Million mile Truck what needs Repaired ?

Did you check the turbos ?

 

Did the seller give you any detailed information on What has been fixed?

 

all fluids, belts, water pump, dyno.

 

Oil sample is the best indicator, along with dyno.
Could need nothing inside the engine, could need everything.Depends, an oil sample will tell the tale.

 

Hi tommy, I've heard of Detroit's going a million miles ( a Century I drove had 830K and never opened up) but not a heck of a lot more. At a million miles, you can bet everything has been replaced at least once. I guess I'd worry about electrics and suspension. It would be OK for a local truck, but I wouldn't want to do any cross country stuff with a truck with a million miles, although the ones that do probably know what they have done to the truck.

 

If you pull the boost hose off the turbo, you can inspect the impeller. Look for chips on the impeller, and whether or not there are signs of the impeller hitting anything. Spin the impeller...is there any play in the bearing? Is there an oil leak? No? Turbo should be fine.

Bring a flashlight and inspect the radiator. One of the things that gets overlooked on the old trucks is the radiator. The fins will eventually rot and fall out, and the radiator will leak at the tanks. With rotten fins falling out, that rad will not cool the way its supposed to. On a heavy load on a hot day, you will cook your motor.

Bring a creeper too. Go underneath the truck, top to bottom. Look at the air tanks...are they rusty? Are the fuel tanks leaking at the support straps? If theres something leaking, dust will accumilate at that point. Try to twist the driveshaft by hand. Both driveshafts. Wheel seals? Are the diffs leaking? Everything good?

Go and look inside. Usually, you can tell when a truck has been beaten to hell by the hood and the interior. Start her up and turn on the lights. If theres a problem, the relays should kick off if you leave the lights on. Get your circuit tester and check the pigtail. You want all gremlins fixed before you talk money. And I dont think thats unreasonable. I dont care what year the truck is. You dont buy a truck to take it home and fix it, you buy a truck to put it to work. If its not ready to work, its not a truck.

Fire her up and take her to a shop and have them inspect the tranny. Once they remove that cover, its really easy to see whether or not the transmission has been cooked. You will smell it. And the gears will be all funky looking, chipped, missing...etc.