Alright, so before yall go buck wild and tell me wrong forum, I know. But ive used this forum for a while and I know there are ford mechanics on here so I figured Id start here.

Im looking into buying a 1997 f250 with the 7.5 v8 4x2 and the 3.55 gears. It is also a 4 door with the 6 1/2 ft bed.

I'll be crossing over from my little 4.9 to the big 7.5 and besides Gas mileage drop, what should I expect? any common issues with that engine? anything specific to look for when I go check it out?

It just crossed over into 100k miles so im not expecting very many issues but I could be very wrong.

Thanks guys

 

They are great engines. I have a 1994 with 390 thousand kilometers on it (242 thousand miles for my American friends) and still runs strong. The transmission just lost reverse but I'm starting a full restoration as it was beat up most of its life. When I rebuild the motor it will be interesting how the internals look as It has never been apart.

 

Wow! thats actually very reasurring, any specific tips about the 7.5? or is it just a solid engine all around?

 

I have personally never had an issue with it. I'm just rebuilding it as the rest of the truck is getting re done.


It does burn a little oil when the engine is cold but stops once warmed up.

 

My dad had a 1992 F250 with the 460, 7.5. It was the best damn motor we ever had. Back then, 200 hp and 400 ft of torque was the cats *** in towing. It towed heavy in the mountains of Wyoming and never complained. Now the transmission was a different story. If it's an auto, make sure it checks out. Put a bigger transmission cooler on it and run fully synthetic. We put a bigger fluid pump in the transmission and it help, but it was always the weak link in the truck. The suspension was ruff, but rock solid.

 

Was always a good motor. You usually don't get the wear you see in smaller motors either because they just don't have to work as hard to pull the truck around. Mileage may not be as bad as you think, for the same reason.

 

So I replaced my battery & truck would start fine after it had been changed, only problem was I forgot to completely tighten down the small ground wire going from negative terminal to fender. Truck started perfect though but would cut out if I turned my headlights on. Started it up a few more times, no issue until I turned headlights on so I started it for a final time & tried reving her to see if applying gas would help keep her on but she once again cut out when headlights came on & now doesn't turn over only cranks. Replaced plugs, distributor, ignition coil, & starter solenoid & still nothing. I NEED HELP YALL. ANYTHING IS APPRECIATED, THANK YALL IN ADVANCE.