1st Gen folks! I have a buddy of mine looking to buy a used '89 3/4 ton CTD. It has a five-speed manual trans and 4x4. It has approx 145K on it. He wants me to go look at with him this afternoon. He already looked at it and the body and interior are great, BUT... the first time he wanted to look at it, the truck wouldn't start. The sellers fix was to run a jumpwire direct to the lift pump? Why would he have to do that? What will the fix for that require? Also, my friend said there was a rattling sound coming from the trans while in neutral. The fuel gauge also does not work. I assume the sender is in the tank?

Any advice for buying a used 1st gen would be MUCH appreciated! I don't want to see him get ripped off and have to put alot of money into the truck.
My guess is the truck is going to be fine with a few repairs but all of my CTD experience is with 3rd gens... Thanks in advance!

 

Are you positive it was the lift pump, and not the solenoid on the injection pump??

 

No, I'm not. This info was second hand from my buddy. He said the seller told him he had to run a wire to the "fuel pump", so I assumed he meant the lift pump. What would replaceing the IP solenoid run if thats the prob? Is this a common problem? THANKS for the quick reply!

 

New solenoid for the IP is about 60 to 70 bucks. Replace it yourself, no sweat.

 

If he is running a jumper wire to power the solenoid, I'd say the solenoid is good. It is likely a fusible link over on the driver's fender well, right beside the intake heater relays- there are half a dozen or so. I had one go out on my first 93, and my last 91.

Rattling in neutral can be the clutch disc getting worn, with some slop in the center. ANother possibility is the throwout bearing. Or it could be something in the tranny. If the transmision shifts fine, and doesnt make any strange noises under load (higher RPM- no stomping the pedal at 30 in 4th), it is likely ok.

Look it over real well, like you would any other used vehicle.

Daniel

 

Fuel pump is manual, its on drivers side towards the bottom, unless its been changed.

 

What the owner is probably hot-wiring is the starter solenoid; it's a two-wire connector that attaches to the positive battery terminal, and you can unplug it and hotwire it to start the engine.

If you're ignition switch or key tumbler are worn out, that's how you start the truck. My truck won't start unless I turn the key, then pull the lever on top of the steering column with my finger. Before I figured that one out I had to jumper the solenoid a couple times; afterwards I got used to it as an anti-theft measure...

 

Any vehicle that old will probably have some electrical glitches. Bad grounds, blown fuses and general corrosion.

 

Our vehicles have bad grounds stock.

The entire electrical system runs off of what, a single 10 gauge?