Please help a potential F250 owner

Hi everyone - I found this forum while researching a used 1992 F250 that I'm considering purchasing. It's owned by a retired gentleman who just bought a new truck; the old vehicle has 130,000 miles and sports a 7.5L engine. The asking price is $5,800, and he claims it's in exceptional condition. I plan to offer the Kelley Blue Book value of $5,100 in cash. He said the truck is free of any leaks, and he has religously changed the oil every 3-3,500 miles (a man after my own heart). I will use the truck primarily to tow a 1988 Ford Mustang to various drag racing strips in the greater California area, so I want a truck that won't be gasping for power when I tow the car through any mountainous areas. I also want something that will provide reliable service if given the proper care.

I have above average vehicular knowledge, having cut my teeth on the maintenance and upgrading of the Mustang. Since this is my first post, I'll keep my questions simple:

1) For those of you that have owned this or a similar truck, what things should I beware of as far as wear and tear? I'll be crawling all over and under this vehicle, but I'll be focusing mostly on the engine, transmission, and drivetrain. Anything on these trucks that are notorious for failing?

2) I plan to bring along a compression gauge to check out the health of the engine. I have an autostarter that I use to check compression on the Mustang when I'm working on my own. Will the 7.5L engine bay look familiar to me? Where will I find the starter solenoid, and how do I connect my autostarter to it? My normal procedure on the Mustang is to remove all the plugs, wire the throttle wide open, and remove the wire leading from the coil to the distributor. I then use the autostarter to crank the engine through 3-7 cycles (whatever it takes to get a stable reading). Does this sound like the correct procedure for the 7.5L engine? I really don't want to damage a truck that isn't mine yet (my concern is mis-wiring the autostarter), but I don't want to buy something that has serious powerplant problems. But most importantly, am I breaking any unwritten etiquette rules in asking to check the compression by myself? Don't be afraid to lay it on me - I can take it.

Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to make sure I didn't leave anything out. Thanks for your help.

David

Well you've chose a real Truck, with a real powerplant.

The 460 BBF is about the toughest high Tq powerplant there is, and there are no "weak spots" in it's design, or application. The only thing with this truck is the Trans. The E4OD is not particularly durable UNLESS the trans is serviced regularly with a quality Dexron III/Mercon fluid. This includes draining the T/C (yes, Ford installed a converter plug, as ANY A/T should have). Typically, odd thras behavior is NOT a mechanical fault in the trans, but in the soleniod pack. They are under $200, and easily replaceable if you can drain and drom the trans pan w/o instructions.

1) Look for burned ATF, that's MOST important.

2) You compression test is a sound idea, and you method is proper for a warm engine. The starter button gets connected to the pos stud on the starter, and to the "S" terminal (smallish wire). If the truck is clean, and he show records for reparis and services, I'd skip it myself. But you may not be comfortable doing that, follow YOUR gut.

Well you've chose a real Truck, with a real powerplant.Thanks - I ended up buying it today. It drove great, and was free of any leaks. I checked the oil, and it was relatively fresh, without any hint of unburned fuel - so I decided not to run the compression test (he had a nice supply of records, and has obviously taken good care of the truck).

The E4OD is not particularly durable UNLESS the trans is serviced regularly with a quality Dexron III/Mercon fluid.This truck received a rebuilt tranny at 90K, so it has 40K on the refreshed box. The current owner has had the fluid changed regularly at 20K mile intervals (he owned the truck after it had 17K on it).

1) Look for burned ATF, that's MOST important.The tranny fluid was nice and pink (I assume this is the correct color), and smelled like tranny fluid should (I didn't taste it though, so I can't comment on it's culinary value).

Thanks again for the help. I pick up the truck either Friday or Saturday, depending on when it gets its smog check completed.

P.S. the only place for a hitch is through the bumper. The owner told me that if I routinely tow, I should have the bumper brace welded to the frame. Will this suffice, or should I purchase a class II trailer hitch? Who makes a good product, and what is a reasonable price to pay? Is the assembly straight forward? I'm guessing welding would be involved, which is out of my league.

Purchase no less than a class III/IV trailer hitch if you plan to be towing cars and such. I have seen way too many failures of class II hitches, several instances causing fatalities in oncoming vehicles when the hitch broke off and the trailing unit careened into the other lane.

The beauty of the class III/IV hitch is that you can add equalizer bars to it, to spread the load more evenly over the entire unit, and help to eliminate sway, not that it should be an issue.

Also when towing, use two safety chains crossed under the tongue of the trailer, and a fully operational breakaway kit for the trailer brakes.

Now, after that little dissertation on trailering, good choice of tow vehicle, good luck with it.

Thanks Pind - I had my hitch classes backwards (I'm new at this). I was thinking of the heavy duty class III. I don't mind the dissertation - for instance, what is a breakaway kit? If you can point me in the right direction for purchasing a class III hitch, and more information on how an equalizer bar works, I would be grateful.

the t/c in the tranny is about he biggest problem. The E4OD's were know for taking out shifting selonoids and the t/c's. The 460 is a great engine in a great truck, just likes its gas.