does not smoke under a load lol.Its a shame you are so far away that you cant come check it out before you buy,if you want i will do my best to send you a video of the truck running and driving so you get a better idea.just get back to me on that.thanks again"
 
Personally, i don't recall seeing any diesels that in good running order smoke WHITE under a heavy load.
 
I might be wrong here, but i thought white smoke was an indicator that the motor is not getting enough fuel. If thats the case the injectors might be the cause of it.
 
yea, i asked about this on fordtrucks.com and they said if it smokes white after its warmed up it is suffering from "cavitation"? I think thats what they said but i cant pull the site up right now to read the post.
 
From his email, he says it only smokes a little on startup and goes away. If the white smoke goes away after a minute or two, its not an injector. White smoke is usually signs of a bad glow plug or the glow plug relay going bad - both are easily tested with a multimeter. White smoke is also found on cold weather starts if the glow plugs arent cycled properly. If its blue-ish, the turbo pedestal o-ring is going bad and leaking oil. A darker color would be a stuck or bad injector.
 
Mine smoked white and grey and needed injectors, it also had the slightest uneven idle after long drives. Who knows this thing maybe fine, but it's Ebay.
 
I called a diesel tech at Wakefield Ford and he said a little white smoke on start up is usual for that year PSD's. Still waiting for a reply from the guy though.
 
I'd stay away. If it's that good of a deal, why wasn't it sold quick locally? I bought a car off eBay once - great pics, everything look good. Biggest POS I've ever seen in person (and if you've seen my XJ, that's a big statement).
 
orange150 said:
I called a diesel tech at Wakefield Ford and he said a little white smoke on start up is usual for that year PSD's. Still waiting for a reply from the guy though.
Click to expand...
that thing looks good in the pictures, but after a couple more conversations about everything you told me earlier with our diesel tech , I'd be skeptical about buying it...
 
anything can be fixed. Your not going to get a prestine vehicle for the amount of that truck. id buy it if it was local.
 
im still waiting for him to reply to my email asking to describe the white smoke... i might have found the reason now... but hopefully not.

he said he would be more than happy to take and email me video of it running and driving, so that makes me think he might actually find out... but you never know. people tend to suck these days.
 
well i got an email today: "Hey mike all i can say about the smoke is that a good friend of mine has the exact same truck other than the color and his does the same thing. He said is normal cause its a diesel. If it does not sell why dont you come and check it out for yourself that way you can make your decision then."

Ugh.
 
ok here's the last one (i know yall are getting annoyed:flipoff2: ): "Hey mike i tell you what,i drove the truck for 3 weeks on a temp tag when i got it,i didnt remember any smoking then.You asked me the other day about if it smoked,i went outside started it,told you it smoked white for like 10 seconds and then only after it was under a load(when i would press down the accelerator)Well i decided to do a little investigating when i got home from work this morning,i let it warm for about 10 minutes,then felt ballsy and took it for a spin around the block w/o tags lol,and i can say it didnt smoke at all.I got back to my house and revved it up then and no smoke other than the black suit that is usual for all diesels.So the only thing i can come up with why it smoked for that white before, was that is has been sitting for 6 weeks w/o being moved,just started weekly.But like i said if you are still interested and want it,its here and i can assure you of no regular white smoke."

im thinkin about offering him $6000?
 
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