idi reliability HELP! --warning ... long crazy story

[Groovatic1]

Hello all! Starting a new thread as I think this would be a good subject for idi owners.. First of all, Looking forward to meeting some of you at the IDI rally in NH on July 4th..... more in that thread....
So.... Story starts... back in June I flew down to North Carolina to pickup a 94 shuttle bus I now name Beluga with hopes to transform my touring experience from famly-less to now traveling with family. (Im a fiddle player by trade-- check out Edward Howe ... electric fiddler on youtube)
So .... first thing wrong was a sticky brake and a fuel tank with no way to put fuel in. Stuck one way valve in filler neck.. gadd that was a pain in the !#$ Drove it from NC to Rochester NY in one swoop stopping to put fuel in it at the rate of a gallon every 4 minutes.. each fuel stop was like 2 hours..
on the way, I lost the connector to one of the batteries and then the glow plug relay burnt out. On top of that I ran out of fuel on the Garden state Parkway which made me miss my gig .. Two of my dear friends came out to help me and thats when I found AAA will not help people on the GSP.. esp people with 12000lb busses..!! 11pm and a small can of gas, she was back up an running bless the tow truck driver who stayed with me keeping my one battery alive. Off he went, off my fans went and I started out with ...... now a broken alternator. yes now midnight, made a b-line for a 24hour Walmart where I bought and exchanged batteries until she would start. I soon found a wire pulled out of the back of the alternator. problem fixed I got to bed around 6am.
-- next day I bagged anything else I was going to do, and set for home. On the way just before NH, I put my foot on the brakes and.... right to the floor!!!!
I busted through the toll at around 45 mph.......... yes no brakes and ******* myself silly...
I rolled into a mineke who declined to work on it until i refused to leave.
Home, I parked my new pile of poop for about a month while I tore into it. Belts, new alternator, manual glow plug circuit, and redid the body - more on that later....

ok .. here is where it gets interesting... First trip out from maine to nc and back.. Started with no lockup tc. found my choice of LED tail lights were the culprate. Lost the brakes AGAIN just before the GW bridge in NYC. AGAIN no tow .. limp to shop - more brake line... back on road to VA -- lost power brakes!!! Booster?? nope that didn't fix it.. finally to NC where a diesel specialist helped me figure my vac pump failed.. yes over 700 miles with no power brakes,, 2 days 12000lbs and my family on board......

trip #2
this time got to CT before my transmission puked.. New rebuilt e4od in 2 days and 4500$ later, back on the road.. All was pretty good with the trip through ga and back to NJ where.... wait for it... water pump bearing failed.

trip #3 F-it I brought beluga to my local truck good ol boy shop- Awesome guys btw at Marshalls auto in Chelsea me.. New ball joints and ALLLL NEWWW brake line from front to back with totally rebuilt rear brakes (dana 70hd with 4.51 gears btw)
This time we made it to Florida and back with no upsets but an oil change..

Trip #4 Belts, tires,,, alternator #2 (my fault), universal joints, .... 18 cans of fluid film. Loaded up the family. Yes my wife still loves riding in beluga..
All the way to Richmond VA - strong peppy and happy! yay untilllll.......... loosing power, where? yup back in NY city again!!!!
I now have aaa gold and was able to get to a shop where my fuel pump failed.. $700 for< yes it is not a typo $700 for a FUEL PUMP later we drive happy Beluga home and PARKED it..

Im still in and love the idi engine. The bus is great ! but Im broke and scared to drive any where else.

ok here is where I have a question for yall..
#1 Keep going?
#2 if yes than should I keep driving with my family?
#3 ok keep going? what should I stock up on for parts short of rebuilding the engine or transmission on the road?

we still want to make a cross country trip with beluga, our growing pains have really stressed us out.

Thanks to all who have gotten through this story! As you probably can guess, this is a very short version. Any help would be great!
best...

 

[TWeatherford]

I'd sell that POS as fast as possible. You've sunk a lot of time and money into it, but things like this seem to just keep on and keep on. I'd stop now with that thing.

Obviously you bought something that needed a lot of work to begin with (brake lines blowing, lots of parts failing). But you're probably far from done.

I'm not going to be very popular saying this here here (where IDIs are popular) but I could not get along with my IDI. I bought an F-350 with 250,000 miles on it and drove it 25,000 miles, including twice cross country, over the course of two years. In that time I had two engines in it and 4 injection pumps (3 of which were quality rebuilds), replaced injectors, about 6 different fuel pumps. After the 4th injection pump I was through and dumped it. I did a lot of work to it, maintained it well, and am generally easy on stuff, but I could not get along with the IDI. Fuel mileage and power were not that great, neither was starting reliability or reliability in general.

I would possibly consider another IDI if I was using it for short, local trips somewhere flat and low elevation and not towing much. Add big hills, higher elevation (7000 ft where I am now), long trips, towing (any one of these factors) and I'd be looking for something different. The weight you're hauling, the distance, and having your family along make it all a no brainer to me. I made a choice to ditch the IDI, and paid a good bit of money to do so, but I am very happy with my decision.

 

[FoolhardyIDI]

Well it sounds like you have fixed everything but the engine. I would send out an oil sample, and do a compression test to make sure the engine is still strong and nothing is worn to bad internally. Long trips can bring bad luck sometimes. But they can also bring a family closer together.

 

[franklin2]

You title your thread "idi reliability" but after reading your post, it looks like you are working on everything but the idi. That's pretty normal, the engine is pretty good, the rest of the vehicle not so much. It's the same with the pickups. You have to realize Ford and whoever else made these things to only last so long, and then you are supposed to buy a new one from them.

I have done this routine several times with cars and trucks I have bought because they were a "good deal". You will find initially you will have a lot of problems, and then it will calm down for awhile. And then it will start up again and then be ok for another period of time. But I will warn you, if you cannot do your own work, you should not buy a older vehicle like this. Mechanics are not cheap, you are best to buy something newer and make payments on it.

If you can do your own work, you need to take a break from the road, and go through this thing. All the wheels should be pulled off and all the brakes inspected. If it looks old, replace it. Change all the fluids and give it a once over. Check the belts, hoses, look at the radiator inside and out, leave no stone unturned. It may still break down on you after doing this, but I would drive it around locally for a little while to get the bugs out.

 

[whitehorse]

Whoa now...you rock on that electric fiddle on YouTube....

 

[Groovatic1]

Thanks for the replies! Ive always loved interaction with instruments and cars that have a "soul"
Just to be clear, i do most of my own work short if putting it on a lift. Im really patient and extreemly determined. I look forward to more with this ol bus. Running strong now, im just worried.... Ip? Starter? Fuel line? Wiring? Onward and upwords!

 

[OLDBULL8]

. Ip? Starter? Fuel line? Wiring? Onward and upwords!

Yep, all of those and more. Ya damn better well read on here about all the troubles you could have, and then make a decision what to do. If that's the vehicle you have, looks like an airport transport with alot of short runs and alot of idleing time. $700 for a $26 fuel pump, they know your down and out and the rotten ******** take advantage.

To own one of these old IDI's, no matter truck or Bus, if your not mechanically inclined, have a good tool chest and know something about a diesel engine, ya better have deep pockets as you've already found out.

Going to travel playing fiddle for a living with a family, my suggestion would be to get gas engine motorhome to fit the family size as far as sleeping facilities. Even a Class C motorhome will sleep 6, lots of them on the market even diesel. From what you say, I wouldn't trust that around the block, let alone a crosscountry trip.

 

[stealth13777]

If you did keep it, go through everything.

Every fluid that hasn't been changed needs to be changed. I would take a good look in the differential for condition. Pre cross country, might even change bearings while it was apart, might not, would depend on what I found. Send the engine oil out for analysis, check for excessive blowby out the oil fill, and a compression check would be a good idea.

You did the alternator and batteries. How are the wires? Id also be wary of all the electrical on a conversion like that and would want to at least give it a thorough look over.

Keep a spare fuel pump and the tools to change it with you (and pay attention to the brand), or swap in an electric pimp. How much time on your injectors and injection pump?

Hope that transmission is cooled properly. If not, make it so. Even then, I wouldn't trust that trans in that application for 100s of thousands. But keep the fluid changed regularly and it might give ya awhile.

Keep a spare vacuum pump with you, and belts. Without a doubt you should do that now.

Take a look at your power steering. If you decide it's ok for now, then familiarize yourself with what you would need to do if it had an issue. Be prepared to buy the part and change it in a parking lot.

The typical light bulbs, fluids, jack, etc. should always be in the vehicle.

You did ball joints already. Don't be surprised if you lose a wheel bearing at some point on a long trip.

Unfortunately, it's an older vehicle, so things will break, and always at the worse possible time. You can make it reasonably reliable, but it's your choice how far you go (and how much you spend) and what you are willing to leave to chance. Big expenses remaining (other than engine) lie largely in your injectors and injection pump. But you need to be able to diagnose and fix things like fuel pumps and vacuum pumps yourself or no way would I take that vehicle cross country. No fault of yours for not knowing before (we all start somewhere, myself included), but I would want to know before doing another long trip in that thing.

Sorry she's been a pain for ya, that's a lot of crazy expense. I'm not good at deciding to cut ties; seems the more I sink into a project the more I'm convinced the problems are almost over. But at this point I wouldn't want to get rid of it. Idk if it'll be what you need though. Impressive that the wife still likes it!


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[Rot Box]

Yep, I can definitely relate to this story I've been through nearly every moving part on my F350 up to this point in the five years I've owned it. In 2014 I was convinced this truck was going to kill my bank account and ruin my marriage before the new year---it seemed like EVERYTHING went bad all at once and I do mean e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g.

I stuck with it and at this point it all seemed to pay off. I just got back from a week long solo trip to some pretty remote areas of Utah and other than having a tire blow out rolleyes the truck didn't have one single issue knock on wood.

I vote keep going. They are very reliable when all those parts that have been neglected for 25+ years are replaced, repaired or adjusted. Take a weekend and go through everything. Make parts lists, replace things that are known to fail even if they're not giving you fits right now (i.e. return lines, oil cooler seals, rear brake cylinders/hub seals, install the headlight relay kit, etc). Put it up on jacks and inspect everything. Rock Auto and Amazon prime are your best friends. Good luck,

Andrew

 

[Waystro]

Man I can totaly Relate. When I bought my truck I had the Bright idea to drive it 300 miles from houston
To San Antonio truck drove great until about 15 Miles then it tried to send me into the Ditch(a couple bent tie rods both rotors cracked and warped and Both calipers seized up) I hauled it to a friends house where it Sat for around 6 Months. So basically what I'm saying is the Engine/Transmission runs great but every other thing needs to be replaced. Rather it be from sitting or just because the PO was a ******.

Sounds like you've aready replaced most of it so why stop now?
Don't give up on Her

 

[jim_22]

I think you should drive it to IDI week. And bring the violin.

 

[Black dawg]

Find a professional that you trust, and have them check it over really good. Most "surprises" can be caught ahead of time, it sounds like the bus was just really neglected, now it needs some help. In the twenty some years of owning these trucks, I dont think I have had that much trouble with all of them put together.

 

[jim_22]

The tranny was a really bad hit. The rest doesn't sound too bad except for the Murphy's Law effect. Did you ever check the SCAs in that beast? It is one of the few things that can kill an engine.

 

[Can30Diesel]

Yeah thats the thing with older vehicles, especially with ones (regardless of age) which have not been maintained. The catch up process is a pain. If it makes you feel better about your situation, I picked up my 2001 PSD for a song, then dumped money into new brakes (calipers/rotors/pads) all the way around, new batteries, water pump, coolant, oil/fuel and air filters, oil, gear oil, side mirrors, dash lights, exterior lights, alternator, windshield, wipers, tires, tailgate latch, door latches, and I still have transfer case fluid, transmission filter and fluid to do yet.

In my case, no one maintained the truck at all, and while it never left me stranded, it had every opportunity to a few times now.

I say, you have gone this far, if you see yourself using it lots then finish the job and enjoy. If you see yourself in another vehicle, then band-aid it and sell it!

 

[leswhitt]

My vote is to learn how to do as much as of the work as you can, $700 for the fuel pump was absolutely criminal!

You've replaced so much already, you might as well keep going and get your $4500 worth out of that transmission. Did the tranny come with a substantial warranty?

I'd recommend a spare starter, a couple fuel pumps, a roll of brake line hose, a roll of rubber hose (same ID as your fuel lines), a spare IP (uhaul might have some left for cheap), and any other big wear item that you may need. Buy it now while you can watch the sales and take advantage of low prices and you'll hurt much less later.