advice on f250

well as the title says, im looking at a 86 f250, its 4x4 ext cab long bed, has the 6.9 diesel with a aftermarket turbo put on, its got a 4 speed with granny 1st, so my question is what to look for to know if the motor is good or a giant oil spill, what are some of the main things that wear out and break on the motor that cost $$$$$ tradeing my 88 mustang gt for it
 

dport

Adventurer
FWIW, my uncle ran one of these to 950K, with the head rework at 600K.
Sounds like what I want, except I would prefer a 350 for the solid front end. The 6.9 WILL be oily underneath, just the nature of the beast IMO. I had two of these motors and both leaked oil, one was purchased new by grandfather and had under 100K. I think outside of a normal vehicle inspection, there isn't much that I can remember since it been 10yrs since I had one of these. I would be focused on owner history, and how they treated it. The front end has a tendency to shear the ears off of the outer axles (mine did it once). I have been told this occurs when you get wear in the outer u-joints and it goes unnoticed. Expect your top speed to be 72mph it it has 4.10's, unless the injector pump has been turned up. How many miles, BTW. Good luck and post pics!!!
 

truck mechanic

Adventurer
Gawd I love that body style! 6.9. is a good motor. the only draw back is the glow plug system. If the cotroler screws up it can melt the glow plugs. other than that if you dont want it Ill take it!
Paul
 
miles at 212k, body is straight, no rust, he told me today he doesnt want to trade but hes only asking 2300, so my stang is for sale on craigslist for 3k, and a guy at my school wants it so ill probley be getting the f250
 

Rot Box

Explorer
The 6.9 is a great engine imo. It is very simple to work on, very reliable and with a turbocharger they put out decent power as well. It does not have the power potential of a 5.9 Cummins nor does it get as good of fuel economy, but that does not make it undesirable. The T-19 4 speed and 1356 t-case are rock solid as is the Sterling rear axle. The TTB (twin traction beam) D44 in the front (TTB D50 optional for 250's and F350's had a solid Dana 60) is on the small side with a 900+lb diesel on top of it. Because of the design and weight of the motor plan on going through the tie rod ends and ball joints. As for the truck--typical 80-90's Ford with gauges that rarely work and switches that break/quit working etc... All easy to fix and replace just somewhat annoying at times. Glowplug controllers are known to go bad and leave the plugs glowing until they burn out. A easy fix is a manual push button and a slow count to ten. Replace the glowplugs with the Motorcraft/Beru's ONLY!!!! Cheap plugs swell and get stuck in the heads which requires a lot of work to get them out.

The 6.9 has smallish head bolts and they stretch over time with the added boost of a turbo. If they have not been changed in awhile I'd put some money aside for that. The ultimate fix is ARP head studs. Also the fuel injectors have two o-rings for the return lines. These are known to go bad over time and a $40 kit will fix it right up :bike_rider: Hard starting is a good sign that these have gone bad. Post some pics if you end up bringing it home!

Oilburners is you best bet as every question you could ever have has been answered there and the community is great. Feel free to hit me up as well I've been though quite a bit on the motors and could probably answer specific questions. Hope this helps,


Andrew
 

dport

Adventurer
Above post reminded me that my great uncle blew both head gaskets at the same time, while pulling a long grade towing his 5th wheel. This was due to him playing with a turbo kit and boosting it too high. I guess he was reliving some younger days, while trying to outpace my grandfather up the grade in the 6.9 that I ended up with.
 

Greggk

ZombieSoldier
the old 6.9 was a great little motor! it was underpowered and even with that turbo probably is not exceeding the limits of that motor. before i came in the army we had a mid 80's f350 with the 6.9 and it had over 700,000 miles on the original motor, never been rebuilt either.. it would start everyday, and had no issues except body rot. i say run it untill the truck falls completely apart around the motor.
 

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