is this the truck for the job

Ray-F250 said:

Thanks for all y’alls advice. I’ve always been a Chevy man (please don’t hold that against me) my dad was a ford man he passed this year and I broke down and got me something in memory of him. I can’t call him for advice on fixing it . But between what the man thought me ( how to work and if your ever going to have something your going to have to work for it ) and all of the help I’ve gotten from y’all I think this is the truck for me thanks

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Hello and WELCOME to OILBURNERS....Ray-F250,

I was heading to shower off, "diesel goop" of a day of wrenching, cursing and contorting into various uncomfortable YOGA poses today, but, saw your post,and had to respond.

First of all. As you have noticed. The folks here on OILBURNERS are GREAT, helpful and willing to get you thru whatever issues, you might be having, both now and in the future from my experience!

Note: I have had diesel trucks and vans for 35 years and I have also, owned Chevy gassers and other brands. I have had the money to pay others to wrench for me, and, have had to to, due to ex-wives and lawyers, have wrenched on 4 wheelers for many years, with various amounts of success and more often than not, failures, and those lessons of re-thinking and learning, taking hard won advice from smarter folks than I, suiting up and trying again and growing as a shade tree grease monkey.

I've also sat in the pits and under the hoods, transmissions and on top of, etc. and have been around some of the finest REAL mechanics in TOP FUEL rails and funny cars (aka Kenny Bernstein and Don Garlitz, "Gravedigger" and others, monster trucks and fire breathing wide track tank hybrid car eaters. I've been around...just a little... and still don't know nearly enough at times with my own rigs.

Anyway I say all that to say this. You sound like you want honesty about your new truck purchase, so I'll offer it, if you'll accept it.

Here it goes.....

The truck you have is going to require you to be on top of EVERYTHING, that is until, you have worked out the kinks.

The IDI -T and N/A, and of course PSD's, are workhorses, and are, with the right history, service records and an open wallet, will ALWAYS up for the task.

However, until you get to know YOUR "new to you" Ford truck, and, how it responds under load and unloaded, you will be hunting down various issues.

Why, because, like me, and you possibly, they are OLD or are aging, gracefully or not so much, and they are MECHANICAL.

Meaning this, ANYTHING mechanical, especially if you don't personally for a fact know its FULL history, is absolutely, going to need repairs, maintenence and a CONSTANT, watchful eye and your EARS.

It is not a matter of if, BUT, a matter of WHEN.....

I assume your Dad, taught you well, from what you posted above. So, that being said, don't take for granted that, because you have a diesel and its meant for hauling, towing, and running for up to the million mile club, it will.

It may not, so, be realistic, and know that just like your human body, mechancal things wear and tear and get brittle, and fall apart.

Sorry, but, I can't sugar coat this. If you want to drive your "new to you" truck, carefree, based on the longevity of what you read on forums and OTHER people telling you their great experiences with older Ford Diesels, you will have a rude awakening. Your truck will require you to learn new things, go outside your comfort zone and think outside the box. Having said all this, you have the RIGHT truck for your intended needs and its purpose built for exactly that. But, you will need to do the work.

Maintenence is key and having all the right manuals and the willingness to read and study will be key. Do your due diligence and plan for parts failing because, truth is you dont have a warranty and didn't buy a new truck, you have a finicky roaring dinosaur that will pull, haul tow, pretty much DO, whatever you throw at it.

But, again, TRUTH BE TOLD, you will absolutely need to continue to throw money at it from time to time to keep your truck on the road. I hope this real world view from my 9 Ford USED truck and van Diesel's and many other mechanical projeccts experience.

Take it all with a grain of salt.... and good luck and GODS speed.

Sent from my SM-T567V using Tapatalk

Matt0608 said:

those idi's can do a lot, I have never driven one with a turbo but it should do the job, just don't expect to go anywhere fast.

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With the turbo and fuel to match... 70+ is totally reasonable on flat ground hauling as big of a load as you can get(Last load... 4 tons of hay + trailer, figure 17K gross combined? Only slowed down on the 2-mile long 6% grade; had to drop it into 3rd 3/4 of the way up and crest at around 45MPH).
(This is a worn out '93 IDIT with WW2 added, stock IP cranked, 5-speed, 4.10 gearing).

So, take care of it and that IDIT will do a *lot* more than it's given credit for.

I'll also agree with others - take care of her and she'll take care of you. Yes, expect to have to do work to the truck soon. Stuff like U-joints and breaks seem to always need work not long after I get a truck.
On the engine side, it replacing glow plugs as they die; glow plugs tend to be a problem on IDIs - every single IDI I've bought has had issues really quickly. Mainly because the PO used Autolite glow plugs, which tend to last about 5 cycles before they fail(Only use Motorcraft glow plugs).

Fuel system is another common weak point - return lines and caps need to be 'refreshed' every 10-15 years or so; it's a cheap kit to do this.
Injectors and IP are usually worn out by the time I find a truck; IDI fuel systems rarely just fail, they just get worse and worse over time, so people don't replace them when they should.

You may have to work on your truck a little bit because it's older, but the key to this is YOU are working on your truck, not the dealer. I drive a 09 f350 at work, and you can't even see the engine block under all that mess. It had a coolant leak for awhile, the garage decided they didn't want to mess with it so they sent it to the local Ford dealer. They replaced the upper and lower radiator hoses and charged $800.