I haven't looked at it in person but spoke with him on the phone about it. Will probably look at it tomorrow though and needed some info before I made any kind of commitment.

Here's his ad:

89f-150 xlt ext cab, power windows, locks. A/c works. 302 v8, automatic. Runs fine, but has an oil leak. $800

Inquired about the oil leak and this was his reply: "Ok just checked, i believe the pinion seal on the rear end is what is leaking."

He told me it's been sitting about 6 months but they take it to the store every few weeks just to keep it from sitting for a while. I asked the story and he said they bought it from a friend in Mississippi for his sister and she drove it a few months and decided she didn't like it. They picked up a spare motor for it and it's sitting in the garage and he's going to include it for free.

From what he told me, there's nothing wrong with the existing motor. I asked him if he knew the exact mileage and he said he wasn't really sure He doesn't know if it's turned over once or twice or if it's about to turn over for the 4th time.... I don't get that at all

So anyway my question is do you think it's worth it? How reliable are these engines? How expensive are they to repair? How difficult are they to work on? Is the engine/tranny popular enough to find replacements cheap? Any idea how difficult it will be to fix the pinion seal?

I just need a commuter vehicle to get me 60 miles round trip each day (30 one way) and figure I can put a little money in this and it last me 6 months or more.

Here are the pics of it:

 

The odometer doesnt go above 99,999 miles so if your not the original owner you cant tell if it has 132,000 miles or 32,000 miles. The pinion seal isnt hard to change, just gotta remove the drive shaft and remove it from that end, buy a haynes or chilton and it will break it down for you. I have owned my 89 with a 302 for 7 years now, just had to replace the water pump and air pump. Granted I went ahead and rebuilt the engine, but it didnt need it, i just like to do things like that haha. Just look it over real good, and take it for a nice test drive.

 

Keep this in mind - if you are looking for a commuter vehicle that gets good gas mileage, this is NOT one of those. It's a full size truck with a V-8.

Absolutely no way to tell the miles on that thing - when the numbers in the odometer are out of register like that, it's been tampered with.

 

is there any specific reason thats the trans is in neutral? by the looks of the gauge cluster i'm assuming its got an aod? does the owner know what has and hasnt been replaced? the 5.0 is a great engine. the aod trans isnt a very strong trans for towing but they can hold up pretty well to a stock engine without heavy loads. is it 2 wheel drive? has the trans ever been rebuilt? thats what i would be more worried about but 800 bucks aint bad at all IMO.

 

x2... $800 sounds kinda steep... I'd offer $250 for a twenty year old truck like that.

 

$800 does seem a bit much for the condition its in. The windshield alone is at least $100 fix. The engine is easy to work on. But why would he have an extra engine ready for it? Test drive it and go from there. Try and bring him down to $500.

 

i paid 200 for my 88 f250 but i also traded my 83 f150 cause i couldn't get the dang thing running right, my windsheild has a crack in the exact spot

 

thanks for all the replies guys. i talked to my dad and he was telling me the exact things that were said in this thread. we didn't even bother looking at it. the guy knew nothing about the truck and said that's why he was selling it so "cheap"

not sure how you can own a truck for a year and have no knowledge of the history, mileage, etc etc.

 

Yeah right - he's just playing dumb and trying to hide some serious problems. Wanna lay odds that it's got a salvage title?