Thanks Pat...
First - look at this page on RepairPal: http://repairpal.com/ford-f-250-1996/problems
It's a list of posted problems by experts and consumers alike. A good starting point.
In my mind, I can think of a few things to keep an eye out for. The 5.8L (351 cubic inch V8) is a solid engine, and has been for many years. It is one of the last years Ford used a push rod engine in their truck line (in 1998, Ford went to their overhead cam engines for the Super Duty trucks).
The manual transmission, however, is not the strongest part of your prospective truck. It's the Mazda M5OD transmission, found in everything from the Ranger to this Super Duty truck. The 7.5L V8 has a better transmission - the ZF manual transmission. On this Mazda 5 speed - a rather "light" duty transmission, the slave cylinder is notorious for leakage. Keep your brake fluid / clutch fluid changed and clean to prevent corrosion, and hope for the best. The cylinder is located within the transmission bell housing, and collects clutch dust in its seal. Leaks can occur from brake fluid moisture impurities causing corrosion and wear, as well as clutch dust causing wear. It is not one of the strong points of this truck, for sure.
The ignition module on this truck is the Ford TFI (Thick Film Ignition) module that was notorious for failure when mounted on the distributor in previous years. It was a bad location, and was succeptable to overheating. On THIS truck, however, it is located in a much better position - on the fender apron, encased in a heat sink. In theory, it is much less likely to fail, and is much easier to change when it does. Still, an item to keep in mind.
EGR flow is something to keep an eye out for as the mileage gets high. Make sure the EGR valve is not stuck (are you able to do a test to check for codes? This would be a good thing to do...), and make sure there is not any codes for insufficient EGR flow. You may need to clean the EGR passages under the intake by this mileage.
Spark plug wires are very sensative to proper routing and high quality on this truck, or you may get a misfire.
In the end - this is not at all a bad truck in whole. As long as you are in a position of power on the price, and know what you are potentially getting into with the slave cylinder, you have yourself a nice truck. Good luck!
Have a pre-purchase inspection done by a garage knowledgeable in Ford products, it will be money well spent, hat they find may divert you from buying a "bad car" and or what they find (lack of maintenance or repairs needed) can be used to negotiate price. I hope Dave here at Repairpal sees this he is very knowledgeable on Ford. Look on the F250 forums as well.
I HAVE A 1996 W/5.8 AND IT HAS 250000 ON IT WELL IT FINALLY BROKE DOWN,,IT STALL WHILE RUNNING,I THINK IT IS A RELAY AND THATS ALL I HOPE,,BUT BEEN ONE HELL OF A TRUCK,,IM A FORD TRUCK MAN AND HAS BEEN MY BEST TRUCK SO FAR,,,GOOD LUCK WITH THE GAS MILLAGE THO,,MINE GETS ABOUT 7 MILES TO THE GALLON,,,LOL
Thank you very much, now that's the kind of dirt and information I am looking for! I really appreciate it!! The guy is selling it for 2500, and it's a pretty clean and fairly rust free considering the year, and I needed to know issues to look for, so thank you all for the awesome advice!
I would buy that truck all day long for $2,500... Doesn't mean you couldn't offer $2,200 though :-) First, though, make it a requirement that you verify the 4x4 works as designed too. A faulty transfer case or rear differential would make that $2,500 truck become $5,000 or more fast. Expect that you will replace the clutch and slave cylinder at some point between now and a year from now. This way, you can budget and plan ahead and not be surprised if and when it happens. If it stays functional, then all the better. Good luck!
What's it take to put in the manual ZY transmission from the 7.3? is it a big job to do the swapping or are we talking basically bolt-on with the standard move some things around to make it work, cause i don't want to be going through trannies hauling wood, and it just so happens the junkyard in our town is a ford specialized and sponsored yard with new and re-manned parts as well, and thanks again for the comments, i'm going middle next week to go check out this prospect!
You can't do it; it won't bolt up, and it's a huge difference in hydraulic operation. Also to clarify - you won't go through transmissions - just slave cylinders. Unless you try to shift with a faulty slave and break gears and ruin synchros. Simply don't force anything if you notice an issue. I only am a little gun shy on the slave cylinder because I personally went through 4 of them on a vehicle i owned. You may have no issue at all. At the end of the day - put $1,000 aside and just know if your clutch feels funny that you have an idea what's wrong. Who knows, maybe the current owner has done this repair already not too long ago.