1988 f250

C

Cpark

New member
1st time diesel owner. Inherited an 88 F250 just recently. Truck seems to be in good mechanic condition I guess. Not a mechanic here.Truck runs, just put a starter on it and 2 new batteries. Has cosmetic issues, and issues such as gauges not working, hood latch, tailgate handle. No a/c. Pros/cons to keep it???? Around 150,000 miles. Are they good trucks? Is it worth putting some money into it?
 
Cpark said:
1st time diesel owner. Inherited an 88 F250 just recently. Truck seems to be in good mechanic condition I guess. Not a mechanic here.Truck runs, just put a starter on it and 2 new batteries. Has cosmetic issues, and issues such as gauges not working, hood latch, tailgate handle. No a/c. Pros/cons to keep it???? Around 150,000 miles. Are they good trucks? Is it worth putting some money into it?
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If it was free you can't really lose.
 
They are slow and severely underpowered, but sounds like the price is right. This forum might not be the best for those old 6.9/7.3 IDIs, might want to try thediselstop.com or oilburners.net for that engine.

I know on the 7.3s, you need to keep up with the cooling system maintenance (SCAs) so you don't get cavitation, other than that they don't really have enough power to tear anything up so they last a while.

I wouldn't dump a ton of money in it, but if you don't mind tinkering fixing odds and ends, I don't see how you can go wrong.
 
First things first put an electric lift pump on it, one of the green ones from o reillys will work fine, you will enjoy how fast it starts up and dont have to worry about it losing prime


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My first truck was a 89 f350
Absolute most reliable truck I have ever owned, other than I got sick of changing glow plugs. Other than that the 6.9 was bullet proof. Didnt make enough power to hurt anything.
 
jasonc said:
My first truck was a 89 f350

Absolute most reliable truck I have ever owned, other than I got sick of changing glow plugs. Other than that the 6.9 was bullet proof. Didnt make enough power to hurt anything.
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A push button helps the glow plugs out a bunch.

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jasonc said:
My first truck was a 89 f350
Absolute most reliable truck I have ever owned, other than I got sick of changing glow plugs. Other than that the 6.9 was bullet proof. Didnt make enough power to hurt anything.
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'89 would have had a 7.3 unless someone put a 6.9 in it.

My first truck was a '84 with the 6.9. Pretty reliable for as beat up as it was.

After burning up a set of glow plugs and a breaking a controller in one weekend, I put a push button in mine and never had a problem after that with the glow plugs.
 
Most of the time I just unhooked the power to the solenoid, to kill the one or two glow plugs still working, and hit it with ether. I was young, didnt bother me back then, ha.
 
jasonc said:
Most of the time I just unhooked the power to the solenoid, to kill the one or two glow plugs still working, and hit it with ether. I was young, didnt bother me back then, ha.
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I was just happy mine started every day! First truck and I was proud of that POS.
 
Tobin said:
I was just happy mine started every day! First truck and I was proud of that POS.
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We were all so proud of our first trucks. LOL Mine was a little Isuzu Pup. I remember finding a diesel Chevy Luv(same truck) that I wanted to buy for an engine swap, but I made a big fat $6.50 an hour at the machine shop and after rent and gas there was nothing left for fun.
 
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