I have been looking for a newer truck. I have been looking for 94.5-97 powerstrokes, but they keep getting bought underneath me. I have come across a 91 f350 crew cab. body in mint condition. Overhauled 7.3 with 6,000 and overhauled auto trans with 3,000. 230,000 on truck. They are asking $12,000. I just had a 97 f250 powerstroke bought under me that had 34,000 original miles for $13,000. I also found a 94 IDI turbo f350 with mint body, lift, tires ect. 80k on new motor and 3k on trans for $9000.


I would really like a powerstroke, but would it be worth offering $8000 for the 91, throw in an aftermarket turbo and not regret just buying a powerstroke? What other upgrades can I get for better power.


Also, what are some things that go bad on these motors?
I have an 88 f150 so I am familiar with these series trucks to a point.

thanks,
Josh

 

The good thing about the 7.3 IDI is cost of parts compared to the strokers. A set of 8 injectors is around $200 verses a couple hundreed a piece for the stroker as an example. The stroker will require you to get a scanner to find out error codes and how to trouble shoot it when you do have a problem. Where the IDI does not require much more than basic hand tools.

The stroker is a good motor, but I lean towards the mechanical engine if the choice was mine.

If the coolant was not taken care of the 7.3 IDI is prone to cavitation and pin holes devolop in the block allowing coolant into the cylinder. I am not sure if this can happen on the stroker or not, but others will chime in.

If you really have your heart set on the stroker then you should wait and find one and not settle for something you don't want. either pickup would be great to have.

Jeff

 

u put a turbo on that u will make more power them a 97 power stroke

 

the 91 is way to much $ imho.
that 97 would have been a nice one at the price.
keep looking.
the 7.3 can't be rebuilt without sleeved cylinders.
Dave S (a mod here,and likely the most educated and experianced IDI owner here) tried a few of them,and all failed.he took apart the 3rd or 4th one before installing it,and sent it back.he started with a 6.9 and bored that one out.been running it ever since.
look around,you will see that 12k can buy much,much more than a '91 w/230k+ on her with a rebuilt 7.3 IDI.

there's been no dyno proof of an IDI here nor on oilbuners that came close to touching just a stock 97 stroke.sorry Joe.
Daves IDI no doubt can pass one buy,but he's running milled pistons,and boost pushing double what the average IDI can handle lol.

oh,that '94 is way to much too.where are you located that old diesels are so high? wow.

 

Keep looking you will find a good deal. The price on the 91 is way overpriced!!! I would like to find a crew cab 4x4 single wheel also up to 97. I like the looks of them. This doesn't sounds like a deal.

1996 Ford F350 Crew Cab Dually Powerstroke 7.3L
Check out Craiglook.com and find out what these are going for or ebay.

 

Want a Stroke, Buy a Stroke ... Else you'll not be happy.

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

i dunno Festus.i was after a stroke too.i just happened to see this truck for the right price.i didn't even know about the diesel before the famous powerstroke.
now that iv learned about it,and see she has all the grunt i need for my use,and the price difference for parts.man,im glad i blindly stumbled upon the IDI.i couldn't be happier.
i just asked my old man,if he knew anything about the diesel before the PS,he said yeah,they where known for being a good engine.that's all i needed to hear.

 

They are great ... You know me I wasn't knocking the IDI.

The problem is Powerstroke this Powerstroke that is all you hear, then as a Diesel newbie you jump into an IDI and get deflated...

NOT because the IDI is inferior to the PS, Because expectations of a Diesel to a newbie is inflated do to the Powerstroke This and Powerstroke that you've heard.

Thus the blame falls on the IDI until they get into a PS and realize the truth, It's a Diesel ...

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

$13K for a 19 year old pickup is outrageous. Even $9000 for the 94 is above the upper limit for what they are selling for. Looking at Portland, Or Craigslist, I see CC 4wd diesels anywhere from $2500-10K, depending on what you want, condition wise.

I think the reason everyone talks up the PSD is that they were the first spark to ignite the diesel wars. Before 94.5, the majority of diesel owners were farmers, loggers, or contractors. Very rarely, did you see them being used as a family vehicle. After the Powerstroke was introduced, it became cool to own a diesel.

Jason

 

And I still say, the IDI is what made a diesel cool.

Problem, the diesel has evolved to a level that there is no way an NA diesel can compete with.

Not only were turbos added, but also intercoolers on all of them since 99 or so, earlier for some of the others.

But everyone forgets, that power has a price, both at the parts counter and at the fuel pumps.

You expect big power, look at 99 and later Strokes unless you want to spend a lot on mods and upgrades.
97 and older Strokes were 235 HP or less in stock form, which is not that hard to get out of an IDI turbo.

Can the Stroke make more power than an IDI, yes.
Is it cheap to do, not really.

Yes you can slap in a chip, and that will only set you back 5 or 6 hunderd.
But what upgrades are you going to need to go along with that chip to get the potential and keep it reliable?

The supporting upgrades are where the dollars go in a hurry.

 

power sure does have a price.
while i was between rigs,i used my old mans 08 f350 6.4 twin turbo.man that thing is cool.
when he went to pick it up,i was with him.the first stop light he come to,he wanted to goose it a little bit to see how the take off power was.well,it didn't go anywhere lol just sat smoking the tires haha.
anyway,yeah it sure is cool.but i get literally over half again the mpg that thing does (and iv got the big wind catcher stake body.)
its also a good thing he got the 200k warranty.them parts are expensive as hell!

needless to say,the trucks pretty much just sitting in the yard.he hardly uses it.about 10 mpg.
he likes to push that reset button for the mpg gauge (we all know them things are not worth a penny,let alone what you pay for the thing in the cost of the truck.)
so that it shoots up to the high teens at first lmao.of course,as you use it,it averages out to about 13.and that's being very optimistic lol.

check out the new 6.7 section.some people there are gullible enough to count on that to tell them their fuel mileage i see already too.

they'll learn soon enough.
though its at least supposed to be better than the 6.4,but time with real world use will show if that's the case or not.
plus they have to factor in the **** they need to add for regen mode on top of the price of fuel.

yeah,i agree.im feeling not only cool with the IDI,but wiser too.even if it was blind luck at first buying it.

shoot,if the price of diesel keeps climbing,the IDI trucks may increase in resale here shorty.

 

do the IDI's need more loving than powerstrokes mileage vs. mileage?

I am still trying to get more info on the truck, but would definately lower my offer to $7,000 at the most.

What kind of mpg do these motors usually get?

 

it all depends on your right foot, and the gearing. With 3.55s and the E4OD ive seen 21 out of mine.

 

One fact enters like this.

When the IDI trucks were manufactured, the national speed limit was 55 MPH.

So most of them are set up for a 55 MPH speed limit with the tranny and gearing choices available from the factory.

Because of this, as long as you drive a bit slower, the MPG numbers are at or above what you will see out of a more modern truck.

However running them 70 MPH, brings more wind resistance into the picture which may hurt the boxy IDI body more on MPG numbers than it does the more aerodynamic Super Duty body style.

That fact along with the gearing choices either levels the playing field or gives the newer truck the advantage at higher speeds.

87 was the first overdrive tranny, ZF 5
89 was the first overdrive automatic, E4OD

Direct drive transmissions were gone completely around the time of the Power Stroke introduction.

Still your driving style has a much bigger impact on your MPG numbers than equipment.
The right equipment can give you better MPG numbers as long as you drive it like you want good MPG numbers.

A truck is big and heavy, so if you try to drive it like a sports car, the MPG's will be very low.
High cruising speeds and fast starts take a lot of fuel to push through the air and get 3+ tons moving quickly.