new powerstroke owner

[fuzzydog]

in 2007 I bought a 91 F250 xcab 7.3 IDI 5 speed 4x4 and it has served me well but late last year I had a problem with coolant bubbling out the overflow which I attributed to a blown head gasket. Turns out I have a cracked cylinder head. In my search for a replacement engine I found a 95 F250 xcab powerstroke 5 speed 4x4 for $3000 and grabbed that.

cosmetically - meh, rusty fenders/box but the cab is very solid.
engine/trans - starts and runs nicely, no smoke. transfer case is very hard to shift - must need adjustment.
drivetrain - front end needs help - shocks, tie rods, lots of things clunking and banging under there but it drives surprisingly straight and doesn't wander/dart.

I've only had it a couple days but already hauled my 10' camper on a trip and I like it. Can't wait to get rid of the overloads in back and transfer my airbags from the 91.

Seems to me it wants to rev quite a bit higher than my old IDI. On the 91 I would rarely see over 2000 rpm, and never over 2200 but it did have 3.55 gears. The powerstroke has 4.10 gears and seems happiest over 2000 rpm.

Where is the powerband on the powerstroke and how does it compare with the IDI?

 

[7.3 powerstrok]

going to be shifting at around 16-2800 rpms with 411 gears just crusing at 40 will still be wound up to 16-1800 rpms around 45 wants to jump in - out o-drive if you do any highway or over 55 mph driving change the gears to 3.73 or 355s in my opinion

 

[ckelly94]

If the front fenders are rusty, I found a new pair for my 94 online in one of those online parts supply houses for $240 painted in primer. They were a pain to mount on the truck, but looked really nice after I had them all painted/mounted. There were like 20 screws/bolts on each fender to be kept track of, but worth it.

 

[Diesel_brad]

There is no adjustment for the 4wd. It is a cast aluminum piece with a piece of steel that runs thru it. And they corrode like a *******. Take the linkage out form under the truck(spray with PB blaster 1st) then take it all apart, clean, lubercate and reassemble. It will give you many more years of service. OR brake it , go to ford and spend 300+ on a new one

here is mine all cleaned up and 2 grease fittings added. I can shift it with my pinky now

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[fuzzydog]

Thanks for the info, and Brad - that shifter looks bling! A rebuild has been added to the list of little things the truck needs to have done. It is a fairly lengthy list but they are all just small issues.

edit: rebuild of the tcase shifter, not the engine.

 

[BleednBlue68]

Cut the muffler off and put bigger exhaust on it and put the tymar airfilter on it and you will notice a difference in power. The early powerstrokes werent as strong as the later powerstrokes. I noticed a big diff with my new exhaust and intake. Put a chip on it and hold on!

 

[lotzagoodstuff]

There is no adjustment for the 4wd. It is a cast aluminum piece with a piece of steel that runs thru it. And they corrode like a *******. Take the linkage out form under the truck(spray with PB blaster 1st) then take it all apart, clean, lubercate and reassemble. It will give you many more years of service. OR brake it , go to ford and spend 300+ on a new one

here is mine all cleaned up and 2 grease fittings added. I can shift it with my pinky now
QUOTE]

Very nice clean up/upgrade: I like the zerk fittings

 

[Bryce_Burden90]

Welcome to the PowerStroke diesel, I too just bought my first one here not to long ago, really like it (I guess I do even though the girlfriend kinda jacked it and won't let me drive it ) but seems like a nice truck. Sounds like you got a good deal on the truck, mine is a 2002 F350 Crew Cab Dually 4x4 7.3 and 6-speed, and I had to give 21,500 for it. Really don't know of anything you need to watch for on the 7.3 (could give you a whole list of things for the 6.0;p, but the 7.3 seems to be a great engine). Hope you enjoy your new truck, and post up some pics if you can, we love seeing member's new rigs.

Bryce

P.S. what are you gonna do with the IDI now?

 

[fuzzydog]

I'll get some pics up soon as I can but it is just a plain jane F250 with rusty fenders and rear wheel wells, but a great powertrain.
Things to do (in addition to rebuilding the tcase shifter) are:

add the roof visor with led lights (already purchased)
install air bags all around - I'm taking the firestone rears off my 91 and buying a new set of Air Lift bags for the front.
swap the 3:55 geared 10.25 and dana 60 from the 91 over to the 95, and put the 4.10 geared 10.25 and dana 50 from the 95 over to the 91 so that I can make the 91 marketable.
of course, going to need on board air for the bags so I will also take the semi truck air tank that I installed on the 91 and put it on the 95, along with a small electric compressor.
I like my big lights so the 95 will be getting a set of Bosch 7" driving lights (which were originally on the 91)
I'll replace those fenders as soon as I find some suitable ones, and remove the box to build a flatdeck.

I need a truck for serious hauling duties only - camping and off roading. I have a 10ft camper and I pull a 16' flatdeck with my jeep cherokee on it. I hit the scales at 15,800 all loaded - 2 adults, 2 kids, 1 dog, fueled up, and camper full of food, water and outdoor recreation stuff.
I considered keeping the 4.10 gears for this but I figure if the old IDI was doing it with the 3.55's then the powerstroke should be no worse. I am by no means a speed freak and have no issue with using second gear pulling up some of the hills we have around here. Slow and steady wins the race and the IDI got incredible mileage.

I am going to replace the head on the driver side and then the 91 IDI will be sold for whatever I can get. It will most likely end up being beat to death by some young kid, or doing hauling duty on one of the ranches around here.