Is the 6.9 really this gutless?

[vegas39]

im going to go ahead and call bs on yer bs call.. Im not a liar i just ran the same trip last week.. So that comments out.. Ill try and get some pics but its dark.. It had more guts up the hill with and without a load trust me thats why i think somethings wrong.. where do I turn up my fuel? Where does a pyrometer plug in? ill change the gigantic fuel filter

I dont want to see another argument like happened a few weeks ago! Maybe his new 6.9 is way out of adjustment, or IP may be shot, we dont know.
Generally a good running 6.9 should haul ass up hill, with a turbo and a good fuel system.

 

[vegas39]

A 454 or a 460 would... and get you about 5mpg doin it. Is your fuel turned up with the turbo and do you have gauges?

I have an original dealer brochure for the 86 model year trucks and was shocked to find that the 460 was rated to haul quite a bit more weight than the diesel.
Very true about the mileage. I towed a fairly heavy load several months back and was still able to achieve 12+ miles per gallon.

 

[IDIDieselJohn]

lol you think that's slow.... you'd kill your self in my motorhome

25mph, 1st gear, running on the govenor for over 10 min nonstop @ over 8000ft. elevation in the Rockies! At one point, no passing lane, you should of seen the LONG line up of cars behind me! I can't imagine what some were thinking, i'm sure a couple of 'em were writing curse books! hahaha

 

[Worstenemy453]

sounds like there is much cleanup and prep you need to do with the truck before you throw a load onto it.
post a pic of the stuff you got going on under the hood.
even the IDI's got advancements in aftermarket turbo tech.


one more thing....
I'm going to throw the B.S. flag on saying the chev 4.8 and 5.3 has more guts towing a load. they feel torquey when running empty, but they do die off when under a load.

Agreed



My 6.9, non turbo, C6 with stock stall pulled 8K on hills no problem. I would be willing to bet that your timing is off, fuel system is tired.

 

[Knuckledragger]

kickdown seems to be in tact it drops gears well.. just seems like i got 3 speeds in my c6 and need 5 lol.. How do I prevent getting air into the injection lines?

When replacing the fuel filter, fill it as full as possible before spinning it on the filter head. After starting up, there is a schrader valve on the side of the head (looks like an air valve on your tires), push the button on it and bleed until the fuel runs with no bubbles. I have a length of clear vinyl tubing about 2 feet long with a chuck end on it, so I don't make a mess. I can see through the tubing when it is running clear. Run the tube into a can and recycle the fuel. Next, get a 5/8 inch open end end wrench (a good one that won't spread) and crack open the nuts on top of the injectors, one at a time (also with the engine running). this will do two things: (1) further bleed out air, and (b) tell you if any of your injectors are not working. When you crack the nut open, you should hear the engine sound change. If this does not happen, that injector is bad.

Lastly, when re-tightening the nuts, don't go nuts. I have had to use breaker bars to get them loose on one of my trucks. I don't know the correct torque rating for them, but someone here may speak up about that. Just tighten until it doesn't leak and you are good. About 15-20 lbs.-ft. should do it.

My experience with these engines is not as radical as some on the forums, I do not haul huge loads and do not have a turbo, but pulling a car on a trailer up a 20% grade, all I could do was 45 mph in second gear. But the engine never got hot and did not quit. It just kept pulling. It had almost 300,000 miles on it when I last did that. No, they do not have a lot of horse power, but they have plenty of torque, and that is what does the work. It sounds like your truck was acting as if it did not have a turbo. If you have never heard the turbo come on, you may have a seized shaft and need a rebuild there. The engine will run fine even if the turbo is frozen, just without the high end poop. My shaft seals are blown out in the 4x4, and I am pumping plenty of crankcase oil into the engine every time I try to start it up.

Welcome to the forums, the good folks here have a lot of knowledge and experience that they are happy to share. I'm fairly new and have had nothing but good experiences with them all.

 

[Brianedwardss]

Like everyone said, fresh injectors, fresh IP, timing set correctly, fresh fuel and air filter (all which are not expensive) and the truck will be a whole different animal. If you want excitement, do this all at once then go on a test drive... You'll be a happy camper

 

[BigNick]

Worse comes to worse we can just have him hook a chain to darrin's axle and... =D


Welcome to the forums, all the people here are very helpful.

 

[oldmisterbill]

First of all -WELCOME to the forum. The 6.9 & 7.3 will do a darn good job if the engine is in good condition. Don't try to get max power out of a tired engine (mechanically -not referring to fuel & air delivery) If the engine is strong then comes the fun. A pyrometer to make sure you don't melt the pistons (needs a fitting welded into the exhaust (before the turbo prefferably ) Then a good strong pump with matched injectors,timed properly.
Now you can turn up the fuel . Pay attention to a good free flowing air intake w/plenty of cool air. After that the recipe is "keep adding Fuel & cool air".
You are running a C6 -a strong trans ,but it will need maximum cooling -use the biggest tranny cooler you can get -if you use 2 coolers remember to run them in parralell to get maxium fluid flow and the best possible cooling.
I have towed with N/A 6.9s-N/A 7.3s & turbo 7.3s. No 350 will get close to any of these units.With a turbo,a 454 will see tail lights vanish into the horizion.
Rear end ratio is important also. If not too heavy a 3:55 will work,if too heavy the C6 will chatter when starting taking off (eventually wearing out the 1st gear clutches) Then a 4:10 is in order.
I have towed cross country with the previouskly mentioned combinations & I towed heavy-I do mean heavy!! Get it setup for the job ,you will be a happy camper.

BTW my trailer weighed 6500 lbs empty. & these loads were pulled with a N/A 7.3 -C6. The 1st load was a short haul 20 miles the others were over 350miles each,through the hills of PA to Hershey.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

Not to sound argumentative, nor try to disclaim what others are saying, but you guys experiences with diesel engines and automatics are sure a lot different than what I usually see.


Even way back when these trucks were shiny-new, whenever someone with an automatic went after a big load of cattle or heavy tractor, usually one of us with a manual transmission ended up having to go get the trailer, because the automatic simply could not launch it; the engine would moan and grunt, but no forward movement.

These trucks were un-altered factory-issue automatics and re-working things ?might? have gotten them up to the task, but plain old trucks with manual transmissions never had the least problem where the automatics couldn't even get things moving.

Only recently, I had to go rescue a big load that a 7.3 and whatever automatic came with a 1989 model refused to move out of it's tracks.

 

[oldmisterbill]

The truck towing in the pics has a bone stock rebuilt C6 with a big oil cooler & to make matter worse a 3:55 rear- N/A 7.3 it was a cattle hauler all around New England B4 i got it.& yes it was a rebuilt tranny after towing and plowing snow it got overheated once. What can I say? My E40d is a stock Jasper. With a lot of cooler.
This was in Canada between Toronto & Montreal it was all over the place.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

The truck towing in the pics has a bone stock rebuilt C6 with a big oil cooler & to make matter worse a 3:55 rear- N/A 7.3 it was a cattle hauler all around New England B4 i got it.& yes it was a rebuilt tranny after towing and plowing snow it got overheated once. What can I say? My E40d is a stock Jasper. With a lot of cooler.
This was in Canada between Toronto & Montreal it was all over the place.

Do I see right ??; that is a SRW truck isn't it ??


What did you used to do, run a used tractor business ??

 

[oldmisterbill]

You're correct it is a F250 with heavy duty springs and single rear wheels & no AC.I got the CC Dually so I would have sleeping space AC & Dual wheels. Its funny the dually was better sway wise then the single wheels but not as much as I thought it would be.
I need to be more humble transmission wise - I don't think an automatic is better then a standard ,because a standard will warn you that it is on its last trip.An automatic will turn on you when ever it is tired of the baloney,leaving you in a mess. But so will an engine -breaking down on the road is a lot more costly then a repair of equal magnitude done at home near familuar resources. I just know that set up properly an auto is better than most people give them cedit for,if they are good to stert with and properly set up. Yes the Jasper is better then the origional E40d as ford and Jasper made the same mods later in thier lift to make them a solid trans.My left hip is gone from clutching the old Macks - brokways-IH 190s from the 50s on up.It caused me not ot ba eable to rida motorcycles ant more and the pain from just the clutch on my lil Kubota is no laughing matter.I once said if I can't use a clutch I need to quit using tractors & trucks. I look at it from a different veiwpoint now. The automatice were great for custom driveway snow removal in tight places.
To answer your question about whatI did -I drove truck for over 26 years -I drove chain drive macks in a quarry when I was 15 years old & still miss trucks.The 1st over the road truck I drove was a 238 (6:71 detroit)2nd over the road truck I dove had a 190 N/A cummins In 89 I went into plant maintaince in one of the larger Pepsi plants in the country in Maintaince. I have been a gear head since I was a child (enclosed is a pic of an antique engine I restored when I was 13 years old). I love antiques and old mechanical stuff -machines -Books whatever. When I left the plant it was easy for me to start a small business hauling antique farm equipment engines,tractors farm machinery & cars. I covered from Colorado to main to Florida to texas when I moved to Oklahoma in 2001.

The first Pic is of a 2 1/2 Hp Monarch 1915 0r so ( I restored it when I was 13 ,the second 2 are of my 1921 quick mix cement mixer (I have mixed a lot of cement with it and enjoyed every minute of it)and its engine.I slod over 25 peices when I moved from MA and a few more when I got ill here,I have the parts to make a forest fire pump (Fitzhenery Guptil 1930's) like in the 4th pic.If I finish it it will be my last toy. And a fairbanks morse ag pump(not Pictured) here & some other small odds & ends left here. I think my restoring days are just about over but I haven't given up yet.I hate all this modern tech stuf althoughh I have worked with in in industrial situations.What I know is self taught.
Thats my story -I'm stickin to it.
PS these have served well getting youngsters off the streets doing constructive things.Two in particular 1 has his own business servising aerial bucket trucks,another runs a high Tech auto repair business in MA and has a funny car for a hobby.A couple
went on to other things and I am proud of all of them. Its a great family hobby. i hope to pass some interest and stuff on to my grandchildren.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

Veryoldmisterbill, you are talking my language now.

Every 3rd Saturday of August, my cousin hosts a big Old-Timer's Re-union at his farm, complete with live steam-powered wheat-threshing, lots and lots of antique tractors, trucks, cars, and such, various grist-mills, shingle-mills, saw-mills, block-and-tie stationary balers, etc., etc. ; all in action.

I love the old "hit-and-miss" engines, especially when they are operating something interesting.

My cousin has the huge CASE steam tractor that our great-grandpa used to pull the same thresher all over the area with a big threshing crew; both are in better working condition today than they were way back then.

 

[f-two-fiddy]

My 10YO Son, and I attend 3 events yearly. My Dad restored a few hit and miss engines through My younger years, and built a forge. We still use the forge for repairing stuff. It's damn therapeutic, compared to the new computer controlled stuff.

 

[oldmisterbill]

Now were talkin!! I have a 11x12 steam engine I left with my nephew in MA-its his now. 5ft flywheels 15 ft long a couple thousand lbs of cast iron. Leaf spring (just klike automotive leaf springs) governor.I used to take to shows and powered it with compressed air from a modelA ford "harry Smith" conversion air compressor (2 cyls firin-2 cyls pumpin) It would run about 30 - 40 rpm ,nice & slow to show people how it worked .Funny one guy said to his son "see that big hose -thats the fuel line". I visited my Farmall F12 while I was in Maine for a funeal last Oct I was dissapointed in how its been cared for but took a pic anyway.I used to come home from work all tensed up -crank it up go for a ride through the woods then walk in the house with a smile. My therapy. Ok hijacked this thread enough.