Suggested Upgrades

[idiambulance]

I purchased a 6.9 idi ambulance im turning into a camper. Im curious what upgrades would yall suggest for it. So far I want to upgrade the oil pressure sensor to a more modern sender unit. I have been debating adding a turbo but I got some more learning to do before I take on that project.

 

[Big Bart]

Factory gauges leave a lot to be desired. So add oil pressure, water temp, and voltage at a minimum. Boost and egt if going turbo.

I would change all the fluids. Remember to use a SCA coolant or additive!

Check your air cleaner

Check you injector pump timing.

Replace your CDR valve and gromet/boot.

Replace your fuel filter

Check your brake pads and shoes. Adjust rear brakes

If you want to do some preventive mechanical things that lead to common issues. These are not super expensive but can save you a lot of issues while traveling.

1) Replace oil cooler seals.
2) Replace the lift pump.
3) Diesel return line kit.
4) Glow plugs and compression test.
5) Belts and hoses.


Turbo could also be a nice upgrade, I do not have one so will let others share their thoughts.

As you go to do each one of the repairs above search old threads on this site and watch a YouTube video or two. Post questions as needed.

Welcome to the club!

 

[idiambulance]

Now I have tons of stuff that I have to read up on. I did when I first got it do all the fluids minus the differential fluid and transmission fluid. I have started replacing some of the rougher looking rubber lines as well. When you said "Boost and egt if going turbo" what did you mean by boost?

 

[Big Bart]

What pressure your turbo is charging the intake to. You want the turbo to push air into the engine VS have the engine natually suck it in. (More efficient.) So you will want to monitor when and how much the turbo is charging the intake manifold to.

 

[idiambulance]

What pressure your turbo is charging the intake to. You want the turbo to push air into the engine VS have the engine natually suck it in. (More efficient.) So you will want to monitor when and how much the turbo is charging the intake manifold to.

I know very little about this so forgive my naivety. So the sensor doesnt let you know if something is wrong just simply that the turbo is preforming properly?

 

[Big Bart]

A boost gauge tells you via a PSI pressure rating -

1) If the turbo is even working. (No boost, not working.)
2) Too little boost means you are not running at peak. To much boost you can overheat the engine. Maximum boost is generally adjustable via the waste gate, it opens at a pre-set PSI to let air go out and keep the intake manifold PSI from going over that pre-set amount. For instance perhaps 13psi. The waste gate at 13 psi lets some of the air pressure out of the turbo so it does not build up too much boost/PSI.

Boost is produced by large amounts of exhaust gasses wanting to get by theexhaust turbo fan, they have to spin the exhaust fan out of the way to get by. The more the exhaust the faster the exhaust fan spins. The other side of the turbo shaft is the intake fan, it starts to spin faster too (They spin at the same RPM.) and pushes air into the intake. So say 1,000 rpm you have 2-3 psi of boost. At 3,000 rpm you may have say 13 psi of boost. So it lets you start to understand how hard your turbo is working.

To add to this story, as boost comes up, the exhaust gas tempurates rise (EGT's rise) so now you have to find that happy medium of just enough boost and not too high of EGT's that you melt a piston.

So with no gauges for boost and EGT's you really can't tell where the danger zone is or when you are in it.

 

[idiambulance]

How risky is adding a turbo. You mentioned overheating a couple times and to be honest im a novice of this at best. I asked this initially so I could make it more reliable and less likely for me to mess up. This sounds like exactly the opposite of that. On the other hand I plan on taking this across country and expect it to experience some hot and cold some steep mountains and kansas plains. Is this something I should explore to help meet those objectives. The world is in too much of a rush but im not. I just want to get there and know I have a solid vehicle system to make that happen.

 

[Big Bart]

IDIambulance,

I am not a turbo expert, have never added one to a Ford IDI, and my IDI does not have one. Have had other cars with turbo's and my boat has a turbo. So familure with how they operate and service them. However I have not added one to a Ford. So we can let those who have, chime in.

My concern for my 88 F250 truck is that it's 33 years old, not a daily driver, I do not spend a lot of time going up mountains, and adding a turbo might mean having to do head gaskets or a rebuild sooner than later. So I am not racing to put one on. If my engine only had 50,000 miles and was only 5 years old, I would giving adding one considerable thought. If it was new or newly rebuilt I would feel the engine could take the extra power.

There is also the cost. You have to buy a good used kit, or worse a new one. From what I have read you also have to change injectors and the injector pump. (Or at least turn it up quite a bit.) If used you may have to rebuild the turbo down the road which costs a couple hundred on the low end.

Then there is the work involved doing all of that. Now maybe for a coast to coast 3 month trip it is worth it. But putting on 2,000 miles a year locally, I can live without for now.

So for me its not pencilling out, for you perhaps it does!

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Something else about turbos to consider. There was a few turbo kits sold for vans, but I have no idea on the availability of them today. If you want to learn about van turbos, member "Cubey" has one in his 27" van based RV. Also maybe member "Genscrpiter" has one. I can't remember right now.
I'd bet that your 6.9 ambulance has a C6 transmission and 4.10 gears. That means a lower top speed which isn't really fun on the Kansas interstates. A turbo would help you out at higher elevations. Our engines really struggle without one when the hills get steep and/or the elevation gets higher.

 

[Old Goat]

Here is a thread from FTE on the same subject.
Genscripter added some good Van info.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1664313-van-turbo-kit-difference-over-stock.html


Goat

 

[Cubey]

Our engines really struggle without one when the hills get steep and/or the elevation gets higher.

IMO they can still struggle with turbo on steep hills and high elevation when you have something higher profile like my RV, unless it's a problem with my turbo (which is possible). I have seen the boost gauge get up around 9 on a hill though so presumably it's working at least somewhat properly.

The boost gauge is poorly mounted with the steering wheel blocking it unless I lean to look down. EGT was the same until I moved it. Not enough extra tubing to move the boost gauge unlike plenty of cable to move EGT.

 

[idiambulance]

Ive thought about it a bunch and thank all of you for all this information. It has been most informative. I think for the time being I am going to just keep it naturally aspirated. Im almost to the point of doing some test drives in the mountains around here and I guess that will be the true test of what it can do loaded up.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

The pyro is still a good idea. Especially since you say that you're going to stay N/A and will be driving it in the mountains.

 

[Cubey]

The pyro is still a good idea. Especially since you say that you're going to stay N/A and will be driving it in the mountains.

Yeah. My NA F250 was rolling coal on a steep hill in Colorado where I saw a 90s Chevy pulled over. Also lacked a proper water temp gauge at the time. I had enough sense not to make it smoke like that anyway even before I knew of EGTs and pyrometers, so thankfully it didn't seem too hurt it. I haven't noticed my RV smoking bad, except on takeoffs above about 6k feet, but it's the initial acceleration it needs to get it moving that generates the black cloud. My F250 really only has problems above 9500 feet it seems like.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

My F250 really only has problems above 9500 feet it seems like.

Since I don't have an altimeter, I can only guess on altitudes. I've noticed that mine differs with speed. Going over Monarch Pass in Colorado, at 11,312', mine struggles. I can keep the speed up and the EGTs down, but I flirt with the governor a lot. Going over Cottonwood Pass, also in Colorado, with the same load, at 12,126', I didn't have anywhere close to as much trouble. The speed limit on Cottonwood Pass is 35 MPH for all but the eastern most 1 mile and then it's down to 25 or even 20 at the switchback at the top. I don't really recall, but I believe that Monarch Pass is 50+ MPH all the way except for at the top where it's 35 MPH. I'm sure that the grade comes into play some too, but I don't have a comparison. At lower elevations, I only had trouble on steeper grades. I know that there is a hill that's just west of Canon City, CO that always makes my N/A truck struggle. Going from Buena Vista, CO the Colorado Springs, CO last summer, I only had a couple of places that I had any trouble at all. It was dark and kind of rainy so I couldn't see how steep the grade was. I do feel that if I had been able to see them and build up a little bit extra speed, I would have been able to drive up them without the need to downshift.