6.9/7.3 IDI VS. Chevy and dodge of same vintage
 

Ive got a 89 7.3 ATS turbo pickup, i love that thing, what are your opinions of these IDI motors in comparison to the chevy and dodge diesels of the days, i know its hard to compare but just for giggles.



Mike

I personally dont have much experience with the 6.2 of that era but i cant get enough of the 12V CTD. I have driven a 7.3 IDI alot and although it sounds ungodly cool strait piped i think its kinda doggy down low or going up hills.

If im correct, the 6.2 is the chevy diesel with the 350 block. They aren't any good, to say the least. I do have a buddy with a 6.9 in a mid 80's F250, straight piped, it sounds pretty freaky, but in a good way. It also has 290ish thousand miles on it. He's got a 97 cummins now. I'd imagine the old cummins diesels from that era were nice. My grandpa has a 89 f350 dually 4 door, with a 7.3 idi & a C6, and it has well over 300,000 miles on it. It's often used for long distence towing. Everything on that truck is still stock, besides the tires, batteries ect.

A good friend of mine has a 93 chevy 1 ton with whatever diesel they came with. Not bashing or whatnot, but that thing is the biggest pile of junk I've seen. It's got 200,000 miles on it. Normally a healthy diesel will blow out black smoke, not this. It goes from white smoke, to grey smoke, to black smoke, then back to grey. This thing doesnt even sound like a diesel in any remote way imagineable, unless its idleing. It sounds like a gas motor with a stock exhaust.

89 was first year of the cummins in dodge. I think 160hp. Very narrow powerband. Very reliable. Had one of those chevy 6.2s from about the same year. GUTLESS but decent fuel mileage. Started ok.

Schmid,

I'm pretty sure the 6.2 was "all" diesel, in that it didn't have its roots in a gas engine. Chevy did have the 5.7 diesel that was based on a gasser block. This may have been the crappiest engine GM ever produced, worse even than the 305 and whatever they put in Chevettes. My uncle had a 5.7 in a half-ton pickup and I think the owners manual suggested no trailering (I'm sure PolarBear will know.). The 5.7 was good at only one thing and that was eating heads. I think the 6.2 was a decent lifed engine but way low on power.

ohh ok. I wasnt sure what liters it was, i always herd it was a 6.2. Thx for clearing that up.

Don't forget the Chevy 6.5 diesel that replaced the 6.2. My dad had a 1993 dually with a 6.5 turbo and it was a real dog too. I remember the salesman hyping it up when he ordered the truck, saying it was gonna be the most powerful diesel on the road. Needless to say, it fell a bit short of his expectations, to the point of him trading it off for a Cummins the next year.

You're right, it was "all diesel." The 6.2 wasn't a bad motor, just not enough of it. Fuel and lift pumps were a problem, but on the plus side (if you call it a plus) they were pretty darned quiet for a diesel.

I'm not gonna beat the 5.7 up- I think we've done that already on a few threads. GM did lead the charge to diesels in LD trucks though. In principal, they were right, seeing a market that Ford and Dodge didn't at the time.

Good point, everybody looks today to Ford and Dodge as the leaders with diesels in light trucks and many seem to think GM is showing up to the party late with the Duramax. I guess in some ways they are. I wonder how long it will take GM to regain some significant market share they lost in 3/4 and 1 ton trucks.

What have you seen?

EDIT: I forgot this in my original post: To be fair to the 5.7 my uncle worked the crap out of his pulling trailers. I have heard of people with the 5.7 (I think) having good luck in cars.

I need to correct my previous post, my buddy has a 93 chevy 1 ton with a 6.5l diesel in it...that blows out grey white and black smoke! Thx for correcting me about the 5.7 diesel.

back in the good old days,(75-76) i was employed by the new jersey turnpike authority. we got in a batch of chebby c 10 pickups with the 5.7 gasser/diesels. in BIG letters, on an even bigger sticker in the middle of the dash was a warning that the combined towing grw of the truck was 5000 lbs, and exceding that would void the warrenty, and damage the trans and motor.
within 1000 miles, 3 went down with blown head gaskets.within 10,000 all had the engines replaced at least once. none made it to 50,000 miles.they were replaced with intercrashinal crew cab light dump trucks.

I feel that that 6.9L and the 7.3L were superior to the 6.2/6.5 GM diesels, without a doubt. Turbo or not. I'm not sure about the 12V Cummins vs the 7.3L IDI.
As soon as '94 came around Ford owned the market until the Duramax was brought out, but even with that, the 7.3L was still outselling everything. I love the 7.3L PSD so much.

I've heard that the Duramax isn't doing all that well. They run like a scalded cat but the aluminum heads are not holding up to the severe duty of a diesel. Has anyone heard the same?

Well, whether or not the Duramax is holding up, GM had no real diesel offer until the Duramax was brought out. I don't like the Duramax, but it has gained GM some sales for sure.

I love everything about the PSD, we have the 7.3s and 6.0s at work and they don't see any warm up time (winter or summer) we crank them up 140-200 times per day and not a problem.