My first idi, hooked already

Jtaylor

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New to the site, new to diesels. I’ll try not to mess either of em up.
1986 F250 6.9 idi c6

non turbo all stock truck. 98,000 miles. I got it 2 days ago, needs temp guage , oil pressure, tach , cdr ( ordered ), and i’ll do all fluids besides tranny ( seller proves it was just done ). Doing the cdr as soon as it ships to me. I ordered the motorcraft one because I didn’t know the other manufacturers. Not sure if I should continue runing crankcase pressure into intake or do the road draft tube?.. I did the “ soup bowl “ mod today because people seem to say all good things about it, didn’t take long. Drilled the 8 plug welds out on a drill press and it came loose... It seems to always blow a little white/grey smoke , hoping the cdr will clear that up.. intake does have some oil in it as of now. My questions are :

How worried do I need to be about the fact that I’m gonna commute with it as a 3 speed for a while ? It’s gonna be a little bit before I can do the zf5 swap. I know it’s gonna hurt my pocket but is it gonna hurt the motor? Not having a tach ( factory ) has me scared to have it at high rpms.

What’s the deal with the alternator tach’s? Is this my only option? Recommend a simple and reliable one to me please

I have multiple universal guage clusters for hot rods ( oil press. Temp. Amp ) , can these be of any use to me or do I need diesel specified gauges?

All feedback is greatly appreciated
Sorry for the length !

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homelessduck

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These trucks are governed just over 3k (3400?) and will happily run at that rpm all day. Keep the cdr. I ran a rdt for over a year because I was too cheap to replace the cdr. Smoking people out at stop lights and all of the looks/ people telling me my truck was on fire got old. I finally decided to buy a new one. Tossed it on , whole new truck ! No smoke. Good call on getting a motorcraft cdr. When it comes time for glow plugs do NOT use anything other than motorcraft/beru. Nice truck !
 

Ford420ci6point9

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first things I would do:

1) parking brake cables on those always get truck. (The release lever relates to number 4)
2) Thermostat, make SURE you never overheat these engines are very easily damaged from overheating, most times it results in your heads lifting from your firedeck at pistons 7 and 8.
3)check your diode bridge and voltage regulator I have heard both of these could cause your batteries to drain.
4) If your wipers are intermittent and are sluggish and stop for no reason all the time this could be the reason: http://www.misterfixit.com/nowiper.htm
5) Glow plugs relays wires, and replace glow-plugs and you'll start up just like a gasser at -40! Though in San D you won't have to worry too much about that.
6)I'd get the Stant 13 psi radiator cap I like it and it vents so you don't burn the hell outta your hand.
7) I have yet to do this but replace headgaskets and polish the firedeck and get new headbolts the factory ones are pretty stretchy and do get weak over time, I THINK they're torque to yield.

6.9 idi is an absolute works horse/ doomsday engine. All mechanical, N/A, would run on sweet crude oil, and for being 860 pounds and nearly seven liters, are pretty fuel efficient.
 

Scooch

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Hi there first of all, welcome to the idi life.

If by temp gauge and oil pressure you mean the ones in your factory cluster, those are more or less dummy lights so leave those alone and install actual aftermarket gauges to see real readings.

Someone more knowledgeable can correct me but, as for the soup bowl mod while it might have good reviews in all reality it only adds sound but no noticable airflow/power. That said my 93 f250 NA came from the PO with it done and it's never hurt anything.

For the gauges I would suggest installing an egt before anything else to know where you are at and safely run the truck. Other then that no you shouldn't need diesel specific gauges, just ones that show readings within the range you care about or whether you want mechanical vs electric ones.
 

Jtaylor

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Gonna use mechanical , I know the factory ones basically only tell you if your truck is frozen or on fire.. I don’t understand how these rigs go through all these owners and never get proper gauges. I hate not being able to see vitals. Anyways.. got any recommendations? Which brand do you run. I’m not all that fond of spending $100-$200 on a single guage but If the cheaper alternatives are all trash then I guess I don’t mind paying up.
 

Oledirtypearl86

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I went cheap once and bought a cheap 3 pod set with temp,oil pressure,and volts and when I was gifted a set of good autometers I put them in and was surprised how far off all three cheap gauges really were.
 
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gerlbaum

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Don't try to use the ammeter. All of the ones that I've seen go up to 65 amps max. When you go over that, it's not pretty. That's from experience. Use a volt meter instead.

Lol good point, I had an old scout and on binderplanet one guy upgraded the alternator to 105amp. He never put in a shunt wire at the amp meter and he burned his truck down.
 

FarmerFrank

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As for commuting, I had an 86, 6.9 c6 with 3.55's. I once got 20mpg on a trip but usually got 14-16 driving 55 miles one way to work running 60-75 mph the whole way.

As for the tach you can put one in the dash. I do have a factory tach dash that i painted silver with blue needles and hated it so I put another one in. Id be willing to sell the silver one if you want it.


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