Questions about a 7.3 IDI

[Drake Smith]

Saw a 91 F250 7.3 N/A IDI on craigslist and just got back from looking at it. Guy had it at $3500 for awhile but dropped the price to $2500. Ac doesnt work, no blowby, second engine. Original owner had the engine replaced under warranty at 70k miles and transmission at 85k miles. Transmission had a delayed shift from first to second, and felt like the wheels slipping as if the ground were wet but only for a brief second. Also a slight jerk/nudge between shifts when hammering on it. He said when getting on the freeway and putting it to the floor to get up to speed, it doesnt always drop into overdrive but if you let off the throttle it will. The interior of the truck looked brand new. The truck didnt overheat, but the gauge only went up a little bit not even close to the middle. Kinda worries me slightly if the truck is running cold. Radiator and cap felt pretty hot after driving though but the truck never overheated the gauge just didnt go up much. The bottom of the pil pan was covered in oil, and the valve covers were ******* oil quite a bit. The dipstick wasnt super low, but it was right below the safe zone. The timing cover also had quite a bit of oil around it. Couldnt tell if it was a front main, rear main, or valve covers dripping from the back. There was one hanging drop of oil in the drain plug and one one the starter. Guy said he noticed a drop or two here and there but never anything serious. Other than those things, I found nothing at all wrong with the truck. Is his price fair or should I get it cheaper? The truck is also 4wd. The skidding felt more like a transfer case/differential issue or u joints. Any info would be greatly appreciated! I've attached a link to the posting as well. Guy was very honest and had maintenance records from him and the two previous owners as well.

https://boise.craigslist.org/cto/d/boise-price-reduced-1991-f250-73l-diesel/6848962777.html

 

[frankenwrench]

Not a huge fan of the auto trans, but a good running idi with nice interior and 4wd at 2500 is a steal bud. I would do that deal in a heartbeat. If ur worried about front and rear main seals I did mine for around 60 bucks along with an oil change and the valve cover gaskets arent that much either. Did I notice any excessive smoke out the exhaust?

 

[Drake Smith]

No there was no smoke out the exhaust nor any white smoke upon starting. If I have to do the front and rear main seals and the oil pan gasket, would that require me to pull the engine? He easy would it be to put a turbo kit on this too?

 

[Randy Bush]

You will have to pull the engine or transmission for the rear main. But rear mains don't leak that often so I would make 100% sure that was the problem before doing it.

 

[Drake Smith]

Yeah the entire bottom of the engine was covered in oil

 

[frankenwrench]

I havent found a way to do oil pan gasket without pulling block. As stated before rear mains dont go out often on these engines. But if so u will need to pull trans and flex plate. As far as turbo, depends on which setup you decide to go on. The ats 093 I have on my truck was fairly simple enough. As far as front main seal I did mine while I was rebuilding it so simple enough, but in ur case I would just remove the harmonic balancer and belts. And for more wiggle room the fan and shroud. Although. I've never really had issues with the front seal either to be honest. Valve covers on the other hand... Thinking about getting some of that one minute gasket snot and gluing them shut! Mine have always leaked on the 7.3 I had before, my 6.9, and my current 7.3 that was installed last year. But those are up top and eisier to get to.

 

[Drake Smith]

Thanks for the info! All the oil just concerns me. And the temp gauge not going up very high after 30 minutes and having the radiator be super hot. The original motor being replaced under warranty at 70k miles due to cavitation also concerns me for this motor. It's got about 72k on it. If I buy it I plan on putting in the VC8 additive but it still scares me a bit. Also, the owner said he put new glowplugs in awhile back but used Bosch glowplugs. He has the original ones still and the original injector pump as well in a box in the back seat. He replaced the injector pump about 8k miles ago. I know these trucks run best on the motorcraft glowplugs, but how are the Bosch ones?

 

[frankenwrench]

I did not care for them myself. Seemed like the wts light stayed on a good bit longer than it should. Especially being that my need for glowplugs shouldn't be that demanding as I live in Texas. The zd9 motorcrafts do really well. I heard the beru glowplugs do well but I dont know for sure myself. I did not have the Bosch in verry long either so I dont know if they are known to swell like the autolights. Only had mine for 2 months.

 

[DaveBen]

Beru makes Motorcraft glow plugs.

 

[frankenwrench]

Beru makes Motorcraft glow plugs.

Well now I know.

 

[Drake Smith]

So if I could get the truck for less than $2500, is it worth it?

 

[frankenwrench]

So if I could get the truck for less than $2500, is it worth it?

I think so. If it were me I wouldn't bat an eye and have another thread that read "new to me idi" and start going through suggestions on here as to what needed addressed first and shoot up a ton of pics. As far as worrying about the oil, suggestions have been posted. I personally just pulled the sensor out from the driver side head that controls the dash temp gauge and went with a mechanical gauge for a more accurate reading. The gauge on the dash has always been faulty for me even after changing the sensor on my 91 f 250. That and I just like seeing a number rather than a range that spans across the word "normal".

 

[Drake Smith]

Okay. I know they make turbo kits for these and I plan on doing a turbo install. Would the transmission be able to hold up to the turbo though or would I need to add a shift kit or something? I am slightly worried about the transmission. It did kinda hardshift once or twice. I'm pretty sure the skidding was from the u joints. There was a bit of delayed shifting too in first gear. And I'm worried about the overdrive when getting up to speed and having to let off the throttle and hit it again fo engage overdrive. What are all your thoughts on that? I plan on putting smokestacks in the truck as well.

 

[frankenwrench]

Well the auto supposedly holds up better than the manual trans according to ford, honestly I don't care for any auto so I dont really know how well it holds up to the turbo but I would assume it would do fine if it were working properly. Thewespaul, IDIot, IDIbronco, and many others would know more about that than I.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

When it's in good shape, the E4OD will have no trouble holding up to a turbo. If you're going to do very much heavy towing, or if you're going to be building a lot of boost for whatever reason, then something like a Banks Trans Command and possibly a shift kit would be a good idea. A firm shift (not head snapping hard shift) is better than a soft shift. An auxilliary transmission cooler would be a good thing too. Heat is the enemy of these transmissions too so a trans temp gauge would be a good idea even if all you do is drive empty to the grocery store. Like Frankenwrench, I'd rather have a ZF5, but if I had an automatic, I'd prefer an E4OD over a C6.