Learn me about the 6.9/7.3 idi motors

[NorthernWoodsman]

If going slow isn't an issue and want decent fuel economy.

Have you considered a Ford gas 300 I6?

Might be getting hard to find now, though...

Funny you mention that. In the past I definitely had considered that combo. The long-term plan is to add a TC to the truck and travel, so I would be a bit worried about that motor handling the weight of a camper and being able to traverse the PNW mountain roads at something other than a snails pace. A turtles pace would be preferred -

 

[Clutch]

Funny you mention that. In the past I definitely had considered that combo. The long-term plan is to add a TC to the truck and travel, so I would be a bit worried about that motor handling the weight of a camper and being able to traverse the PNW mountain roads at something other than a snails pace. A turtles pace would be preferred -

Buddy of mine had F250 RCLB with the 300 in highschool, IIRC it was on 35's. Pulled the exhaust off a school bus, ran a straight pipe...sounded pretty mean and it seemed to do alright for a high school kid screwing around in farmer's fields and whatnot, for what I remember. No camper on it though.

 

[GoinBoardin]

The seemingly legendary status of the i6 is interesting. They really don't make much torque, and certainly not power. Maybe they're liked because peak torque is at 2000 rpm, even if it is ultimately lower than many other engines at the same rpm. Very limited aftermarket support. For comparisons sake, note that an efi 351w makes the same torque at 1000rpm as an i6 at its peak torque engine speed of 2000rpm.

 

[Nick02]

I have owned both a few I6 300 CI carbed trucks and the 4.9L Fuel injected ones. I prefer the carbed versions, the FI ones have issues with selector valves and TFI ignition modules heating up and stopping spark. The carbed versions IMHO are the most reliable gasoline engines ever made, I never had it on a tow truck.

Indirect injected motors are just awesome for reliability. I had an 89 ford F250 7.3L IDI with a ZF5 I paid $600 for with a "junk" engine. It was never maintained, you could tell the previous owner ran tapwater because the impeller on the water pump was eaten off and the water necks were rotted out. To top it off the engine sat exposed, outside for a few years. The top half of the engine was disassembled and missing major parts, I went to the Junkyard, put an injection pump on it, intake, new return lines, a lift pump, starter, water pump and drove the piss out of it. She ate 1 quart of oil every 1000 miles and had massive blow by, however the old girl never let me down and unlike my LLY Duramax, it never cared of what it towed, always ran cool even when towing crazy loads, got great mileage and was snappy. Since it had dual tanks I experimented; the stanadyne DB2 injection pump is a beast. I ran that poor thing on everything, waste veggie oil, trans fluid to small amounts of gear oil mixed with gasoline and engine oil HAHA! I loved that engine. I have a 12valve 5.9L cummins 6BT, 8.3L 6CTA and 6.6L LLY and the IDI was by far the cheapest engine to maintain and always started/ran even when it had broken components (broken glow plugs, air in return lines, water in fuel). I regret selling that truck. Just run anti cav supplement with the coolant and they will go forever. Dont be scared of the abused ones, the main problems with them are difficulty starting and poor performance due to air getting introduced into the fuel return lines, its under a $100 fix, use the OEM FORD plastic return line collars and you are good.

 

[NorthernWoodsman]

Bought myself a 1993 Dodge 250 Diesel. No more hunting for an idi. Thanks for all the input and info ya'll.