Looking at a 1985 L8000 with a 3208. Truck was an old fire truck and it only has 7900 original miles. Now I've read about these engines not being sleeved, short life expectancy before rebuild, white smoke on cold starts, etc We would be interested in this truck as a sander. It would see at most 300- 400 miles a year and that's it. Here is my question: Being that its a 1985, should I be concerned about any deterioration in the cylinder walls or anything like that from sitting or would this suit me well for my application?? Seller also claims that it gives a small puff of smoke on cold start up like any other diesel and not the white cloud I have seen on other trucks. My dad had one of these motors in his dump truck and as a kid I remember you would get slammed from the smoke until it was warm
Best advice is to see it started up from cold yourself. Look at the smoke - for that generation of engine some smoke on cold startup would be perfectly normal. Check for blowby by pulling the oil filler cap or look at the breathers. Is the engine showing signs of leaking oil externally or is it maybe burning oil. What colour is the exhaust stack..?
Seems to me like a fire truck has a pretty easy life, plugged in all the time (warm=dry), not idled excessively, given a good workout every now and then, and washed off at the end of every work day. The only thing I'd worry about with the age is the seals, hoses, or any rubber or plastic hardening sooner than a new truck, but 85 is not that old as far as that goes.
With the low use this truck will be getting I'd agree with Nige, start it cold and if it looks good check for blow-by and go from there. We were given a GMC local town plow truck with the 3208 in it to use as a plow truck in the quarry. They don't want to spend a dime they don't have to on it as it probably will see maybe 50 hours work a year. The engine fires right up at 30ºF but the white smoke will make the truck dissappear till it warms up.
One correction: a fire truck sees more excessive idling than anything I have ever seen. But with 7900 miles, I think there is little chance that anything is worn out at all, no matter how much it was idled.
Can you elaborate on your checklist? I would be curious to see all of the things you are checking for. Thanks
I'm not sure exactly what you're asking but here goes: - 1. Smoke on startup. Black, blue, or white..? How much..? That would indicate overfuelling, possible air filter issues, or maybe even coolant in the cylinders. 2. Blowby. If the engine has a crankcase breather how much fumes are coming out of it with the engine idling..? If not then pull the oil filler cap with the engine idling and try to add a small quantity of engine oil. If you end up wearing it then the engine has excessive blowby. 3. External oil leaks will give you a good idea how well the engine has been maintained. Most owners will try to fix leaks ASAP, so be suspicious of an engine that's dripping oil externally. 4. Colour of exhaust stack. Is it really black indicating excessive quantities of soot going up it..? That will give a good idea of the combustion process. You can look at all sorts of things like that in addition to requesting to see service history, if it exists.
I have an 87 f7000 service truck 400k smokes a little uponstarting the only problem I ever had was the oritng seal where the trottle goes into the injector pumphad to be replaced mine is a nonturbo engine
The last 3208 we had was in a 85 F800 service truck with over 300,000mi on it. It smoked like crazy on cold start but was one of the easiest starting trucks in the fleet. It could sit for 3mos you hit the key and within 5sec it would light off. They tend to carbon up real bad so the best thing for them is to keep them loaded and working. They don't like lots of idle time.
Ive always wondered why the 3208 is so hated. We have several older cranes with 3208s and if my total my time working on the four 3208s we have it's less then the time I spend on one 8.3 cummins. Definitely way more then the 3126. I don't know if the 3208 is just very well suited to life in a crane. Spends most of it's life around 1500 rpm and not under that much of a load. I would chose a 3208 over just about any engine I've ever been around. One thing I really like about them is if the the bat turns them over and the fuel isn't gelled they will start. We have had customers rent them and not plug them in all winter and never had them call because the crane wouldn't start. I have personally seen one start at fifteen below without being plugged in. It seems they burn a lot less fuel as well. I wouldn't be afraid of one at all.
I have a 1977 Ford L8000 Rollback truck with a 3208 in it and have owned it for 16 years and have had no trouble with it what so ever. Like others have said it will smoke like a freight train until she warms up. You can let it set and idle all you want but it takes driving her down the road for a couple of miles for her to clear up.
Not pickin' a fight with you Birken, but I have to disagree. I think 10,000 hours on most any diesel is a lot (I think 5,000 hours on a 3208 is a lot). At 30 years old, it would have to idle only 6 1/2 hours per week (very doable on a fire truck). An hour meter is more telling than the mileage in this case.