preparing to purchase

Try here:

Check the coolant additive on a used diesel. Look over on

for more info. Even if the level looks good on a test strip you have no idea how it has been maintained in the past. Low additive over a long period of time will do serious engine damage. I wouldn't buy a used diesel unless I knew the previous owner and how they maintained it.

i realize the severity, but is it really that common? thanks,

There are other indicators that you can look for to answer adjust your comfort level. I bought my latest PSD from a County Police officer. His residence was immaculate. Lawn well manicured. Had two beautiful muscle cars in the garage. The truck had 84K on it and was pristine. I went over it with a fine toothed comb. I could only find one tiny nick in the paint. The engine compartment and the underside of the truck and his other vehicles were virtually spotless. Under the bedliner, the truck was like new. His Harley was a 10 years old and in mint condition. His 4 year old back county boat looked brand new. This guy was an absolute fanatic and had logs and receipts on all maintenance that was ever performed on all of his toys including the truck. The truck also had a new set of BFG All Terrain TAs with less than 1,000 miles on them. He gave me his coolant test kit. The coolant tested good. The truck is now up to 125K miles now and the only problem that I have had was having to replace the power window operator on the passenger side and I just installed a new set of BFGs this month. If you run into a guy who's truck and other possessions look like this guy's stuff, you might expect that he treated the truck pretty much the same.