After owning the Big Ugly Ford van, we found ourselves wanting a more economical van to take its place. Not to mention one in better shape, as well as one with a wheelchair lift. But what kind of vehicle can accommodate a wheelchair lift and still get good miles-per-gallon, plus hold nine or more people? We eventually found one, but little did we know it would prove to be the grim reaper of automobilia.
After parting with the fifteen passenger Ford, we drove a tow-lot Chevy van for awhile until the transmission started to go. So I started looking around for something better. Years ago I had been very interested in obtaining a Ford van with a 7.3 Diesel engine. I found an ’88 twelve-passenger three-quarter-ton back then for three thousand dollars. It was tan and brown, and was in near new condition. It had a full length Conn-Ferr roof rack as well. I passed on it because I thought the price was steep. Ever since I’ve worn out several pairs of pants from kicking myself for not buying it.
So I began looking through the advertisements for a diesel van or something like that. All the time I had the image of that missed opportunity in my head though. And then one day I found an ad for a nineteen eighty-eight three quarter ton 7.3 diesel twelve passenger van with a wheelchair lift. He wanted twenty five hundred dollars for it. Of course I called up and arranged a meeting right away!
One of my prerequisites for looking at any diesel is that it should be stone cold when I get there. If the glow plugs are working it should start right up after glowing. If not, it could be either low compression or bad plugs. It’s easy to test the plugs, not so much the compression. So I asked for it to be cold when I arrived. Previous bad experiences have shown that if they agree, and then it is warm, or if they won’t agree, than it’s best just to pass it up.
(My son looking “cool” in it.)
The van looked exactly like the one I had passed on years ago, minus the roof rack and with the addition of the wheelchair lift. It was tan and brown, in about eighty five percent condition on the outside and about ninety five percent on the inside! It was a three quarter ton with a C6 transmission and the 7.3 non-turbo indirect injection engine. And it was stone cold when I arrived and fired right up after glowing.
I drove it down the road and out on the highway a bit. I smelled a little antifreeze and noticed a film on the inside of the windshield, a bad heater core. It ran great but the transmission seemed to have a little slip or almost free spooling between second and third gear. The man said it had always done that in the two years he had had it. He seemed to be a very honest family man and I took his word for it (something I don’t usually do). I knew the heater core was no big deal on this so I decided to get it, I was not going to let another brown and tan, IDI diesel, 3/4 ton, 88′, Ford van slip away!
I replaced the heater core right away and also found the correct glow plugs for it at an affordable price. I wanted to replace them because most of the time people just put in whatever is cheap at the auto parts store. Anything except the Ford spec ZD9 plugs made by Beru will burn out quick. Some of them will even swell up and break off inside the engine with disastrous results! So I replaced the glow plugs for good measure. Usually the glow plug relay quits on these as well and can be retrofitted with a starter relay and a push button, but mine always worked just fine. I also flushed the cooling system and filled it with the proper low silicate coolant and distilled water. As well, I also added DCA and got some test strips for it.
The wheelchair lift was an electric, single arm, side door mounted unit. It worked well most of the time though I did have to repair some of the safety sensor wires and such. The tires on the van looked good but one developed a broken belt on our way to buy a canoe in Portland. So I really couldn’t trust them, but luckily we had purchased new load range E tires for our E350. and kept the tires when we junked it. Being that good heavy-duty tires cost around eight hundred bucks or more for a set, I was glad I had them around. And as an added bonus, the sliding door never gave us any real trouble except for being somewhat sticky.
As loyal readers may remember, my mother was taking care of my aging grandmother and both were living with us. As grandmother got older she was diagnosed with systematic cancer (years of smoking). So the wheelchair lift became a real necessity.
The van got about thirteen miles-per-gallon, which seems to be about what the IDI diesels get when coupled to a C6. It was better than the previous 460 and had just as much torque. We put it to good use. We took it to the beach, where we could go down on the harder sand (being that it was two-wheel-drive) and let grandma off right at the surf. We used it to haul all of our hunting gear for a week-long outing for a bunch of us. And during the time we had it, I don’t think it ever gave us any problems at all.
My mother became sick during this time and was laid up for a few days. She was not getting any better and said she felt the worst she had ever felt. So Michelle decided to take her to the hospital. She used the wheelchair and lift, but just as she was helping her on to the lift she died. Medical staff tried to revive her but she was gone. It’s just the way she had wanted to go though, sudden as it was. And when our friend Peter heard about it he remarked that he wished he would go the same way, and a couple of years later he did.
Now there was only eight of us and it fell to Michelle to be the care provider for my Grandmother. So the van and lift continued to faithfully serve us for another year. Eventually Grandmother passed away in hospital, the van being her last car ride as well. As a side note, (we have a rather dark sense of humor in our circle) Grandma was given a cane on her first trip to the hospital while mom was still alive. Mom started developing some hip problems and began to use the cane. And then Mom passed away. So the cane went back to Grandma and then she passed away. So the cane ended up with Peter who collected canes. And then he passed away. We now refer to it as “the cane of death”. We tried to pass it off on to our friend Mr. Green, but strangely he would not take it.
So there was only seven of us now. The killer van had outlived its intended users and was now a bit much for our smaller family. I started looking around for a little 4×4 pickup and I found a good one. I called up the guy and asked if he would trade for a van………..
Love it when a good car story becomes a good family story as well.
A dark sense of humor can be a lifesaver at times. I drove a short school bus with that engine and it always ran ran ran. Came out of west virginia and geared for the mountains. Big thirst and topped out about 50 mph. Would love to have had it in a pickup.
Drove one of these in college with the 351 and 3 speed auto (Physical Plant that I was a “student worker” for owned one. Always felt like a school bus to me and the engine always made a sound like the main bearings were going out on it. (A swish, swish, washing machine sound.)
So, is Mr. Green still alive and well to this day? If so, it must’ve really been the cane!
He is!
Well, it really must be the cane then. Try sending them as a gift to Robert Mugabe or Ahmadinejad or someone like that and do the world a favor! 🙂
I love the earthen colors that were popular on trucks in the 1970s and 1980s; my 1987 S-10 is a nice metallic gold that looks like it come from desert sand.
Very similar to the color scheme of the Econoline that is in my driveway. It had been fitted with a wheel chair lift at one point before I got it and it still carries the holes where it had been mounted along with the control panel for it on the dash. It however is a 150 and is powered by a 351 C6 combo that gets 11 MPG. I paid a whopping $99 for it after the previous owner had spend $1k having the timing chain replaced by a “air cooled VW specialist”. To add insult and increase that bill to the $1K mark they had power flushed the transmission despite the fact that it was only running on 4cyls after they the timing chain replacement. Apparently they decided “Oh it’s an old V8 there are no worries about bending valves” and they proceeded to turn the cam w/o putting the crank and pistons in a position where it was safe to do so. Both intake and exhaust valves and push rods were bent on the #3 cyl. Despite the fact that it was running on only 4cyls it made it home under it’s own power. About 3-4 hours and $50 or so later it had new valves, used pushrods and was purring like a kitten again. Absolutely the best bang for the buck I’ve gotten out of any vehicle to date.
Good deal!
Only thirteen miles a gallon – with a diesel?
I’ll take your word that it’s average and expected. But I have a Dodge 250 van with the Magnum V-6 and a lockup three-speed…I get fifteen miles a gallon out of it.
Since the body’s cherry, I was contemplating getting a Cummins diesel out of a Dodge truck in a boneyard and trying a retrofit. But…this gives me pause. For only a couple miles per gallon, and the higher cost of diesel, it sounds like a wash.
Back to Plan A; use the truck as little as possible until fuel prices come down, if they ever do. Since it’s worth very little in this market, and when I need it I REALLY need it, it’ll be the Spare Car.
Probably a backyard decoration in ten years.
The Cummins is a 5.9. Dodge trucks with a 4 speed get around 20 mpg or more.
You’ve got to keep in mind that the van Micheal had was equipped with a non-OD non-Lockup C6 trans.
Keep your gas engine or trade for a OD equipped Ford diesel van, you’ll never recoup the cost of conversion, unless you are driving it many miles per year and most of those are with a heavy load.
I had though a diesel would get better mileage. mate o mine had a 84 F150 Ambulance 3tonnes empty that only managed 13mpg and pulling a 24ft caravan 13mpg he swapped it onto LPG with the engine mods to suit and cut his fuel bill by heaps.
Yeah the good thing with diesels is they don’t drop down much with a load. A gas or LPG motor will drop to as much as half with a big load. Of course I drive a 26,5000 GVWR truck with a 7.3 power dtroke (IHC T444e) and it gets around 8 mpg!
“Cane of death” ROFL!!! One of the local service stations has an ex-USA one of these – in the factory two-tone silver/dark blue (those two-tone colours do hide the bulk rather well don’t they). I don’t need a van, but every time I gas up it catches my eye and beckons…
Yeah occasionally on my night runs Id get to carry yacht fuel and the refuel might only be 50litre less than a 45 Tonne run but there arent many hills even with the old Navistar running empty 1 full gear down up hills that fully laden would have you in low box it only had a 430 cat 18 speed RR a bit down on power to the new rigs but a great worker.
I think it’s a nice looking van. I’ve never owned one, nor have I ever driven a Ford van, but I’ve ridden in plenty, gas and diesel. I have always preferred the diesel.
I’ve got a yard art 1984 E350 extended chassis 6.9 diesel that was once a conversion van. Windows with mini blinds and interior fancy lighting. Just a plywood floor now. I bought it for $400 with a bad transmission in 2007. Spent $950 on a trans rebuild with mild shit kit. Drove it 2 blocks, parked in a fenced area…..then lost the keys. Radiator and batteries stolen. About 130k miles. Rusting away in north TX.