Start...No start

[Tiger361]

Hi Ladies and Gents!

Question, I'm looking at buying an '02 F-350 from a private party. He was kind enough to disclose that in the last month and a half, he's had an intermittant problem starting the truck when warm. He says it always starts, no problem, when the engine is cold. It usually starts when warm. But, on 15-18 warm start attempts, nothing. It won't start until he lets the motor cool down.

He says he's taken it to a Ford dealer and they couldn't find anything, it didn't throw any codes, nothing. Basically, they told him there was nothing they could do since they couldn't get it to happen for them.

Any ideas out there? This is a very nice truck, the price is decent but I don't want to get into chasing gremlins right from the git-go...the price isn't THAT good!

This Newb thanks you folks in advance!

[nick49001]

ill give u all the advice i can give we have a fleet of 6.0's and im sure this one has a 7.3 but id almost say it was the high pressure oil pump and if the dealer cant figure that out then if u do buy it dont use them

[Zaairman]

Originally Posted by nick49001

ill give u all the advice i can give we have a fleet of 6.0's and im sure this one has a 7.3 but id almost say it was the high pressure oil pump and if the dealer cant figure that out then if u do buy it dont use them

I'd start by checking the ICP and IPR with a scan tool.

[Tiger361]

I thank you gents very much!

[Tiger361]

So far, the owner has not availed me the opportunity to do any code scans and I'm thinking he may not. I know it's impossible to troubleshoot without having hands on...so I'll just ask the general consensus if this might be a difficult to find and expensive fix or something less? I really like the truck but considering my current financial condition...

[nick49001]

i guess the question is do u want to pay for a truck that u know wont dont run right. i can give u first hand advice from myself i bought a 03 f-250 3 weeks ago that has a issue i havnt figured out yet. im not very happy about the situation as i thought it was an easy fix but i didnt invest so much money into it that its killin me to fix it if u think its worth it buy it if u think it isnt leave it sit and if you can do the labor yourself it will make the labor cost and repair cheaper!!

[Tiger361]

Thanks, Nick. I can certainly do the labor myself, grew up in a shop though Dad taught me the ins and outs of the small block Chevrolet, not any diesel knowledge. I owned a Brand B truck for several years that I did all the maintenance on. Loved the Cummins but the rest of the truck was so-so at best. Love the Ford pickup and this particular example is very nice for 183K. That's why I was just hoping somebody would have a ton of 7.3 experience such that this issue might have been something someone had seen before. Guess I gotta get off the fence and make a decision...