My wife and I just purchased an '88 E350 7.3 IDI with only 13,590 miles. It was a Wilkes County, NC Fire Dept. Air Pump Truck, used for carrying, filling, and maintaining SCBA equipment for FireFighters. They almost never used it. Maintained annually. My question: What should I do to help it have a long life putting in 1,000+ miles per week? The truck has been well taken care of, with a good maintenance record. I will have to jumper the starter solenoid until I get it back to Huntsville, AL, but no other issues. Any recommendations on books, manuals, or web-sites would be appreciated. I have done light-wrenching on gas engines, and driven big trucks with Detroit 60s and Cat C15s for more than 1M miles. Can anyone offer suggestions on where I should start on PM on our new/old 7.3IDI engine? Thank you for taking the time to read this long post.

 

Aside from the obvious common items like belts, hoses, fluids, etc., the biggest item is to make sure the coolant has the proper SCAs in it to prevent cavitation. If you don't know about that, search this forum for SCA and cavitation, and you'll have plenty to read...

 

Definitely a MUST read for any new 7.3 owner!

Cavitation Article


And '88 will be the automatic C6 (3 speed transmission), witch is the best ever made in the automatic world, but lack of Overdrive kills mpg on the highway if you try and do anything over 55mph.

 

Unless you got 3.55 gears, which will give you a max speed of 60 XD. But x3 with the cavitation....i would say that the cavitation article is meant for ANY IDI owner, its cheap insurance for the 6.9l as well...or with wierdos like the guy I bought the 84 from:

Rebuilt the engine 20k miles before I bought it, and then proceded to bore out the 84's 6.9 to a 7.3.

 

Thank you. I replaced hoses, belts, filters, and oil. Coolant, diff lube, brake and wheel bearing inspections will be next. Delving deeply into cavitation; uncommitted to a particular remedy. Can anyone recommend books or manuals? There seem to be several options such as the Haynes and Dempsey manuals, but most are for Powerstroke. Info on a pre-Powerstroke seems to be lacking.

 

I do believe Haynes is the book of choice, and to stay away from the Chilton... yet i may have that backwards. A flush and filter change wouldnt hurt the tranny any. The starter solenoid may be bad, or could be a bad neutral safety switch, thats where i would start anyway.

 

The Haynes book for your model year truck will not cover diesels. Chiton does. Although, of the work I have done on the truck thus far, I have found that searching through old threads in here will tell you everything you need to know.

Regarding cavitation, my recommendation would be to flush the coolant out (would have been easier to do at the time you changed hoses but oh well), then fill with a coolant precharged with SCAs like Fleetcharge. Of course, to save you the hassle and cost of getting rid of the coolant you just put in, perhaps using the SCA additive you can buy separately is in order.

Even though the truck is low mileage, I would recommend keeping a close eye on your fuel return lines. The rubber is likely old and brittle, so they or the o-rings in the caps may give you issue soon. Then again, this is one of those things where if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Just something to keep an eye on.

Mike

 

wow that's some low miles! there's some good links in my sig below to take a look at too.

 

here is the best service manual I know of for our trucks this is for the engine: 7.3L IDI Diesel Owner Manual Supplement - Helm Incorporated

here is the site that will have other manuals that would be of interest to you: 7.3L IDI Diesel Owner Manual Supplement - Helm Incorporated

I have the Chilton and the Haynes for our trucks and the Haynes diesel supplement for the things that are common to gas and diesel they are OK but for the diesel stuff they are pretty poor.
good luck with the new old truck and welcome to FTE

PS I have a link to a site where you can order a ford service manual on Cd but you will have to send me a pm with your email and I will send you the link.

 

hairyboxnoogle: Solenoid was fine. Pos cable nut was loose. Tightened it up and no more problem.
whiteboyslo: Old threads are great; I'm getting an education! I sent oil and coolant samples off for testing. When I get the results back I'll make a decision on coolant, and maybe I'll get a heads-up on engine wear. I ran oil tests on all of my PM services when I ran my own big truck. Amazing how much information can be made available from oil/coolant tests. And I will be keeping an eye on the fuel return lines.
FORDF250HDXLT: The link for Tuning Info will be a help. I fully intend to study and apply....
Dark Horse: I bought one of the Dempsey manuals, but unsure if I should get one or more of the FORD 7.3 shop manuals.
All in all I am off to a good start. With luck, and good PM and preparation, I will be short on repairs and long on miles.
A hearty thank you to each of you.

 

Aune163rd: I discovered that the rear axle is an E2; FORD built cut-away for the ambulance industry. I think it has a 4.10 Limited Slip. That combined with the 3-speed would make an excellent in-town ambulance, but the pits for 200 miles/day of highway work. I have not changed the gears in a diff, yet. Looks like it is in my future.

 

I just found this on ebay :
FORD POWER STROKE V8 TURBO DIESEL ENGINE REPAIR MANUALS 1985-2011 F150-F250-F350 | eBay

I don't know if this CD is any good I intend to order a copy asap I will let you know what I think of it after I get a copy.

 

hey dark horse,that link reminded me of this.
this is great to have too and it's free.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...baby-6-7l.html

 

Thank you. I shall look forward to your opinion on it. Alas, the Fire Dept. apparently kept a full tank of fuel. I am guessing that they fueled the truck upon every return from a run, having probably never dropped below 1/2 tank. Why? She got down to about 1/4 - 3/8 tank and started cutting out and being downright cranky about cranking. I think I have about a 1/4 tank of water! Yee-Haa!

 

water sinks in fuel, so that is not your problem. it is more likely a cracked pickup tube. common problem with these older trucks. and that is where they go, rite at the 1/4 -3/8 mark.