Are the late 80's diesel's any good?

[351Mazda]

A guy is wanting to trade a late 80's (forget the year, 87 or so I think) f-250 long bed 4 door diesel with an automatic for my jeep. I figure the jeep is worth about 1500. I heard those old pre-turbo fords were about worthless for anything but a boat anchor, but I don't have much experience with them. Anyone know much about them? I think the truck has dana 60 front, everything seems to work like it's supposed to and it's pretty solid, just the usual body rust we get in ohio. The frame is solid, I don't really care what stuff looks like. Thanks for the advice.

 

[pwrranger88]

my uncle had one and it wasn't to bad when it finally died it had over 700,000 miles on it. he used it to tow a car trailer and as a dd. imo it was good fine power wise.

 

[mc_muench]

you know how you can fix a pre-turbo diesel problem?

put in a turbo!!!!

 

[metalmacguyver]

Pro's: Cheap parts, simple design, easy to work on, and they got a website as good as TRS to support them.

I would trade in a heartbeat.

 

[zukirider21]

some of the most ridiculosly reliable motors ever made. not a speed racer, but certainly no slouch.

and of course, the excellent ford chassis completes the package. i say go for it!

 

[351Mazda]

Ok, I looked at and drove the truck. The glow plugs are out, maybe a wire, who knows there. I didn't look into it too much, I figure it can't be that hard. It's an 88, and it's an f-350, not a 250 like I said. The guy looked at my jeep, he's going to let me know for sure if he wants to do it. If so looks like I'm trading. Thanks for the advice.

 

[BigJohn76]

if he says he will do it, go for it. i love my 6.9 and it is getting better mileage than my 7.3 powerstroke. it also pulled better and got better mileage doing it. they sound mean and you can always find a turbo kit for it to get that cool turbo sound.

 

[CheapThrillB2]

I have no probs with my 89 crew and its 7.3L.

 

[orfordguy@yahoo.com]

ats builds a turbo kit for both the 6.9 and 7.3 plus theres less electronics then the powerstrokes..... good find either way..

 

[Ozwynn]

stupid simple and reliable. I would trade

 

[CheapThrillB2]

My 89 7.3 5spd 4x4 gets about 17 mpg around town and taking it easy, but as soon as the trailer is hooked up its 10 mpg no matter how I drive. I haven't checked yet but I am guessing I have 4.10's and my trucks not turbo'd but the pump is turned up.

 

[Arctic_LII]

My family's company has a fleet of five 90-91's with the 7.3l. Four of them have the original motors with well over 750k on them and still running fairly strong. Gutless, but I've never seen a better motor. These have been meticulously maintained since the company bought them new. The one that had a motor swap was due to a manufacture defect, I believe. In my opinion, they sound way cooler than the newer PSD's...

Bryan

 

[wvfarmboy]

these are good trucks you might replase a glow plug or a crontroler and a starter once in a while thatb about all i have done and have owned 4 of them have 2 now good trucks

 

[racsan]

we had a new '86 6.9 diesel and had nothing but problems with it. a 2wd F250. traded ut in '89 for a new bronco. id rather have a non-turbo diesel than a turbo equipped one though. weve got 2 oliver tractors and the one with the turbo every 2 years has to have another rebuilt turbo, at 1 grand each. the non-turbo oliver has a broder rpm range (remember, with a turbo the rpms need to be kept within a certian range or it falls on its face) and has been much better on fuel useage. and when the turbo goes out, its mostly unuseable, it will run but smokes badly and is way underpowered. our '86 sufferd from burnt out glow plugs, wouldnt start below 60 degress without glow plugs or the block heater plugged in, it would either get 17 mpg with no power, or with the pump turned up it would get 12 and blow smoke like a tire on fire. we also twice had the gear shift lever come up out of the trans when going from 2nd to 3rd. (creeper first 4 speed) when it did this, both times the trans ended up being in reverse. the first time it did this was on a icy driveway. maybe it was a one-off lemon. but i know dad never considered a diesel in a pickup ever again. he damn near wrote off fords altogther.

 

[Original_Ranger84]

I love my 92, My dad says its gutless but it seems like a strong motor, We have the 7.3 non turbo and the only problems we are having are trying to get it going in -10 degree weather... Newish batteries should fix that. And yes the do sound awesome! deisels are exempt from emissions and many didn't come with cats i dont think... atleast ours didn't. I put a glass pack on it... Sounds Beastly!