Looking at a N"used" F250 IDI

[Averysm09]

IDI Pros,

I am going up to WV tomorrow to look at a 93 F250 IDI eclb. The seller traded a good running dd for it not too long ago and the fella that sold it to him did so because he thought it needed a transmission. Now the guy that owns it currently, fixed a short in a wire, and the trans is fine. The truck says 350k on the odo and the current owner doesn't know much about rebuilds, remans, etc. It has a 6 inch lift, 36" tires, what I believe to be a straight pipe (one of the pictures shows some black smoke rolling behind it), and it has no turbo. I don't know anything else about the truck.

If this has been asked before (I'm sure it has I did search but came up empty) I'm sorry but could you point me in the right direction? I basically want to know what to look for while driving / looking under the thing tomrrow. I have a 92 Bronco so I know a little about the body and rust issues with this body-style, but I more wanted to know a little bit more on the engine side of things. It does have a solid front which is nice. I figured if worst comes to worst, I could put the engine, trans, and axles in the Bronco and build something real nasty.

I appreciate the help!!

 

[TahoeTom]

http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?7597-New-to-the-IDI-Buying-a-used-one-Read-on
Mel did this write up, you can find it and lots of good info in the tech section at the top of the IDI page. It would be helpful to see how it starts when cold. The glow plug system is needed to start. Sellers like to start them before the buyer gets there to hide whatever starting procedure they use. If ether is needed, the engine could be damaged. Once warmed up these things start instantly. If it runs rough initially there could be air intrusion issues. Not a deal breaker, just something to deal with. It would be ideal if the glow plugs were Beru/Motorcraft brand. Other brands are known to swell up and are difficult to remove, even breaking the tip off inside the head. You then get to pull a head to remove. An inexpensive part that can bite big time.

 

[Averysm09]

WOW, I can't believe this didn't come up on my search. Thanks TahoeTom, this should be more than I need. Appreciate the help. I look forward to spending a lot of time on this forum and crossing my fingers that this truck is in good shape. I've heard IDI's are hard to beat.

 

[IDIoit]

welcome to the site.
please read ALL of the "sticky" threads, and ALL of the tech articles.

tis a vault of most of the information the average IDI owner will ever want to know.

after owning IDI's for a couple of years, i still refer to them

 

[FarmerFrank]

I've never had luck looking or buying anything out of West Virginia. Just my personal experience. Anything I bought from that state needed way more and anything I went to look at was nothing like it was described.

If it has a jasper reman engine think hard about it before you buy it. They aren't very high quality

Not very helpful to your original question, just an opinion.

 

[HS108]

I hate WV, I went off the road because those A-holes don't know how to plow the highways. This doesn't help you unless you go during a snowstorm...

 

[Averysm09]

I ended up buying the truck, $4k. Like any truck that's 22 years old, it has it's issues.

-The tires are shot, which I knew going in
-Drag link(s?) need to be replaced (I think the boots are just gone so it pops pretty good)
-Needs driver's side door latch (driving 100+ miles home with a bungee holding the door shut)
-Leaks oil from valve covers, no surprise there
-ODO says 385+k which is awesome. Even better when I heard that it rolls back to 300k once you get to 400k so I have no idea how many miles are on it
-Don't know if it's remanned or what, but the engine ran like a top! Trans shifted nice and smooth as well.

My MAIN concern is that while on the interstate I was running 2k-2.5k rpms running 60-70. My speed is only about 5-7 mph off at that speed. Needless to say I was playing a game of chess with the temp gauge until I got back onto a 55mph highway. Odd thing was, when I was cruising and got a high, I put my foot in it, and it shifted to overdrive which took the rpms below 2k to around 1.7k. Once I backed out of the throttle it went right back out of overdrive and the rpms shot up again. I ended up doing roughly 60-65 on a 70mph interstate trying to keep it somewhat cool with the heat on full blast.

But, she made it home and still sounds fine. Starts right up, no smoke what-so-ever (until it goes into overdrive and starts to bogg going up hills then it just dumps black smoke). I have no idea what the rear end is geared at, any ideas? I'd really like to make it so I can drive it on the interstate without worrying about it overheating. Also, what's with the trans? Is that a normal symptom of just having giant (large number) gears in it?

Plan on:
-Checking / changing coolant because I have no idea what's in it now
-Changing oil / oil filter / fuel filter because I have no idea what's in it

-Gear oil was changed by PO because he put a new ABS sensor in it and cleaned out the pumpkin.
-ATF fluid and filter was also changed by PO recently.

Thanks for any input guys. I am excited to get to working on this thing. Patience is a virtue, and I'll have to really work on mine

 

[79jasper]

2500 RPM at 70 mph is 4.10 gears.
Did it actually seem to be running hot, or could it just be the gauge?
Any pic's of the truck?

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[Averysm09]

I have no way of knowing if it was just the gauge, or the truck was running hot. I never stopped. If it got to the point that it was unmanageable on the gauge I would've pulled over. When I change the coolant, I'll end up changing the thermostat just as a precaution.

4.10s huh? Damn, no way the gears from the F250 fit in the Bronco would it? I have 3.55s in the Bronco and want 4.10s. Oh the struggle is real.

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Big white next to my Bronco. Don't really have a good picture of it just sitting in the open

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Big white next to my buddies 7.3 IDI.

 

[Averysm09]

So I obviously have no idea how to upload pics. Let me read up on that and I'll throw some in here. Sorry 79jasper

GOT IT!

 

[TahoeTom]

Get a Motorcraft thermostat from a Ford dealer. Parts store units don't seem to work properly. A real gauge would be a good idea. If you use the sender port at the lower front of the drivers side head your dash gauge will still work. That ports sensor only triggers the overtemp idiot light. The dash gets its signal from the port above that one at the top of the block. The sticker on your door jamb should have an axle code that can be decoded to tell your gear ratio. The tag on the pumpkin should have the numbers too.

 

[Averysm09]

I just have no clue if any gear work has been done beyond what it was running stock from factory. I will be sure to get a motorcraft unit too. I have 4 gauges on the a-pillar that aren't hooked up, not even really sure what they are for it's hard to tell. That may help some once I get them all working.

 

[riotwarrior]

..... I have 4 gauges on the a-pillar that aren't hooked up, not even really sure what they are for it's hard to tell..... That may help some once I get them all working.

Ifn ya dont know what they are fer...how do ya plan on hookin them up...correctly?

Usually most guages indicate what they are for...say...boost....pyro....oil pressure....water temp....trans temp...and so on.....

Is truck NA or turbo?

 

[Averysm09]

It is na, and the wires in the engine compartment have "labels" on them from the PO. He showed me that they were labeled, and we just moved on to the next thing. I'm sure they are pretty common aux gauges.

 

[79jasper]

I don't think the gears will swap.

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