I've owned many a Ford truck over the years, but last week I was fortunate enough to pick up my first diesel. Its a '88 1 ton 7.3 ltr with a manual trans.
Although I know how a diesel works and drive one almost every day for my job, I've never had to maintain a diesel. So my question is this? What kind of oil should I put in it? 15-40? reg or synth? does it take a different weight in the winter than in the summer? I've read about the anti-freeze, so I plan to get that flushed ASAP because I'm not sure what the PO has in it.
Do I need to use any additives in the fuel?
Anything else I should know about?
Thanks for all the help!!
One other thing, although I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about Ford engines, I've never studied Diesels, is my '88 a Powerstroke? I don't even know what IDI stands for, Whats the difference?

 

You have an IDI diesel. IDI stands for indirect injection. The Power Stroke is electronically controlled Direct Injection.
When you are replacing the coolant, as well as anti-freeze, you need to add some anti-cavitation additive (essential).
A lot of guys here use Rotella motor oil, I use Mobil Delvac 15w40.
Any diesel specific 15w40 should do fine.
Everybody has their own idea but I would suggest adding a can of Diesel Kleen to the fuel tank at your next fillup.
Hopefully more opinions to follow.

 

Congrats on your first diesel. First off, run a good quality 15-40 in it such as rotella, i run Napa (valvoline) 15-40 in mine, a synthetic isnt a must but some people on here swear by it, thats really up to you. i run the same weight in mine all year, im in ohio so it gets pretty cold, it your in a place where it gets ridiculously cold you may run a lighter weight oil.
good call on the antifreeze flush, wake sure they either use an ELC coolent with a DCA (diesel coolent Additive) or if they use regular green make sure its a low sillicate antifreeze, and add a DCA additive to it like Wixkool or Napakool. your best bet will probably to just use a precharged coolent.

as for a fuel additive peridocily use Powerservice in the white bottle in the summer, and i use it in every tank in the winter, its also not a bad idea to use Powerservice dieselkleen in the silver bottle every once and a while to keep the fuel system clean. just use it per the directions on the bottle.

now on to the topic of what you have. your engine is not a powerstroke. IDI stands for in direct injection. the fuel is not injected directly into cylender, but in a pre combustion chamber. all IDI's are purely mechanical. right in the front middle of your engine is the injection pump, with steel lines that run to each injector. that IP is the 'computer' that meters the fuel, pressureizes it and directs it to the approprate injector. a powerstroke on the other hand is a Direct injection Electronic controled engine. the ECM controls the engine.

 

IDI stands for in-direct injection which means fuel isn't injected directly into the cylinder, its injected into a swirl or "pre-chamber" where combustion is started and then moves into the cylinder. Powerstrokes are direct injection "right on top of the piston" and they are computer controlled. Run reg 15-40 if it stays below 0f a lot in the winter run 10-30 diesel oil otherwise 15-40 is just fine. your best bet is to use fleetcharge coolant because it already has the sca's in it, and then just check the level of sca's every oil change with coolant test strips. Just incase your aren't awrae these motors are built by international/navistar not ford the same goes for the powerstrokes as well with the exception of the new 6.7l. As far fuel additives go pull the fuel filter dump out the fuel and fill it full of power service Diesel Kleen additive most auto parts stores have it its in a silver bottle. Fill the filter put it back on, bleed it (the filter is bled by pressing the shrader valve on the side of the filter head while someone cranks it until you get fuel though it, if you dont have a second person use a tire valve core remover to spin the core out a few turns crank until you get fuel the tighten the core in) and run it for 30sec then go to bed and let the additive clean the pump and injectors, dump some in the tank and enjoy your new to you truck!

 

Buck Truck Welcome to FTE !!! Post some pitures of your new diesel pictures are worth a thousand words!!! everyone here at FTE are Super Knowledgable and at some point everyone has "been there done that" so between everyone here we all got your truck covered on any kinda issue!! Welcome once again and Enjoy!!!

 

Thanks guys. That should get me started. I've been a FTE member for a while, but this is my first time in the Diesel forums. I'm looking forward to owning this truck. On a side note, my Dad has almost exactly the same truck, except he has a '89 F250 witha 460. Thats one of the reasons I bought my truck. Anyway, just to make things easier for me, would it be fine if I use the same oil I buy for my diesel in his 460 gasser correct? Since I am usually the one who changes his oil anyway?
And one more thing, how many quarts does the 7.3 take? 5? and is it the same oil filter? I'm going to change the oil soon just so I know its fresh and the right kind.

 

7.3 take 10 quarts of 15-40w. Including filter I don't remeber the # of filter I use tho I only change my oil every 7,500 miles

 

7.3 should take 10 quarts, maybe 11. Use 15-40 on a diesel, I wouldn't recommend doing it in your gasser.

Fram: PH3766
Motorcraft: FL-1995

A coolant flush should be done in the near future to ensure your cooling system is in good shape. Fleet charge coolant with pre-charged SCSA's is highly recommended. If not, just get low silicate coolant and mix some SCA's in your self. Fleet charge will eventually need it, just not right away.

 

the diesel uses a different filter than the gasser uses.
amount of oil is usually around 10 quarts, but some take 11 or 12 quarts.

 

hey snapon, you stalking me??

seems like we are both posting at the same time today.

 

10-12 qts?? Is there a way I can check with my specific truck? Use the Vin # or something, or just start with 10 qts and check the dipstick?
Thanks for all the info guys!!!

 

Ill look when I get home in my book but yes defently 10 Quarts with a filter as I just changed my oil last week

 

Just put 10 quarts in a check the dipstick. If you get the motorcraft I posted, you will need one extra quart.


Ya, I was.

 

what snapon said. and if you have a pre-luber and turbo on the truck, it takes an extra quart on top of the extra quart the larger oil filter takes. that is where the 12 quarts comes into play.

 

TJC thanx for the clarifcation =)