I am considering trading my 83 ford f150 4x4 to a guy that has a 92 f250 4x4 7.3 idi diesel truck. The only problem is his truck has supposedly blown head gaskets. My truck runs fine and I have put alot of time in it with a new rebuilt 302 new carb and alot of other new parts. I am not a mechanic but I am mechanically inclined as I have done alot of the work on my 83, but I have never owned a diesel before and I would love to have one but I dont want a money pit either. So I am on here to see if I can get some help on what to do. The 92 looks like a nice truck but another problem is he is 3 hrs. away from me so its not easy to go down and look at it. Please Help!!!!!

 

if yo u try to turn it over take out the glow plugs and see if the cylinders shoot water, find out the symtoms it was having and we can help from there

 

Could also be the oil cooler. Pretty common on these trucks.

Actually, bad head gaskets is pretty common, too.

The one thing you want to be careful of is that it could be cavitation. Cavitation, unlike the other two issues, is not repairable. You need to test the coolant with pH test strips that you can buy at Napa when you go look at it.

A 7.3L with bad head gaskets probably doesn't have any permanent damage unless it's been driven like that for quite a while. Not too difficult to fix. Just takes time.

-Matt