So a while back I got it in my head that buying a PS for hot-shotting would be a good idea. The most prolific and reliable light duty diesels ever made, What could possibly go wrong?
So I find a rough 99 F450 crew-cab for a steal. Of course, no good deal comes without its burdens; being a mechanic by trade it wasn't much of a problem for me. So when I went to go pick HIM (it's most definitely asserted itself as male) up, it's all ready warm. First bad sign.
I do the standard walk around and find the lovely barb-wire pinstriping is missing down one side. Second bad sign. I look under the hood and below and can see it's been in a small fender bender. Again nothing that hit the frame (much) and everything but the crumple is straight.
I then proceed to start him up and inspect the inside. The steering wheel is 180 out, the ignition is a push button (third bad sign) and although the compressor kicks on I have no control over the temperature or the fan speed. So, this truck has been wrecked and they replaced the steering column and dash to fix the busted airbags. YAY! :doh:
He starts and idles fine. I take a drive down the street and everything works, for now.
In hind sight, I should have probably left this one alone and found another since the current owner had been deported and he had dated the damned title two years ago. That being said I only paid $3000 for a running, driving and mostly together F450.
So I slap down the cash and drive away. On the way home my co-driver (who is following me) noticed my brake lights didn't work. We pulled over, I checked fuses and they were all good. Then I noticed a little red wire with a fork connector on it. I connect it to power and now my brakes lights have power... GREAT! With that hodge-podged we roll on.
The truck felt sluggish. I wasn't sure why but it just felt like it had more to give. We pull over for fuel and luckily the fuel gauge worked. I was expecting nothing to be up to par at this point. But we get the beast home and park it. the next morning it doesn't want to start. Lovely. So with a squirt of ether it turns over and that's when I notice the ridiculous oil leak. A good foot in diameter puddle on my drive.
So here's where I am:
1) It stutters on throttle off. Coasting at anything over 20, when I let off the throttle the engine goes silent and then as we get closer to 20 it stutters and then comes back to life. Normal? Never owned a diesel that did this. It hasn't died yet but it ALWAYS does this.
2) HPOP o-rings are DONE. So I have to fix those.
3) No oil dipstick. At first I thought I was blind and simply was missing it but that ***** is GONE. Any ideas? Where does it feed into? Top of the oil pan like most engines?
4) Seats are from an Excursion (i think) and only two of the four holes bolt up. Ideas?
5) Does anyone have a wiring diagram for the engine/chassis wiring? I am going to rip out everything that has been "fixed" and work it back over.
I slapped a 5" exhaust and an S&B Intake on it. I had them ordered before I got the truck. It's no longer sluggish but it still stutters.
So yeah... I'll be here a while. :icon_ford:
So I find a rough 99 F450 crew-cab for a steal. Of course, no good deal comes without its burdens; being a mechanic by trade it wasn't much of a problem for me. So when I went to go pick HIM (it's most definitely asserted itself as male) up, it's all ready warm. First bad sign.
I do the standard walk around and find the lovely barb-wire pinstriping is missing down one side. Second bad sign. I look under the hood and below and can see it's been in a small fender bender. Again nothing that hit the frame (much) and everything but the crumple is straight.
I then proceed to start him up and inspect the inside. The steering wheel is 180 out, the ignition is a push button (third bad sign) and although the compressor kicks on I have no control over the temperature or the fan speed. So, this truck has been wrecked and they replaced the steering column and dash to fix the busted airbags. YAY! :doh:
He starts and idles fine. I take a drive down the street and everything works, for now.
In hind sight, I should have probably left this one alone and found another since the current owner had been deported and he had dated the damned title two years ago. That being said I only paid $3000 for a running, driving and mostly together F450.
So I slap down the cash and drive away. On the way home my co-driver (who is following me) noticed my brake lights didn't work. We pulled over, I checked fuses and they were all good. Then I noticed a little red wire with a fork connector on it. I connect it to power and now my brakes lights have power... GREAT! With that hodge-podged we roll on.
The truck felt sluggish. I wasn't sure why but it just felt like it had more to give. We pull over for fuel and luckily the fuel gauge worked. I was expecting nothing to be up to par at this point. But we get the beast home and park it. the next morning it doesn't want to start. Lovely. So with a squirt of ether it turns over and that's when I notice the ridiculous oil leak. A good foot in diameter puddle on my drive.
So here's where I am:
1) It stutters on throttle off. Coasting at anything over 20, when I let off the throttle the engine goes silent and then as we get closer to 20 it stutters and then comes back to life. Normal? Never owned a diesel that did this. It hasn't died yet but it ALWAYS does this.
2) HPOP o-rings are DONE. So I have to fix those.
3) No oil dipstick. At first I thought I was blind and simply was missing it but that ***** is GONE. Any ideas? Where does it feed into? Top of the oil pan like most engines?
4) Seats are from an Excursion (i think) and only two of the four holes bolt up. Ideas?
5) Does anyone have a wiring diagram for the engine/chassis wiring? I am going to rip out everything that has been "fixed" and work it back over.
I slapped a 5" exhaust and an S&B Intake on it. I had them ordered before I got the truck. It's no longer sluggish but it still stutters.
So yeah... I'll be here a while. :icon_ford:
