97 F250 PSD question

[hdjeff]

I'm in the process of picking up a new to me 97 F250 reg cab long bed 4x4 with the 7.3. Its from the origional owner with 104k on it. I've had several GM diesel trucks, 6.5, duramax. I'm getting this because i'm going cheaper and my duramax was a lease. planned on cutting payment by hundreds. Anyways, what sort of issues or common problems should I expect. It has a new oil pan, and new trans. This also has a plow so i will do some local stuff this winter. overall its in good shape. please let me know your thoughts.

 

[katarski]

sounds to me that its a good deal. i see that you said the oil pan was replaced. it seems to be common that every 10 years the oil pal rusts out. ford dealer siad this was common and knew the part number off the top of his head when mine went bad 7 weeks ago. you just need to take care of the truck. change of oil is critical, i do mine about every 3500 to 3800 miles or so.

with the plow, look at the lining up of the hood. make sure that where the hood meets the cowl is even on both the driver and passenger sides. i bought another truck years ago and i had this problem, it makes it pretty much impossible to do an alignment when the frame is tweeked (bent).

if anything breaks or lets go, fix it right away because it seems to me that one thing usually leads to another.

i wish you the best with the truck.

 

[johndeerebones]

with the plow, look at the lining up of the hood. make sure that where the hood meets the cowl is even on both the driver and passenger sides. i bought another truck years ago and i had this problem, it makes it pretty much impossible to do an alignment when the frame is tweeked (bent).

That doesn't make sense, yes if the frame is bent it is about impossible to align it, but there is no way you can tell if the frame is bent by looking anywhere on the body, the body is mounted on rubber, which can sag and wear out and different rates. If the snow plow has cause any frame damage, which probably hasn't other than the springs are probably shot, you will be able to see it probably ahead of the front axle. That being said it takes a pretty good whack for a decent plow set up right to screw the frame up, break away springs should let go first on any minor hits with the plow, and usually let the blade lean enough to go ahead and come over top of the obstacle, unless you try to ply Toyotas and such

Sounds like a lucky find to me, our trucks are getting harder and harder to find with 100k and less miles. Take care of it and she'll go a few 100k more. Just don't get caught up comparing it to all these new trucks, they need some modding to make that power, but keep in mind, 10-12 years ago when these trucks came out the competition was 12v cummins and 6.5 chevies, the ol powerstrokes were CREAM OF THE CROP as far as light truck diesels go.

 

[hdjeff]

Its seems to be in good shape overall, the owner states he used the plow only for his work parking lot that holds about 20-25 cars and his driveway, nothing commercial. also the body is straight, even lines and gaps. the rust doesn't seem excessive given are lovely salted roads. I picked it up for 8000, seemed to me like a deal since others that were comparible were over 9000 at the lowest. i was told to carry a spare camshaft position sensor. and to get this from international, not ford. I've driven many psd's in the past but this is the first one I'll be owner of. we shall see.

 

[94redbeauty]

Yeah, its a good idea to have a spare CPS, around here IH was more expensive then Ford on CPS's (thats a first) and your typical tools, fuel filter, etc. Sounds like a pretty good buy, you should be happy with it, they are good rigs

 

[KansasDiesel]

Its seems to be in good shape overall, the owner states he used the plow only for his work parking lot that holds about 20-25 cars and his driveway, nothing commercial. also the body is straight, even lines and gaps. the rust doesn't seem excessive given are lovely salted roads. I picked it up for 8000, seemed to me like a deal since others that were comparible were over 9000 at the lowest. i was told to carry a spare camshaft position sensor. and to get this from international, not ford. I've driven many psd's in the past but this is the first one I'll be owner of. we shall see.

Look at the advertisers here I think you can get a CPS a lot cheaper. I needed one right away and around me Ford was the cheapest at $125, But I have seen them online for under $100

 

[hdjeff]

i was also thinking of getting the bully dog 4bank 6-position programmer, it has the hp extras w/ high idle. i wanted the high idle for the winter operation. anyone use this or have any reccommendations. I used the edge juice/attitude with my duramax and what a difference, it was so damn expensive though.

 

[johndeerebones]

i was also thinking of getting the bully dog 4bank 6-position programmer, it has the hp extras w/ high idle. i wanted the high idle for the winter operation. anyone use this or have any reccommendations. I used the edge juice/attitude with my duramax and what a difference, it was so damn expensive though.

I know I have a generic tuner, but my advice is to get a chip with some of the burns floating aroung here, ie jody tipton's, bill's, etc etc, they can custom burn them for your truck and your needs and they will make more power and probably less heat than the generic tuned bully dog. And they won't cost any more than bully dog either.

 

[Crumm]

i was told to carry a spare camshaft position sensor. and to get this from international, not ford.

$98.34 at Powerstrokeshop.com