Hey a friend of mine is looking to buy a 93 f250 with the 7.3L IDI engine. Is there anything about this engine like known problems, recalls, or anything else he should know. Also, he wants a turbo diesel and I know this engine came in a turbo but not all of them. The truck has 245,000 miles, is this too much for this engine or is it still benig broken in?

Thanks
DF92

 

Hey, just to let you know 7.3L is a running fool. The guy at powerstrokehelp.com had a shop truck that finally bit the dust just shy of 800K. These things will last along time but you have to maintain them and keep them up. As for your 93 with the 7.3L 245K mi should be looked at with caution, unless you know the history behind this truck personally. A well maintained 7.3 might just be a great buy.

 

My 92 had 270xxx on it when i bought in Jan. aint really had no problems with it other then just basic maintaince and now shes pushin 290xxx and runs like a champ until i get to about a 1/4 tank then she runs rough but thats cause i got to replace the pick ups in the tanks but thats really the only known issue on these trucks that im awhere of DieselCrawler would probly be able to help better

 

late 93's did have turbos on them, but it was an option. some 94's did also.

only issue with the motor is the 7.3 cavitation issues that happens on number 7 cyl normally. i would take a look at the coolant and ask about cooling system flushes and if sca levels were checked often. that helps prevent the cavitation.

check main things onver that everyone would check. oil leaks, what air filter looks like.

if it looks like it was all just serviced, might be hiding somthing.

is it 4x4? manual or auto?

also in pa, check for rust in body. duno where in pa u are but salt sucks. also rusted out rear shackle hangers are a common thing. cheap to replace.

 

As diesel crawler said the only thing I can think of also is the cavitation #7 gets down to around .45 thousands there was misprint in there casting and made some areas of the cylinder wall thin. So you have to knock a sleeve in #7

 

The only thing I can say is to check your glow plug system really good. See if the guy will let him take the truck home and run it before he hands the money over let it sit overnight and see how it starts and runs. And through the winter months keep inside and block heater plugged in if its a cinder block garage. The GP system on these trucks is really the big issue, if it's not in top shape then forget it it ain't gonna turn over. Here is how I wired mine to a manual system, only reason I did this is to keep from burning them out, ya know when the truck is hot you dont want them turnin on every single time you start your truck. Here's how I did mine.https://www.dieselbombers.com/attach...1&d=1363194943

It's really simple to do. You just get rid of the white cute cut it off and throw it away, run a piece of wire from that terminal to your button, splice into the WTS light and put it on the same terminal of the relay and tighten down run a ground wire your button to the frame for ground. That's it. Your mimking the white wire but dont hold em over 15 seconds. After I got mine wired up I went out the next day it was 30* I had to barley touch it and it started that fast.

 

I had my truck for a long time and sure I didnt win any awards for speed but I put mine head to head with grandpa's 99 SD power stroke and its got some nice stuff to it, but the thing that really threw me is winter time use on the 250 was starting in the winter, ya know ya wait for the light to go out, I learned those things are useless on the PSD is dont use the WTS light, if you have a 98+ wait for you external mounted fuel pump to quit running, then it's ready to fire. For IDI's wait about 30 seconds after the light goes out. Look at my above post to see how yours should start. But all diesels have there pros and cons, it's all about choice.

 

93 and 94 had turbodiesel as a factory option. Prior was a dealer ad on But are all ATS turbos. The first guy was right If they had the coolant additive done and maintained the coolant flush and additive then it may be good. Prolem is YOU DONT KNOW. You damn sure don't want one and have it succumb to cylinder cavitation in 50 K miles. Its real, seen my buddy go through it twice. It sucks. 94 they introduced the powerstroke and had 3 engine options the IDI was gone the next year. The Glow plug heater is definitely critical but can be done by any shmo. and check the fuel return lines for cracking or hardening do the blow by tests and listen to the oil fill opening for whistling or screeching noises.

 

If it whistles it is just the air going aginst the fan , on hig mile trucks you'll have that. but on a low miles one it wont.