1994 F350 Crew cab IDI or Powerstroke

[Agnem]

In retrospect, there are some good points made here. The IDI did NOT make much progress over the years. A lot of that had to do with the fact that they were bucking new emissions regulations the whole way. Every time IH was ready to increase the HP, some new law would come on the books, that would counteract any attempt to crank out more ponies. This is the whole reason we have InDirect Injected engines to begin with. If the emissions laws had been more lax, they might have been able to do them as direct injection, and then the whole ballgame would be different. The last IDI's were intentionally held back, so that the PSD - IH's first attempt at a computer controlled engine - with injection technology they had to get with Caterpillar to invent, could have a reasonable chance of having an incremental upgrade from a marketing standpoint. The whole PSD thing was a hugh roll of the dice, and like all IH engines, they pretty well had it figured out by the time the next model came out. Unfortunately for IH and Ford, the complexity of the PSD never seemed to be something that they mastered. Rather it mastered them. The timing sucked too, because the IDI paved the way for hugh diesel pickup sales and acceptance, eventually dominating the market and making >8600 GVRW gas pickups a relative minority. The boost of diesel pickup sales, and lower reliability meant higher visibility to all the failures and recals. Combinded with the emergence of the internet forums in 1997, and the vocality of unsatisfied customers, the whole PSD legacy paved the way for Dodge and Cummins to reach the point they have today. Sadly, when somebody here wants to dump their IDI and put a different engine in their truck, who's engine do they choose? The PSD may be technologically supperior, but in the end, that doesn't matter. It's simplicity and ease of maintanance that does. Which is why most of us are here to begin with. If only we could have a production PSD with a mechanical fuel system, then there would be a true non-IDI option.

 

[Mike]

In retrospect, there are some good points made here. The IDI did NOT make much progress over the years. A lot of that had to do with the fact that they were bucking new emissions regulations the whole way. Every time IH was ready to increase the HP, some new law would come on the books, that would counteract any attempt to crank out more ponies.

You made many excellent point Mel and I could comment on a lot of them but I will just put a few cents in on your opening statement.

That is THE reason (EPA/emissions) that Ford/IH had to go away from the engine that had them at the very top of the US market in 3/4 and 1 ton pickups for 9 years (in an extremely competitive market... mind you the 5.9L "C" and 6.6L duramax were hitting full force during this time frame as well) and landed them in hot water with the release of the 6.0 which has again been shelved for the very same reasons....... emissions.

Will the 6.4L live up to the standards set by its ancestors, the 6.9/7.3L IDI and 7.3L PSD? It surely cant be any worse than its ******* cousin the 6.0 but I dont think its going to go down in the history books as being as good as the first three engines mentioned. What looms in the future for the light duty diesel truck market in the US....... only our esteemed congressmen really know.

 

[hesutton]

The only mechanical PSD's I've seen are pullers with 8 cylinder Bosch "P-Pumps." Like "Stroked Out".....Wipe Out Engineering made a custom front cover and gear for the thing. That is a cool PSD!

You must be registered for see images

On Edit: Here are some photos of Stroked Out

Heath

 

[FordGuy100]

You made many excellent point Mel and I could comment on a lot of them but I will just put a few cents in on your opening statement.

That is THE reason (EPA/emissions) that Ford/IH had to go away from the engine that had them at the very top of the US market in 3/4 and 1 ton pickups for 9 years (in an extremely competitive market... mind you the 5.9L "C" and 6.6L duramax were hitting full force during this time frame as well) and landed them in hot water with the release of the 6.0 which has again been shelved for the very same reasons....... emissions.

Will the 6.4L live up to the standards set by its ancestors, the 6.9/7.3L IDI and 7.3L PSD? It surely cant be any worse than its ******* cousin the 6.0 but I dont think its going to go down in the history books as being as good as the first three engines mentioned. What looms in the future for the light duty diesel truck market in the US....... only our esteemed congressmen really know.

I think the 6.4 will do alright, certainly wont be the best, but it wont be as bad as the 6.0

That being said, Ford and IH will break ties....ford has an in house 6.7 liter engine that is supposidly ready for Tier III emmisions.....so along with all the EGR/Cat/DPF/regen stuff, its going to have urea injection to bring down the NOx emmisions.

My friends, the time of the good reliable diesel is now behind us....its going downhill from here on out. I mean look at the new "mighty" 6.7 cummins. I heard so much talk everyone was braging it up....but if you look at other forums.....it has become what the 6.0 was to Ford....many die hard believers post up with failed turbo's, cracked dpf's....things of that sort.

 

[Agnem]

I know for a while, Ford was thinking of buying IH. Probably good that they didn't. They ended up shedding some weight. Of course now IH and Cat are getting in bed again. Who knows where that will lead. One thing is for sure, that new IH Lonestar is one cool looking truck. My appologies to the thread starter for this getting so off topic.

 

[h2odrx]

So did you go look at it or did you buy it?

 

[70Post455]

I finally was able to find some time tonight to go look at the Crew Cab pickup. This truck is for sure the IDI K in the vin automatic. I was very impressed with the truck. There is 181K miles on this CC pickup, it does have the turbo that says Ford in the round log and turbo underneath when you look under the hood.
He said he replaced the glow plugs last year and the fuel pump, it did start fairly easy and ran pretty smooth on the hwy, however the front tires are worn out and I could tell when driving it down the road.
The big suprise to me was that this truck is RUST FREE. He said the older gent he bought it from a couple of years ago brought it up from Texas.

I ask if he was getting a lot of calls on his truck and he said yes, but as soon as they find out it is not a 4wd they do not come over and look at it. I think he would come off the $4600.00 a fair amount.
I have a couple of pics of the truck but I am not sure how to post them on this site. If anyone would be willing to post them I would gladly send them via e-mail. I have cropped them down so they are not to large, my e-mail is [email protected]

I did not buy the truck yet, but said I would get back to him this week.

Tom.

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

If it came from Texas (same state my moms 94 CC IDIT came from) do a car fax on it just to be sure it wasnt in one of their infamous floods.
Yea, most people around here, like me, want 4x4's. Hence why Im converting my low mile truck to 4x4. Just cant justify not having it.

 

[92F350CC]

4x4 is always an absolute non-negotiable requirement for me, for an array of reasons. For one, i'd rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it. Second, I do usually end up pulling a couple of people out of snowbanks each year, and the 4x4 makes it nice. Low range is also nice for slowing me down when i come off steep dirt roads in the mountains. Also, I've broken a couple of u-joints and driveshaft yokes on this truck, and it's sooooooo convenient to just throw the rear driveshaft in the bed, pop it into 4x4, and drive home.

 

[royzell]

I bet if you changed out the squashed downpipe on the factory IDI turbo, you'd make up the 15 hp right there.

 

[flatlander]

4x4 is always an absolute non-negotiable requirement for me, for an array of reasons. For one, i'd rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it. Second, I do usually end up pulling a couple of people out of snowbanks each year, and the 4x4 makes it nice. Low range is also nice for slowing me down when i come off steep dirt roads in the mountains. Also, I've broken a couple of u-joints and driveshaft yokes on this truck, and it's sooooooo convenient to just throw the rear driveshaft in the bed, pop it into 4x4, and drive home.

I am the opposite of you. I won't buy a 4x4 truck. 'course I'm in Indiana and you're in Utah. I can count on one hand the number of times I needed 4wd. There's a ton of times I would have used it, but no sweat.

I do like the stance of crew cab srw long bed 4x4, though.

 

[Optikalillushun]

i look at it like this, the IDI is to the diesel world what a carb'd engine is to the gasser world...simple and easy to work on even with a set of basic hand tools.

the PSD is like EFI...also not to hard to work on but u need to know a little about electronics and the fuel injection system to work on them and a scan tool to get the vital info even though u can use some basic techniques to get CELs.

Maintance wise id say they are close, but dollar for dollar the IDI has the advantage just because the injectors are simple in nature and right there. same for the glow plugs and IP, all ya need is someone to time it. the PSD OTOH has injectors that are more complex thus more expensive, HPOP and require a little more work to get to the glow plugs.

i would also like to think that the IDI was under-rated or even hampered by Ford for the new PSD because im sure the IDIT and PSD were closer in powe then they said.

in the end it doesnt matter which is better but we all drive diesels and no stinkin gassers! (even though i do for my DD ). Would i own a PSD? probably if i got it cheap enough but u cant beat the IDI's big block exhaust sound!

 

[92F350CC]

stinkin gassers! (even though i do for my DD ).

Hey! I resemble that remark!

Allthough my next diesel will probably be a PSD. By the time I'm in the market for a diesel again, idi's will be getting harder to find, especially in CC LB 4x4 form.