I've been talking and reading about these vans for a few weeks and I keep getting overwhelmed by engine discussion. There's the "holy grail" discussion about the 7L Ford Turbo Diesel. There's mpg discussion ranging from 12 to 22. Today If found out the Sprinters with the Mercedes have great mileage. I found a 7L Ford Disel I got excited about - until someone pointed out it wasn't a turbo diesel. I was surprised to learn that the ford v10s get worse mileage than the v8s.
All this information is all over the place... anyone care to give me a brain dump on the most popular engines and why to look for them or avoid them?
It's 7.3L and I didn't know there was a non-turbo version. If there is it's a dog... just today the inlet tube popped off my turbo as I punched it to get on the highway. I drove around all day with it out of place, which essentially made my 7.3 a non-turbo and I couldn't even get out of my own way- top speed of 70 mph downhill, couldn't make 55 in a lot of cases with a light hill and 45 was often the case- on I-25 that's not good.
They don't say "turbo" on the side of the truck or anything, but I think they all (7.3 and 6.0L diesels) are turbo... I guess that's mostly an assumption on my part. How did you know it wasn't turbo charged?
Have you outlined what you want and your budget for just the van alone?
I am in the Denver area and I know where some vans are and would give some leads if you would give some more to go on...
Thats a smoking deal! I looked at rescue trucks before I found my rig. The biggest problem with them is that they are electrical nightmares. Forget the fancy switches ,outlets, lights ,pumps and converters. They are absoulutly the worst setup for camping. They are built to keep the engine running if you have the interior powered up. Even with everthing off but just powered up they draw a ton of current. The build quality and cabnets are fantastic and some electrical components you may want to reuse. I'd plan to basically gut all the electrical and start from scratch. You do get a sweet alternator setup but if it's not running you will kill your bats in an hour because all of the curcuitry that runs constantly. So if you have the know how to gut and rewire that rig then it would be a great 4x4 van. It will be slow in the altitude with out a turbo but for the price and what you are starting with then what better way to have a slightly used 4x4 van for that kind of money?
This kit has a great reputation on that older 7.3.http://bankspower.com/products/show/155/39 I hope you get it if you can deal with the electrical issue.
I don't see an ambulance engine being underpowered... it's an ambulance after all.
56 miles is fishy as heck though. Ambulances should be equiped with an hour meter (from my own pre-SMB searches) because the engines idle a lot. The one I looked at was under the hood.
I would be curious how many digits in the ODO, I've rolled more than one older vehicle myself, and 100,056 is indistinguishable from 56 if it doesn't have the millions spot.
I agree with searching for an hour meter, however anecdotal evidence has suggested excessive idle can lead to problems (wet stacking), I think the mileage should be 56,000, not 56.000 miles.
Herb
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