Hi Folks,

Thanks for all the valuable advices to my first post - I went ahead and purchased a 1993 F-350 7.3L IDI (supposed to have C6 auto tranny). It's an ex-uhaul 14 footer truck / cube van with dual rear wheels. I intend to be in Toronto on the 18th so I could load 'er up with my stuff with the intention to drive back to Edmonton, Alberta (2100 miles approximately).

I am listing things that I intend to do on truck before driving 'er back:

1. Oil change (truck was parked for 4-5 months after being driven from Vancouver, BC)

2. Get a shop to inspect brakes, transmission and differential fluids along with coolant and add the SCA to the coolant as advised earlier.

3. Inspect the air filter and replace if needed.

4. Use a cetane fuel booster and injector pump lubricator like Powerkleen.

5. Get the fan fixed (It's not working).

6. It has the hard starting problem. The starter is new'ish. Is that okay to use a 'quick start' spray, without waiting for the glow plugs to heat the cylinders, to start the truck?

Extras/May be if I find a good mechanic in Toronto:
add an electric fuel pump and raycor filter to fuel line system so the truck has the standard mechanical pump plus an electric pump delivering adequate fuel supply to injector pump.

My questions are:

Q1: Should I use Shell Rotella T6 5w40 synthetic or just a regular non-synthetic motor oil?

Q2: Can it be driven non-stop with a team-mate?

Q4: If I am driving alone and hate the hard starting part, can I keep the engine running when I rest or even sleep for upto 4 - 6 hours?

Q5: If the tank holds 19 gals, and loaded, gives 11mpg, we are looking at 200 miles per tank. Is that realistic?

p.s - Anything else that I should inspect and/or take care of before beginning the 'journey' , please feel free to share.

Thanks
Momin

 

I've always read that using any kind of spray to assist with starting should ONLY be done with the glow plug system disabled.

Mike

 

Right! so I am thinking of not waiting for the glow plugs to turn on, but continue to crank directly.... will that be close to 'disabling the glow plugs' or is there a fuse that I can pull to disable to glow plugs?

 

My guess would be to disconnect the glow plug relay in some way.

Mike

 

The glow plugs will heat whether or not your cranking or not cranking. How long does the wait to start stay on?

It "should" have an e4od if an auto.

You cannot run a electric and a mechanical. Use one or the other.

I suggest Valvoline premium blue 15-40, or use any other diesel oil NOT designed for low emissions vehicles.

 

For the hard starting, check the glow plug system (check the sticky thread at the top of the forum...) and check/replace the injector return lines. If you need to replace the glow plugs, use only the Motorcraft/Beru ones. For the return lines, using viton o-rings is best and use plenty of lube to get them on (do a search for more detailed instructions.)

Driving nonstop should be fine as long as everything checks out. I can't think of any reason why you couldn't, unless it has some overheating issues.

I wouldn't leave the engine running, its a waste of fuel, fix the starting problems. If it has a block heater, and you have a way to plug it in, that will help.

 

Thanks all! It has a block heater. Intend to try that on landing in Toronto next week....

Glow plug light remains on for about 8-9 seconds so they look good.

The injector lines may be a problem!

Any one knows about a parts store to buy injector lines and stuff in city of Toronto (as I intend to fly in from Edmonton)?

How good are these trucks for climbing icy mountains when loaded???

 

I dont think there is anything good for climbing "icy mountains" but thats just me

 

Got back yesterday and this truck handled icy mountains like a champ. Very impressed!!

 

Good to hear it worked out for you

 

I have a question, what happened to Question 3?
You can order a fuel injector installation kit, that will have all the caps, hose, hose clamps and o rings you need.