what to look for....

[marshallc]

intrested in purchasing my first diesel, a 7.3 psd at that and was wondering what i need to look out for while shopping for one of these beasts?


since the diesel truck market is slim to none in chicago, i am looking at a few dealerships located in northern texas that specialize in diesel trucks; there for i cant really see/touch/feel for my self until i fly down there....

the truck in question is a 2000 crewcab short bed 4x4 7.3 psd with the automatic trans, 176k miles on it.

i know the milage is not an issue at all for the motor, my buddies father has a 00 7.3 with just shy of 600,000k on it, chipped and towing its whole life, he is far from a good owner at that, oil changes when he has time (usualy 20k mile intervals :x) and beats the piss out of it, and it comes back for more on a daily basis.

but i want to know what questions i should ask the seller, what i should look for, and listen for that will indicate that this is a healthy truck? if/when i venture down there...

what are indicators of bad glowplugs? and why would that matter?

i also recall reading something about top level oilchanges and lower? can someone explain this? i want to be able to give the truck a good tune up/refresh once i get it home, figured id change the oil, atf, flush the radiator, t case/diffs fluid change as well, anything else that should be done to keep the truck in great running condition?

feel free to throw in any other useful 7.3 info, and thanks.

[NCHornet]

Here you go

What to look for when buying a USED 99-03 PSD

[NCHornet]

If you can get there to see the truck when it is cold and the truck has been sitting overnight, if it fires right up with little to no hesitation the GP's are probably fine. But I wouldn't let a bad set of GP's keep me from buying a truck, you can change all 8 for $125, so I wouldn't worry about it.
Don't listen to this garbage about HPOP oil canges (top end) there is a joker on the net that made this up and thinks he's a Diesel tech. The idiot even recommends K&N filters, if their kept clean, heck the filter better when their plugged up!!! Like I said don't listen to that stuff' There is good info in the link above follow it and you should be okay, if in doubt have a diesel tech look at it.

NCH

[mick883]

nice to know. Great link. Also wish I had that info first before i bought. i think i did ok though.