Hey, this is my second post! yah! anyways, soon, I'm gonna buy a late 80's to 90's f series, probably 3/4 ton or 1 ton, but I want to learn more about the older diesels! the 7.3 IDI, what does the IDI stand for? is this or the 6.9 good motors? and I have heard about them getting pretty good gas mileage, true? I am a high school student so mileage helps!

 

They can get up around 16-18 mpg, but I only get around 13-14.

 

The IDI stands for indirect injection. Which refers to all ford diesels 94.5 and older. The 94.5 and up ford diesels are direct injection(powerstroke). The 6.9 and 7.3 are very simalar engines. The only major difference is the size. I think most of us average 14-16 mpg and up, when running unloaded.

 

thanks, I thought it was indirect something, so I kinda knew it! that kinda mileage is fine, it's a truck anyways, I just don't want to end up with a truck that gets like below 10!

 

welcome to the world of oil burners. First off, you are gonna put FUEL in the tank not gas and you will be getting FUEL MILEAGE not gas mileage. (had to get ya straight on that one). The IDI engines inject the fuel into a precombustion chamber for swirling (mixing) and preheating before being sent to the combustion chamber for firing. If you know of any OLD Cat mechanic, go talk to him about the OLD cat engines. They did the same thing. Good luck and always take pride in your ride.

 

The only warning I have for you is the fact that these are heavy duty rigs, and with heavy duty comes the price tag to match. Reliabilty, on the other hand, also comes with the heavy duty, if treated right.

 

My two cents are start looking for your rig now. There good trucks but it can be hard to find a good one. was looking for over a year before I found mine. but i had a lot of critera. Just make sure your's has been well maintained. Read some of the other posts about buying trucks and you'll know what questions to ask.

 

My personal opion would be try and find a 6.9 motor. The 7.3 are essentailly bored out 6.9s wich makes the cylinder walls to thin for long reliable service. The 7.3 has major issues with cavitation aka the water jacket coming thro the cylinder wall into the piston. Iam in collage so i no were ya are coming from on fuel milage. mine gets around 14 tops but also has a flat body on it with a cab protactor or a big air dam. I love my truck drive it to school and work and would drive it anywere. been very reliable for me. the key is to find one that was very well taken care of perferablyy a single owner and it wasnt the owners first diesel. Thats what mine was very hard to find but its payed off very well.

 

My father has had an 84 extended cab since it was new, the poor beast hasn't exactly been cared for very well, but it's still going.It has over 300,000 miles on it, (although it looks more like a million) and it has been my prior exposure to these trucks, which helped me be comfortable with the purchase of my own diesel, the 86 mentioned in my signature. Both are 6.9's and I have't seen any unusual or irregular problems with these trucks that make them any worse than the newer rigs. Parts are cheap and available, and with what I have seen here about the 7.3 IDI's I'm quite comfortable with my 6.9. So I don't have a turbo, So what? I do ok, could use a little better economy, but with a 4 speed no overdrive, I can't complain too much.

 

Thanks everyone! I am used to using the term gas mileage, but if I get a diesel, I'll work that out! lol, I have been lookin around here, and there aren't many of em! we found a 92 and it said psd, so I asume that they put that in themselves! anyways, thanks for the replies, later!

 

Yeah I too just purchased an f-250 7.3 thank you ! It was taken care of mechanically (oil ,filter ) but it had other issues Elec. cold start> Got thru all the new truck b.s. Just did the lid ectomy, bumped the timing,"tweeked" the pump just gotta wait on my freind to get me his stock 2002 psd tail pipe so I can do the 3" exhaust thing.I am going to fixing my front fuel tank sender it will only let me have 10or so gal. before it runs out ugh! after the 3" exhaust deal is done and i put the pyro in it's gonna get another flat added to the fuel ! I suspect the original purchaser had the pump turned down because the damn thing runs the best it ever has and if i can keep my size 10.5 d's out of the fuel it might get better than 130 miles out of a tankful!! Still can't get over the way this thing runs with just a turn here and a push there . Got to start Looking for a rebuilable engine want to add turbo but present engine has a few miles on it don't want to have trouble! This truck is my tow rig it pulls my toy to the race track on the open road it used to only pull 140 miles out of a tank before having to switch , can't wait to see how it does now!!

 

Truckin4000ex, Just because it says PSD don't assume they put one in. I looked at a lot of trucks before I found mine and a lot of them said PSD. Plain and simple they wern't! it had the same old stock IDI in it. I don't know about the dealers but there are a lot of sellers that just don't know (or hope you don't know) the diffrence.
(just my two cents)

 

alright, I'll be sure to check everything before buying something! thanks.