>There has been a nice thread on diesels that sprouted from this, and I can
>add some to that. Way back when, I bought a used 1983 Ford diesel. This
>was a 6.9 non-turbo. I ended up swearing off both diesels and Fords due to
>this truck. It was like a Microsoft 1.0 version. Beta to anyone
>else. Nothing about it worked well, except that it got decent mileage. It
I had an 85 with about the same motor. Glow plugs and the glow plug system
were the only bad thing about that motor. Mine had around 340K miles on it
when I sold it. It was my daily driver for a couple of years. I bought it
with 290K on it from an oilfield service company. The truck never left me
stranded but I have a fair understanding of the "black magic".
>stranded us several times over the 4 years I owned it. About halfway
>through, I put a turbo on it, and that cured the power problem. All in
>all, it was a pile of junk. I hope I haven't been ambiguous on
>this.... Oh, it wouldn't start without having the block heater hooked up
>(for hours) if the temperature was under about 30 degrees. Real pain when
>we needed to go somewhere.
Probably the glow plugs.
>was shopping for a used one. I decided what I needed was a '92-93 Dodge
That's what I have. Stumbled on it while looking for another Ford. I
couldn't pass it up. Except for the fact that it was an auto not a 5-spd
it was perfect. 92 4x4 extended cab, nice looking truck actually. Too nice
for me really but I needed a newer truck for the trek across country. The
truck had about 270K miles on it but you couldn't tell. I'll get over
250,000
by the end of the year.
>X-cab 4X4 Cummins. Turns out that they were rather scarce. I shopped for
>several months, and only saw one in our area, and they wanted $10K over
That's what I paid for mine. $9750 I think.
> I keep wondering if I need to
>worry about it becoming unreliable, but it shows no signs at all of
>that. It has needed some regular maintenance, and I had to rebuild the
>alternator at about 150K, but it has never even threatened to strand us,
>and it happily drags the car around the country at whatever speed seems
I wouldn't worry about it unless you are operating in some extreme
conditions.
I keep hoping my transmission will go out so I can put in a 5-spd :-)
>appropriate. The CRX has been an excellent vehicle (about 160K miles now)
>but this truck has been even better. I get 14-15 MPG towing, which
>probably means something isn't quite right in the engine. It's always done
How often do you get your valves adjusted. They should be done every 30-40K
miles
or your mileage will go down and some power will be lost. Easy to do with
the right tool (A barring tool, I think it's called) to turn the motor over.
Exhaust should be .2, intake should be .1.
>mechanic. Diesels run on black magic. There is no throttle butterfly -
>it's wide open all the time. You give it whatever fuel you want it to use,
>and that is what determines how much power it makes. Weird. It takes 13
Cool isn't it?
>load for a long distance, diesel is the fuel of choice. They are even OK
>to live with as a daily driver. Mine wants to be warmed up a bit before it
I drive mine almost every nasty day. Otherwise I take the bike, or the
Fiat.
>has to work hard, but it starts even if it is cold. Yes, they cost more to
>buy, but if you are going to own it a while you'll more than make up the
>difference. Ford does put diesels in Expeditions, though I don't know how
>far they are de-tuned from the real trucks. Both Dodge and Ford de-tune
>theirs for automagic trannies (which mine has). I understand Chevy has a
That's one reason I'd like to stick in a 5-spd.
>There, that's more than you wanted to hear about this subject....
Can't imagine that happening :-)
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