Found a 7.3 need advice from veteran owners

[ccmac]

Ive really been wanting a 7.3 and today I found a 99 f250 with 130,000 miles.

First off does anyone know anybody that can still pull an oasis report without me going to a dealer? And can I tell if it had PMRs by the vin?

I was careful about looking it over as the price is really almost too good to be true, though the owner doesn't speak English, so I was communicating through his boss who is a local diesel mechanic.

I looked over ever inch of it, andnoticed it had two oil leaks. Oil/dirt has collected on the rear and bottom parts of the engine and pan, and also on the transfer case. It was parked on dirt but I still didn't see any drips or puddles. I then started it, popped the hood and removed the oil cap little to no blow by. Trans fluid appeared slightly dark but smelled ok. I then got in and put it in reverse and noticed the shifter has a considerable amount of play (reverse was somewhere between P and R on the indicator). I believe it's common for the cables to stretch? Going down the road it had good power and shifted good, but definitely needs ball joints and or tie rod end links. When I got back it was good and warmed up so I checked for blow by again and still little to none.

For the price I could fix the front end, and shift cable and still be ahead but Im weary of the leaks... Thanks in advance for advice, I'm not new to fords or diesels, but I don't have much knowledge of 7.3s other than what I have read off of here in the last few months of lurking...

Is there anything I might have missed that should be checked?

[kystanger]

If the motor is the original 99 motor it shouldn't have pmr.

[kystanger]

Also the sloppy shifter could be the two torq screws on the column loose, very common.

[Zaairman]

Why the hell would you want an OASIS on a truck that hasn't been to the dealer in probably, oh, 8 years? Only thing recent it would show is maybe the CPS if it was done.

Shifter slop is normal, can easily be fixed as mentioned earlier.

Leaks... seems like I fix one and another starts. As long as it's not spraying oil anywhere, it's good.

[ccmac]

I think Im going to buy it if I can get my f150 sold. Figured it wouldn't hurt to see it...

[merc123]

Originally Posted by Zaairman

Why the hell would you want an OASIS on a truck that hasn't been to the dealer in probably, oh, 8 years? Only thing recent it would show is maybe the CPS if it was done.

Shifter slop is normal, can easily be fixed as mentioned earlier.

Leaks... seems like I fix one and another starts. As long as it's not spraying oil anywhere, it's good.

I had an Oasis report done on my 2000. I bought mine in 2010. It was 3 pages long. It had a lot of good information in it. Of course nothing really recent but I knew a better history of the truck and that the glow plug relay melted with only 10k miles on it.