I've been shopping around for a diesel pickup, but I'm a little confused by all the non-powerstroke diesel motors.

I know there were two 7.3 motors, one turbo and one naturally aspirated, right? Where does IDI vs. DI fit in? Are the only DI motors powerstroke? Should I look for a 6.9, 7.3 turbo, or 7.3 non-turbo? Which of these are more reliable? Should I expect 300k+ miles out of each motor?

Also, how much torque does each motor put out?

Lastly, there's a guy locally selling a '93 7.3 turbo, but he had the motor rebuilt at 93k. Is this a red flag? Should I stay away from this truck?

Thanks guys!

New to the diesel thing...

 

ok I'd recomend a 6.9 because I owed one 7.3 and cracked the block but the the 7.3 has 1/2 blots but the 6.9 is less likely to have block problems(crack or the other C word I forget it at the moment) but the 6.9 is likly to blow head gaskets unless you have 7/16 bolts changed out for 1/2 bolts. the powerstroke 7.3 is a totally different motor except for bore and stroke. the 6.9 and the 7.3 are the same except for the bore(a 7.3 has a 4.11 bore and the 6.9 is a 4.00 bore) the 7.3 has more power. a 6.9 with head stds and a ats/banks/hypermax turbo will work great. I'd recommend changing it over to a serpintine belt too I did it worked out great. also if you get a sleved 7.3 blck you will not have those problems.

 

i would steer clear of the 94 turbos. the turbos were introduced in late 93 to early 94. late 94's were the first owerstroke that had the turbo doesel emblems on them. automatic transmissions are BAD!!! junk, i have only seen about 2 that have held u over 100,000 miles. and they are 3000 dollars to rebuild and they have lots of other roblems. the e40d's do,
the c-6-auto isn't all that bad c-6 and 6.9 diesel is a good combination. i'd say 7.3 idi non turbo is an all round good truck accept for the starting system, glow plugs and relays always going out. but the powerstroke is a real winner from 95-97 especially if you can find one with a standard 5 speed and a 4.10 rear end, it will pull anything you latch onto. then if you wanna get all fancy, go out and spend about 3000 bucks and have a banks turbocharger/intercooler and a banks exhaust installed, it will be a runnin sommbtch then! 1 ton 4x4 is okay if it has a solid axle in front, the front ifs is junk, might as well just put a locker and some honkey 33's on the back. 4.10 rear end will pull anything, but not too good for gas milege, most trucks have 3.55's good way to tell is when you go 70 mph in 5th gear, if the tach says 2200, the trucks got 3.55's and if it says 2700 you got 4.10's, and the 4.10's are really torqey in first gear, kinda hard to drive in 1st the 3.55's will be smoother in first. don't be afraid of standard tranny, some eople are, they will last you a good 3-500,000 miles if taken care of, i have seen some last longer than that

 

An auto is out of the question for me. I would not even consider one, for exactly those reasons you mentioned. I'm leaning towards getting a 96 or 97 powerstroke with a 5 speed now.

The Banks turbo/intercooler/exhaust sounds really interesting. How much power does it gain? How does it sound?

 

if the powerstroke breaks it cost more to fix on average hopefully murphys law will not apply with you. and a banks or ats system after the pump and turbo are turned up will have more power than a stock powerstroke.