how many hours is a lot?

I'm trying to sell my 98 F150 and replace it with a diesel van. I'm finding a fair number of older (early 90s) diesel ambulances that are going cheap with relatively low miles. For instance, there is a 91 E350 ambulance with the 7.3 non-turbo and only 85,000 miles.

So, I've been looking at hours as a better indicator of its use. That particular van has about 7000 hours on it. Is that a lot? A little?

That's a lot. It wouldn't bother me as much on a non turbo though. They don't have all the electrical stuff to go wrong.

7,000 hours X 60 mph=420,000 miles at highway speeds. Make of this what you will.

That's an average of just over 12MPH. That's all I've got.

Javelin wrote: That's an average of just over 12MPH. That's all I've got.

Let me guess, you're an engineer?

Tom Suddard wrote:

Javelin wrote: That's an average of just over 12MPH. That's all I've got.

Let me guess, you're an engineer?

No, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

85K sounds low miles for a 91 but it spent a lotta time idling at emergency scenes, they never shut 'em off, that's where it gets the 7K hrs.

The turbos tend to gunk up if they idle a lot, but the non-turbo should be much better.

I wouldn't be scared of it.

fasted58 wrote: 85K sounds low miles for a 91 but it spent a lotta time idling at emergency scenes, they never shut 'em off, that's where it gets the 7K hrs.

x2. They can't shut em off, because they need the electrics for the lights and med stuff in the back (SWMBO's best sister is an EMT). OTOH, it's not like it's spent 7K hours at full throttle..

Ok, thanks for the thoughts. I just never knew what was considered "too many." I know that hours don't really translate to miles, but in my world of tractors I know that 7000 is kinda moderate.

But, a tractor running a backhoe with the pressure of a hydraulic pump behind it puts a lot more wear on the engine than a diesel simply running at fast idle.

curtis73 wrote: Ok, thanks for the thoughts. I just never knew what was considered "too many." I know that hours don't really translate to miles, but in my world of tractors I know that 7000 is kinda moderate. But, a tractor running a backhoe with the pressure of a hydraulic pump behind it puts a lot more wear on the engine than a diesel simply running at fast idle.

And if my misty memory of my rural Southern past is even half-way accurate, nobody fires up a tractor unless it's time to do some work. It's not "at idle" if you need it to use the PTO.

curtis73 wrote: than a diesel simply running at fast idle.

You are making the assumption that it has fast idle? I don't know much about older diesel's, but I know a lot of them did not have such capability... therefore, a diesel that has a ton of hours on it idling cold = RUN!

Why would they idle cold? I mean, the ambulance drives to the scene so it's presumably warm, then idles.

Not to mention that a Diesel really doesn't have that much of an issue with the idle mixture washing off the lubricating oil.

BoxheadTim wrote: Why would they idle cold? I mean, the ambulance drives to the scene so it's presumably warm, then idles.

Most diesel engines do not produce enough heat to stay at "operating temperature" while idling even after being at operating temperature. Now, on a 30C day that might not be an issue, but most need to high idle when sitting for extended periods of time in cool weather. It is a large issue for VW's for instance (had to laugh at the article where it was "only" 5C out and the author was "freezing" his whole drive).

At least, that is what I have seen and understand.

Dodges have a cold weather high idle switch that shuts off injectors, running on only 3 cylinders. The extra load required to do this keeps the engine warmer than running on all 6.

Or something.