How are the older Ford med-duty diesels?

[dieselfuelonly]

I don't know much about these older Ford medium duty trucks, maybe someone could chime in and give me some advise.

The truck is a 1989 Ford F600 diesel with a flat bed.

Its not located down the street by any means, so its not like I can go and just "take a look".

The seller says it runs and drives great, is a 5 speed with the 2-speed rear end, has 50% tires, really the only thing wrong with it is the crack in the front fender.

I'm guessing it has the 6.6L Ford diesel? Are they turbocharged?

If anyone has any other information about this truck, engine, etc., I'd greatly appreciate it. The seller is asking $1600 for the truck. Here are some pics:

 

[DieselPower]

You will probably get opinions from both sides of the fence. Personally I wouldn't buy it if it's one of those gray painted Brazial made boat anchor engines. I don't speak from any experience on the ownership end but from having been a truck mechanic for years and fixing those blasted things. The hair use to stand up on the back of my neck when I would hear one of them pull on the parking lot in fear of having to work on them. I would look for a truck with a Caterpillar, Detroit Diesel or Cummins engine. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Ductape]

I'll agree with DieselPower. Those Brizilian motors have a terrible reputation. If you are looking for a pre-Cummins era Ford medium duty, i'd opt for a gas engine (and i'm NO fan of gas engines in a truck larger than a 3/4 ton). That same truck a bit newer with a 5.9 in it i'd be all over (I owned one and it was a great med. duty).

 

[Builder]

I owned a '89 F-700 with a 6.6L Ford brazilian made diesel engine. Not a darn thing ever went wrong with it, but it was pretty weak with only ~185HP. It was turbocharged. The 7.8L version was much more torqy and had enough rotating mass to move a bigger truck. I had an Allison tranny in mine. Truth be said, powerwise-you'd be better off with a 429 gasser, but the 6.6L diesel will get about twice the fuel economy.

They're decent trucks. Just be careful with the 2-speed rear. For $1,600 bucks, that truck is a steal. $1,600 doesn't buy much anything these days.

I'm not sure if the 5.9L Cummins was available in '89. I think Ford had phased out buying 8.2L diesel engines from GM. I think the 3208CAT was also gone by '89.

 

[Ductape]

P.S. Somehow, i was blind and missed the price. I'd buy a med duty 6.6 powered Ford for $1600 no problem. You wouldn't need to get much use out of it to recoup that investment.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I agree with Builder. We had trucks like this at a Lumber Yard I worked at in college and they are tough as nails. You will not win any races but the truck is stout and I believe the ones we had were like Builders with a Allison. I can not ever remember having 1 single problem in the 2 years I was around them other than normal stuff like brakes, lights, ect. Just normal wear items. Just keep them plugged in below 30 deg, I remember them being cold blooded.

Like others have said you could not find a good Ford Ranger for that money. I would jump on it before someone else on this site figures out where its at and grabs it first.

Chris

 

[joe48]

P.S. Somehow, i was blind and missed the price. I'd buy a med duty 6.6 powered Ford for $1600 no problem. You wouldn't need to get much use out of it to recoup that investment.

ABSOLUTLEY for $1600 'I'd buy it in a minute, as long everything else is sound and working. Think about it, if your buying it for occasionally hauling hay or dirt or trailering a machine around locally, where else can you get a decent rig for that money. Whats probably going to cost you the most is maintenance /repair items like brakes,gas and brake lines etc from sitting around.
If you blow the motor, either sell the truck or put a junk yard 429 gas in it and keep on trucking.

 

[Builder]

I agree with Builder. We had trucks like this at a Lumber Yard I worked at in college and they are tough as nails. You will not win any races but the truck is stout and I believe the ones we had were like Builders with a Allison. I can not ever remember having 1 single problem in the 2 years I was around them other than normal stuff like brakes, lights, ect. Just normal wear items. Just keep them plugged in below 30 deg, I remember them being cold blooded.

Like others have said you could not find a good Ford Ranger for that money. I would jump on it before someone else on this site figures out where its at and grabs it first.

Chris

One other thing I just thought of:

If it has hydraulic brakes, just make sure you try them frequently in your test drive. Early FORD hydraulic brakes SUCK and they're VERY expensive to repair. The Lucas Girling setup with the electric parking brake motor is virtually unavailable anymore, but I don't know if that particular truck has it.

Mine had airbrakes, but many smaller F6&700's had junk hydraulic brakes.

At $1,600 bucks, I wouldn't consider it a deal breaker, but check for pulling or leaks and have some funds set aside for future brake work. A complete brake job could easily run $3,000-$4,000!!!

 

[dieselfuelonly]

Thanks for the advise everyone. I'll still give the seller a call when I get back from my trip and see if I can get a little more information about it. Whatever I buy will be used for hauling my Bobcat for my small business that I plan to start up, so I am probably better off just looking for a trailer to pull behind my Dodge diesel. I just happened to run across it and thought I would get some more info on it.

My dad owned a GMC Topkick with the CAT 3116 and an Allison (I think that was the auto in there) and it was a nice truck. When that thing hit 4th gear, it was GONE.

Maybe I should keep an eye out for one of those isntead. I'd really like to have something with a flatbed or a dump bed on it.

 

[Builder]

Thanks for the advise everyone. I'll still give the seller a call when I get back from my trip and see if I can get a little more information about it. Whatever I buy will be used for hauling my Bobcat for my small business that I plan to start up, so I am probably better off just looking for a trailer to pull behind my Dodge diesel. I just happened to run across it and thought I would get some more info on it.

My dad owned a GMC Topkick with the CAT 3116 and an Allison (I think that was the auto in there) and it was a nice truck. When that thing hit 4th gear, it was GONE.

Maybe I should keep an eye out for one of those isntead. I'd really like to have something with a flatbed or a dump bed on it.

You'd be much better off with something like your dads truck. Not because it's a GMC over a Ford, but because of the drivetrain. I'm not a huge CAT fan, but the 3116 will blow away a Ford 6.6L and you're right about the allison, tests have proven over & over that an allison auto will out accelerate even an experienced driver with a handshaker.

The reason your dad's truck took off in 4th is becuase it had a direct lock-up in 4th.

I didn't realize the F-600 bed did not dump. That changes my opinion of the truck negatively, but it's still a good buy at $1,600.