Pricing sanity check

[mike.marcacci]

Hey guys! New to the forum (and the world 4x4 vans in general), and I'm looking for a quick sanity check from somebody more familiar with these things than myself:

I'm considering buying a really cool 7.3L PowerStroke E350 4x4 for about $16k. It's got a freshly rebuilt transmission, fresh suspension, 90k miles on both axels, drives great... but it's 316,000 miles.

I trust the guy who built it (check out his videos here: https://www.youtube.com/user/2040javier1/videos), but a mechanic I asked was super skeptical because there was smoke coming from the exhaust when punching it.

I checked for blow-by and have never seen one so clean (don't have much experience with diesel though).

I'm very seriously thinking of picking it up tomorrow, but I really want to make sure I'm not crazy to drop $16k on something with this many miles. My understanding is that the money is in the modification, and there are still potentially 200k miles left in the engine.

Thanks in advance!

 

[CrabbyMcNab]

I have no first hand knowledge, but use the search function (upper right corner) and search "Javier".
Nice looking van though.

 

[ujoint]

I've had to fix some very sketchy stuff from him. Details are in my build thread as well as my FB page.

 

[yngbuck19]

What color was the smoke when you punched it? Black, blue, or white? Black is normal until the turbo catches up, blue means burning oil either blow by or through the intake ie valve cover vent going through the intake tube before the turbo. White smoke means burning coolant or water ie blown head gasket. I've had three 7.3 power strokes before my FJ. Good luck!

BTW Powerstroke.org isn't a bad place to ask those questions either.

 

[Vannibal Smith]

I've checked out some Javier vans in the past...I would be careful buying one...especially with that many miles on it...one that I looked at had the odometer rolled back, but I can't say for sure if it was Javier or the owner of the van that had done that...thank goodness for carfax


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bbasso]

I can't that offer any advice about the seller, I would consider buying it even with the miles. If you can do a proper assessment on the van before purchasing you should know everything about it. And then can either counter offer or walk.

 

[mike.marcacci]

Wow, you guys literally might have saved my life. Chris, those photos on facebook are kind of terrifying. My super diesel-novice opinion of the van was that it was in surprisingly good shape for its age: after letting the engine warm up I pulled the oil filler cap and saw almost no blow-by; I only saw black from the exhaust, but the mechanic I took it to seemed quite worried (I had read to be skeptical of white, but didn't know to look for blue). The coils and undercarriage were all sprayed black which looked nice, but gave me the feeling that something was being covered up... and the fact that it had 5 previous owners didn't help...

After doing a bit more Googling, I found the Crow's 4x4 facebook page and realized it's down in TJ. Obviously there's nothing wrong with getting vehicles worked on in Mexico – it's sometimes a better job at a lower cost – but with so many custom changes to the vehicle I'm going to hold off. I'm definitely looking for something I can trust in the middle of nowhere and I'm willing to wait for something I trust a bit more. Who knows, if I save up a bit maybe I can get something done by ujoint ;-)

I really appreciate all the comments here from everybody. I'll definitely keep posting here as the journey continues!

Thanks again!

 

[ujoint]

Happy to keep you from wasting a bunch of $ fixing things. The last one we did was shipped here from CA and we just kept finding stuff. I hate making this phone calls to customers.... hey we found something else....

I don't want to come off as "bashing" others work but safety is safety and I don't like to see guys jump in head 1st and get screwed.

 

[tienckb]

Thumbs up for speaking like it is Chris


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mike.marcacci]

Ya, I really appreciate the honesty. My wife and I got so excited by the possibility of having something already built and in our price range that we almost went for it impulsively; I'm so grateful I found this forum.

While I've got people here on the thread and I'm no longer trying to jump on something that's immediately available, I'd love to get your thoughts about my "dream" van. I'm looking for something that can handle some pretty rough terrain, do full-country tours with decent highway handling and mileage, and cary two people with tons of climbing gear, drones, and photo equipment. I'm in no rush – I have probably at least 15 months until it needs to be at 100%, maybe considerably more. (Although I'd certainly use it as a weekend warrior before then.)

Here's my checklist so far:

1. Ford E350 (99-03 preferably 02/03 for aftermarket parts compatibility)
2. 7.3L PowerStroke Diesel (I'm pretty sold on this right now)
3. 4x4, small lift (4 or 6?) 33 to 35" AT's or anything that doesn't totally kill the mileage

Ideally I'd get a higher top and/or extended length, but these are less essential as I could get creative with storage.

After this close call I'm leaning toward finding something mostly stock and getting somebody trustworthy to do the modifications with the right parts (ujoint has me sold on the kit, maybe even the work? wife has family in GA that might be able to help). I just had nightmares of an axel falling off in the middle of Wyoming or somewhere in Alaska. That's a great story I'd rather not be able to tell.

Does anyone see anything here that shouldn't be super important? Or know something that I should definitely add to my list?

Thanks again and in advance!

 

[peppy]

My van is and has everything on your list. I carry my climbing gear and mountain bikes and it works perfectly. I will say that finding a 2wd that is already built out and sending it to Chris will save you a bunch of money.
I think the hardest part for you will be finding a 7.3l. Definitely don't be afraid of higher mileage mine had 215k on it but perfect maintenance records. I've put 13k miles on it in the last 4 months without a hiccup.

 

[350outrage]

7.3's are great and all, but it is getting harder to find good ones. Even if you do find one, cost of ownership will be more than for the far more common v-8 or v-10, even counting the better gas mileage of the 7.3. None of these beasts, gas or diesel, will get really good gas mileage, by the time you do wheels, 4wd, and put some weight in it. They sure are great for road tripping to dry camps or other remote locations where you have to "pack in and pack out" Food, water, and trash. Just used mine for a base camp at my old 40 acre farm this weekend, while I spent the day brush hogging. When I got home, too tired to unload that night, just locked it and went in. Unloaded next morn (guns, tools, Yeti, etc.). Priceless. Oh yeah, almost forgot to mention, pulled the steel flatbead with tractor and brushog out to the farm with it too! :sombrero:

 

[BajaSportsmobile]

Sorry to stray from the herd - but the last thing I want to listen to and smell when I am out in the wilds is a diesel.

I've owned them and they are too noisy in a van where you are sitting right next to it. You don't want to leave it idling in camp, or at least your neighbors won't want you to, or pull up on a beautiful vista and listen to it rattling in the background. I always thought the 7.3 was the ticket until I owned one and a 6.0 - I like gasers much better now. Need to tow? Get a V10, otherwise the 5.4L is a great engine.

My two pesos.

 

[Gtdad]

Im only a noob, but I do drive a lot in the in the rockies in british Columbia ie the Highway to hell , the Coquihalla which is long very steep mountain pass . My fully camperized pop top 5.4 with DH bikes, 150 lbs batteries , heavy north shore rack ,my family and gear has no problem going up the long climbs at 70mph with its freshly upgraded tranny. I still average 13mpg there and back. I use wifi OBD2 dongle and Dashcommand App so its pretty accurate.
On flat stretches of highway I sit at about 20mpg. Not bad.

 

[REDOVAL]

I've checked out some Javier vans in the past...I would be careful buying one...especially with that many miles on it...one that I looked at had the odometer rolled back, but I can't say for sure if it was Javier or the owner of the van that had done that...thank goodness for carfax


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Remembering the orange one huh! I told you so!

Scott