IDI guy from Vancouver island Canada

[wildmanblades]

hello folks, my Names John, I've been lurking in the shadows for a while, I've had a 94 f250 factory turbo IDI for about a year now. wishing I knew what to look for before I bought this truck lol. I figured i would register on this site since I've been starting to have problems with the old girl
suspension is toast, IP leaks, glow plugs don't work, E4od blew up, I just replaced that , blew a heater core hose and all the coolant blew out and over heated. replaced coolant and hoses, went to change oil and found grey sludge in the pan. strangely enough the coolant level hasn't dropped, wich makes me suspect the horrendous rain we get in Nanaimo has leaked past my crumbled hood seal and cowl and worked it's way down the valley pan. but this is all speculation because I'm no IDI guru, nor am I financially endowed enough to pay someone else to figure it in. and that would be why I registered on oilburners. hope to learn all sorts of things about keeping these old machines on the road. hope you all have a great weekend.

 

[u2slow]

Welcome

We do have some island representation here. Somebody here is from CR. I'm just an island away - out of Crofton.

Personally don't have IDI's anymore, but most of the knowledge and a few of the parts remain....

 

[Old Goat]

Welcome to the forum.
Sounds like typical problem`s these old trucks have from abuse and neglected maintenance.
Hey it`s an old truck, just run em till they quit attitude.

Take them to a shop, and today`s mechanics don`t know or under stand these old engines. Repairs cost more than what you paid for it.
Or, that is too old for us to work on it.

You can do the majority of what ever the engine needs, Unless you are taking it apart.

Water getting into the valley pan is ok as there is a drain at the rear of it which drains down the back of the bell housing. It may nee o be opened up from years of crud/dirt etc...
There is the rubber hose/gasket for the CDR Blow By fumes. That can be old and maybe let water in.
If you have the Turbo, not familiar with how it is plumbed as mine is NA.

It`s like eating an Elephant, one bite at a time.
Take one issue at a time.


Goat

 

[chicken bones]

Welcome , I have the same Truck . The factory turbo Truck is rare and totally worth fixing. I have owned mine since new and fixed pretty much everything on this Truck myself aside from the Transmission rebuild. You will find this site to be very helpfull , these engines need all eight glow plugs to start properly . Air intrusion is also a common problem. i would change the cowl seal, water will pool up around the glow plugs and injectors. If you replace injection pump & injectors , check this site for good builders before you buy. I have R&D Pump & injectors and have no issues . Good luck .

 

[wildmanblades]

thanks for all the replies fellas!
I'm going to keep the truck, it is indeed rare including its paint, wich I have never seen anywhere else., I bought some of those test strips for checking for coolant in fluids, and sadly there is coolant in there. I did a valley pan check when the oil was all out and put the hose to it and nothing came out the pan when I pulled the plug after, so I'm getting coolant into the oil and no oil in the coolant. does this point to oil cooler? or head gasket? there is no visible leaks near the waterpump.
after I address these issues I have a friend going to build me a 3 inch downpipe, and we will either purchase or fab up a proper 3 inch outlet off the turbo housing. my stock IP has a slow leak, but I have another IP off a 6.9 I got for $50 and it's been reman'd. I like what i hear about R&D pumps but also am very curious about Classic Diesel designs pumps as they have an in cab fuel controller and they have ceramic sleeves, maybe R&D does this too? either way, I'm keeping this truck alive and even if the motor is blown, I have located another 94 turbo motor for $500 and a 91.or 92 NA motor for $350

any suggestions on my next course of action would be greatly appreciated, should I get some oil cooler o rings and gaskets, or head gasket? is there a way to perform certain checks to determine what is leaking? I pressurized the cooling system with air last night, and it was still holding pressure this morning. thanks again , talk soon