buy a 6.9 diesel or not?? need to know

[DirtBug66]

heres the gig. im getting rid of my 87 ford lifted 4x4 ranger and im getting into my brothers welding bus. and farmering so i know someone that is goin to be getting rid of a 85 6.9 diesel 4x4 with 135.000 miles on it. i want the truck hella bad and it fits my needs. but i have been told that the 6.9 sucks pistions and destroys the block and there not a very good motor. and dont have a good life span according to a Ford Tech? i dont know much about diesels and i want to get into them and get away from gassers. so what do u all have to say? i have also been told that they run forever so im a little mixed up.

 

[vegas39]

heres the gig. im getting rid of my 87 ford lifted 4x4 ranger and im getting into my brothers welding bus. and farmering so i know someone that is goin to be getting rid of a 85 6.9 diesel 4x4 with 135.000 miles on it. i want the truck hella bad and it fits my needs. but i have been told that the 6.9 sucks pistions and destroys the block and there not a very good motor. and dont have a good life span according to a Ford Tech? i dont know much about diesels and i want to get into them and get away from gassers. so what do u all have to say? i have also been told that they run forever so im a little mixed up.

The Ford tech is full of ****! The only issues the 6.9 has, is the tendency for blowing head gaskets on occasion. Also, some of the early blocks tended to have a weak spot around the block heater, pre 86 year.

The 7.3 is prone to dropping valves once in a while and also can suffer from cavitation due to thinner cylinder walls.

Also, the head gasket issue can be solved on the 6.9 by running head studs.

I have not had much experience with the 7.3, so if I said anything wrong against it, someone please correct me.

 

[Clydesdale]

Never gonna bea powerhouse.

Never gonna be the most efficient diesel.

Having said that, I picked an 83 6.9 for my donor, in place of a perfectly healthy 460 because they are a good motor.

Most of us here get mid to upper teens out fo them, and for $1000 if you shop carefully, you can adda turbo and an IC, and have (with some gauges) and have a perfectly good truck, that will haul more, be quicker, and typically get better mpg. that grand basically buys you 80-100 hp. and 150-250 ft lbs of torque, fromt eh #'s I have seen posted.

$10 a pony is a good ratio, and they will run forever, if you treat it right. quality oil, qualty parts, don't overheat it, and keep your egt's down.

I bought a 7.3 with 283k (the 6.9's virtual twin, slighlty larger bore is all) and instantly started hotshotting with it, had my first loads booked before the truck ran, or I had keys. I ran over 20 k on that truck in less than 6 months, and it was amazing.

 

[DragRag]

Your Ford tech doesn't know squat, I have a fleet of 6.9's and 7.3's. I have a fleet, because they last, and are cheap to repair and maintain.

 

[dsltech83]

Well that is not a true statement. If taken decent care of these engines are easily the most reliable and cost efficient trucs to own that Ford has ever made. they take one 12v connection to run and thats it no computers or huge mess of wiring and sensors to mess with like any of the newer diesels.
I am a Ford Diesel tech and my personal vehicle in my sig is a 6.9, I won't own anything I have to work on regularly.

Anyone on these boards will vouch for the above statements, I'm sure you will get somemore members to chime in as well. This is the best place of anywhere to get advice for these trucks. Some of the members are very very experienced with these engines.

Feel free to ask any questions cause someone will be able to answer them.

 

[Diesel JD]

That truck will suit your needs just fine. The 6.9 can last 250K miles with indifferent maintenance or much longer f it's well cared for. The main thing is don't overheat them and don't run them out of oil. They do burn some oil compared to the newer diesels but not all of them do it and even so it's not that big a deal IMO. The 83086 glow plug system is bad. If you want to stay factory, find how agnem and other advanced electrical folks failsafed the system, if that isn't important to you switch it over to a momentary toggle(and don't glow the factory plugs longer than about 8-10 seconds) and never look back or convert to the 87 and later system. The head gasket issue is a real problem but it usually is a bad inconvenience and doesn't ordinarily kill the engine if you are paying attention and fix it in time. If you are handy with mechanical things, between advice from the board here and a cheap Haynes manual you can get 'er done and it'll be better than factory. The oil cooler orings can also be a problem, those parts are cheap but the repair is tedious, it's not above the head of anyone who's a good home mechanic/handyman. They won't have as much power as a PSD or Cummins, and won't get the fuel economy of a Cummins or 6.2/6.5 GM, but they are not too doggy in stock trim and with a turbo and some minor tweaks you can be making 170-180 HP at the wheels and have a truck that's really pretty fun to drive. BTW the fuel economy usually is far better than a gasser in the same application and often about on par with a PSD. The most efficient setup is a 5 speed manual with 4.10s for heavy work or 3.55s for lighter work and commuting. The least efficient would be the 3 speed auto and 4.10s.

 

[DirtBug66]

wow now im glad to here all of that good info and cant wait for the truck now! so i have made my mind up and goin get it and laugh at the Ford Tech i heard that b.s from. anyone have a common problem with them? as in the 6.9s?

 

[Clydesdale]

on par with a PSD? I would say we tend to run 10-15% higher at the mpg end on average than the PSD (first and second gen 7.3's anyway) does.

 

[DirtBug66]

what does PSD stand for?

 

[tech51]

Power Stroke Diesel

 

[Slade]

Power Stroke Diesel, 1994.5 and newer.

 

[DirtBug66]

o alright. what gauges should i get? what are the main gauges i should get first exhaust temp? oil temp? oil pressure??????

 

[6.9poweredscout]

can't beat em! there's even a few chevys on the board, where they swapped out the 6.2/6.5's for a 6.9/7.3 because its a far better engine. do as i did and do some research to find the weak spots. when i built my 6.9 i swapped in 7.3 rockers, used head studs, and just went over everything to make sure it was updated and the best overall.

-Jon

 

[6.9poweredscout]

o alright. what gauges should i get? what are the main gauges i should get first exhaust temp? oil temp? oil pressure??????

if you only get one make it the EGT (exhaust gas temp) and keep an eye on it!!

-Jon

 

[Clydesdale]

what does PSD stand for?

P.iecea
S.hit
D.iesel

I loathe them. If I was going to go with an EFI diesel, it would be ******** or Maxipad, 8 days a week ahead of the PSD.

Expensive to work on, expensive to mod, and not any more or less reliable than the other two I mentioned, with worse (across the board, there are exceptions to every rule) mog than any of the other pickup diesels offered.

Buy the 6.9

Pick up a Pyro, wath for the ATS 093 kit on ebay, or here, get your self a 02 or newer aluminum end capped PSD InterCooler (I.C.), and rock out with your **** out.