Diesel Boat Guy Needs Truck Info.

[dieseldoug]

Lots of diesel experience on the water, but just getting started on the road. At $4.++, and 1.5 mpg in the boat, we had to say good bye to Davie Jones.

So, here's what I got:
1991 F250 4x4, extended cab, 7.3 idi w/ 4.10s and an E40D 4 speed, w/ 173,000 miles.

So far I've:
Replaced the ball joints, all u-joints, had the transmission rebuilt including all upgrades, had the fuel pump rebuilt, new ten ply tires all around, new return lines o-rings and caps, new fuel filter, and re-wired most of the truck.

Here's what she does:
19 mpg on the highway (bob-tail)
11.3 mpg pulling a 29" fifth wheel (7700# dry, probably 8500# headed for the camp grounds)

While towing the old girl:
Had plenty of low end torque.
Struggled on long grades (probably 5% to 7%), but was able to stay above 50 mph at about 2300 to 2500 rpm. (I got the best of my marine diesels at about 75% of max. rpm. I assume it's the same on the road)

Here's my concerns:
If I pull the trailer at altitude (say above 2500' without a turbo) will I be able to pull any kind of hill?
Will a turbo increase cylinder pressure enough to add to cavitations problems?
If I add a small turbo (maybe 5 to 7 psi) will I fry an engine that runs 21.5 to 1?
Is there a splitter on the market that will drop less than 17% cause I don't think I need that much?
Is there a transmission controller that replaces the factory model, or do they all just add on?
If I monitor exhaust and transmission temperature will it give me all the information I need to protect my truck?

Thanks in advance for all info.

 

[towcat]

welcome to the site. there's another boat guy who does marine salvage out of San Diego and he goes by the name of "Capt Tom".
he's busy in the summer months, but he does drop in when he's on dry land.
here's a few obervations on my trucks. I've been towing light and heavy with these trucks since 1993.
When you're loaded heavy, it's OK to run with the throttle pinned to to governor. I've run 8 hours straight like that for years.
these trucks will bring home the bacon when working without a turbo, it will do it slowly, but if anything ever happens, a non-turbo truck is much easier to fix on the road. i will never turbo a fleet truck either. unless I have only one trusted person driving the truck, repair bills go up exponentially let alone the cowboys who overdrive their brakes and managing to roll over a wrecker. you have to be really hotdogging it to roll a F450 wrecker. when the '99 and up SD's came out, there was six rollover examples for everyone to see at the local truck builder.
I run a low boost turbo with a half height intercooler on my personal truck. the truck still remains easy to drive without watching the pyro since loaded out will only max out a little over 1000* all day. i can do 55 going over the grapevine both ways on I5. I have no problem with keeping up with car traffic going east on I80 from sacto to truckee.
the only gear splitter currently marketed is " Gear Vendors " brand. there's plenty of other older units that are out in service, but no product support is there.
when towing with a splitter, I do get a 500rpm drop when engaged, and that's what I am looking for. I've found the splits on 3,4&5 at 1000rpm difference and am either tached out at 3000 or bogging down at 2000. with a splitter, I get it right in the middle and everyone's happy. do bear in mind all these numbers are subjective. the accuracy is dependent on a tach sensor with a large fudge factor. you are also running with a auto. all my long distance trucks are manual.
i know you will have questions. ask away!

 

[DesertBen44]

I recently moved from Tucson, AZ to Grand Junction, CO

1992 f250 4x4 5 speed with 4.10s

In tucson I could pull a loaded car hauler with another fullsize truck no problem (maybe 7000 pounds total) around and had no speed issues (no real grades though, barely even hills) and tucson is a little over 2000 feet i believe.

Now in junction, Trying to climb out of the grade coming out of durango (6 miles or so, not sure but pretty damn steep!) I actually had to drop down into 1st gear to keep moving with about a 10,000 pound load of a heavy duty car hauler and a 3/4 ton dodge with a massive flatbed. Was around 23 mph a lot of the way up

Trying to climb out of gunnison, CO, towing a small car hauler and a lifted jeep comanche I spent a lot of time in second gear on real short steep grades, around 30mph

So not the best answer to your question, but with a N/A truck im going to use my experiences to say no. Granted the mountains around here are no joke some of these grades top over 8000 feet. In town in junction the truck is sluggish with no trailer, think were about 4500 feet. with an empty 2500 car hauler i can barely get up to speed

If your not talking altitudes this high sorry, but figured these experiences could be of help to you.

Granted my truck has 320k on it and is tired, but has a newer IP and new BB codes.

Seems like to be able to tow up long grades with a turbo and not have to back off due to high egts though, you need to have an intercooler or water **** setup. At least from what I read on here I would want one haha.

 

[icanfixall]

Welcome to the forum. As posted above. These are very dependable engines and trucks. Also as posted the Gear Vendors is the only supported gear splitter on the market. There are others but the parts are not out there. I like what I have and can drive in double overdrive turning 1850rpm and 85 mph with my hp and torque. I average 19.mpg doing that. I'm sure low 20s are possible if I slow down too.. I boost to 12 lbs on my turbo engine I made from nothing but a non turbo engine. Lots of machining went into the engine too. These engines can handle 9 lbs of boost when a turbo is added. All the big three turbo makers ran that safely. I ran 13 lbs boost on stock head bolts and never lifted a head. I felt that was pushing it enough. My engine tear down should plenty of worn parts but no really ruined parts from the turbo or the boost. But that engine was worn out at 275 or 375 thousand miles. Where did you have the injection pump rebuilt. We have the best places for that kind of work and.. did someone time the engine when it went back on the engine. If not and it was simpley lined up its in need of timing to get the most out of it. We also agree the only reason for rebuilt injecters is you need sometning cheap right now. Its really cheaper to buy new BB codes because to replace any parts in the injecters makes the cost higher than a new injecter.

 

[dieseldoug]

Thanks Guys.

If nothing else, I'm gonna stay out of Colorado. But, your information about Tucson tells me that if I can stay below 2500' I should do well. There are plenty of ways through the west coast mountains to make that possible most of the time.

I'm gonna hold off on the splitter until I have more time on the road with the fifth wheel. I haven't pushed my truck yet, and should before I do any modifications. Same with the turbo.

But, I think I'm going to install a Baumenntor TCS. I'm not at all happy with the way the EEC IV shifts my transmission. It's not a big deal cause I'm nearly always in 3rd range (1.00 to 1). But, going through town I know I can do better.

The guys at H & H Diesel in Tacoma did my pump. I have to take the truck to them soon because I still have a fault code coming from the TPS. The guys at ABC Tranmission weren't able to adjust it, and H & H says they can. I'll get that done before I do anything with the new computer. At the same time I'll have them check the pump timing.

Thanks very much for helping me get started. I'm really looking forward to my time with this old truck.

 

[gandalf]

You're at an advantage from the very start, being knowledgeable about marine diesels. You already understand how they work, what many of their quirks are. Most of us, when we first bought our trucks, didn't know anything about "those stinky things."

You'll find out that they're really quite easy to work on. The IDI is a simple and reliable engine. The TPS/FIPL, for instance, is easy to adjust once you know the procedure. Start reading the tech articles located at the beginning of this forum. There is a wealth of information there, much of it 'real world' information rather than the 'Ford, by the book', way.

I think your procedure, "test and find out what I have" is good. Don't modify anything until you know what you're modifying. Once you know your truck you can modify it to suit your own purposes and uses.

 

[OLDBULL8]

Welcome to the OB. These old Road Dusters are a little bit different than the Wave Cutters.

With that E4OD pulling a trailer your gonna need an aux. cooler installed in series with the Rad cooler. To monitor the temp of it, best to install a guage, put the sensor in the pressure test port, drivers side, just ahead of the shift arm. For the E4OD to shift properly, the Tach sensor, MLPS and Speedo has to be working flawlessly.

To set voltage on the TPS/FIPL, use a paper clip, stick it up in the center wire, hook Pos. lead to it, Neg. lead to Grd., loosen the two bolts, adjust for .93 to 1.1 VDC at Idle, 3.5 to 4.5 at WOT. At the lower voltage, you'll get a soft shift.

To time the IP, it is set at 8.5* to 9.0* BTDC at 2000 RPM for an N/A. Hopefully your shop has an electronic timing device.

 

[icanfixall]

Welcome to the OB. These old Road Dusters are a little bit different than the Wave Cutters.

With that E4OD pulling a trailer your gonna need an aux. cooler installed in series with the Rad cooler. To monitor the temp of it, best to install a guage, put the sensor in the pressure test port, drivers side, just ahead of the shift arm. For the E4OD to shift properly, the Tach sensor, MLPS and Speedo has to be working flawlessly.

To set voltage on the TPS/FIPL, use a paper clip, stick it up in the center wire, hook Pos. lead to it, Neg. lead to Grd., loosen the two bolts, adjust for .93 to 1.1 VDC at Idle, 3.5 to 4.5 at WOT. At the lower voltage, you'll get a soft shift.

To time the IP, it is set at 8.5* to 9.0* BTDC at 2000 RPM for an N/A. Hopefully your shop has an electronic timing device.

This posting is the best information on what needs to be done with the tps and timing. I will add this on the tps. On a warm engine key on engine off the tps center wire needs to show a voltage of .96 to 1.2 volts. The .96 is a very soft shift. This reading is done at the idle position and with a digital voltmeter. Then sweep the throttle wide open and read the meter. You will see something around 4.5 volts. We really have no way of limiting this voltage too. If you increase or decrease the idle voltage of course the wot voltage will change slightly. I like the feel of 1.2 volts for the firmer shifts. If you don't like working on a warm engine just lift two wires .. The fast idle solenoid wire and the cold advance wire. The advance wire is the one on the back end of the injection pump. Its also smaller of a connection than the front wire. The fast idle wire is on the passenger side front end of the injection pump near the gear cover or towards the radiater. Now every thing is like its been warmed up but its all cold. If these systems are working during the tps adjustments they will give a false reading. So either warm it up or lift the wires. I prefer to lift wires and work on a cold engine.

 

[dieseldoug]

OK, I have an IP and TPS to adjust. That's plenty for this newby for a day or two. I'd like to install an exhaust and transmission temperature sensor. Then, we'll hook up the fifth wheel, and head for the coast. Based on what I've learned I won't be as afraid to put my foot in it on the hills.

I'm also going to scrap the mechanical lift pump, and install an electric. I'll carry a spare knowing I'll probably never have to use it.

Again, thanks to you all for your help and interest.