used purchase question of E350 7.3 Diesel

[Charon_Sin]

I am looking at a Ford E350 7.3 Diesel with 141K miles. It is a 10' box van dual rear wheel. I am new to diesel so anything I should look for? Are these motors good or do they have problems? I took a quick look at it today and did not notice any leaks, the van started right up and has lots of power and getup. The price is $7900 obo. I am going back in the morning to look at it so any info would help.

[LunarVan]

I know just a very few things about diesel vehicles, mostly about the fuel not the mechanical operation of the engine.

If you are looking at a deisel van, have you also looked at diesel fuel prices and how they've increased over the past 6 years? Literally from arount $1.60/gal to $3.17/gal in some places. If you are going through places with cold weather, often you need an additive to keep the fuel from gelling. A type of diesel gaining ground is called Biodiesel, and is made from vegetable oil, alcohol, and lye. A few places sell Biodiesel, but mostly you have to produce your own for now. In a couple of very cold areas (Alaska, Wyoming) the US park service uses Biodiesel in their park vehicles, and reports no problems, and in some cases, better performance.

Other than that, diesel engines are very durable, workhorse engines.

did this help? LunarVan

[kdr358]

The 7.3 is a strong motor however, it takes longer to get up and go vs the new 6.0 diesel. The first diesel produced was actully supposed to run on peanut oil. anyways, Im happy with my 2000 7.3 its a solid van and can take one hell of a beating to.