So I just bought a clean 94 F350 with a non-Powerstroke engine. I can't hear the turbo spool *at all*. Its running a straight pipe with no muffler that dumps right before the rear axle (don't ask me why). I removed the cover and spun the turbo, it spins freely with no discernible shaft play.

I'm reading both yes and no on whether or not this engine has a wastegate. I'm seeing a little actuator with a rod that is attached to an arm on the turbo. Is the IDI really this gutless? It can't get out of its own way. A slight incline will drag it down from 65 to 50 with no load at all. I have to put the pedal on the floor to recover the lost speed. It isn't really smoking at all. I also drove about 70 miles and used half a tank of fuel and I never broke 65!

I'm getting a 25' camper and I don't think it will pull it at all. My little 92' dodge with a bone stock 12v will dance circles around this anchor.

It starts fine, no rough idle, seems peppy enough in first through third. But highway speeds it just can't handle.

What should I be checking?

Thanks!

 

Injectors could be going out. A bad spray will cause loss of power.

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Thanks!

What else could it be? I'm assuming if it was the injector pump it wouldn't be drinking fuel like no tomorrow?

I bought the truck to do a a 12v conversion. I had hoped to be able to drive the truck long enough to do a few things to the 12v before swapping. I found some cheap reman injectors on fleabay for $180 with a core charge. I wouldn't mind spending $180 if it buys me a year of reasonable use out of the IDI before I yank it. But if it's going to be more complicated and expensive....

 

Could be many things. Check rubber fuel lines between injectors...might be sucking air as well. I wouldent start putting much money in it to "just get by" could cost more than its worth unless you plan on a complete rebuild and running it.

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Would 285/75/17's be too big for a stock IDI? Doesn't seem like they would be. It has 4.10 gears.

 

I had a 93 nonturbo IDI. It had trouble pulling hills with 33 inch tires and 3.55 gears. On the Pennsylvania Turnpike, I would have to floor it and it would kick down to third gear to pull some of the long hills on that highway. It turned out that the generic exhaust system the previous owner had installed was simply too small. It had a 2-1/4 inch tailpipe coming out before the rear tire. I fabricated a 4 inch exhaust system for it and it pulled the same hills in 5th gear at half throttle. The factory turbo on the IDI really added very little power to the engine. It added about five or 10 hp, and about 50 foot-pounds of torque.

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By the way, if you're not familiar with the cavitation issues inherent to diesels, especially the 7.3 IDI, it would be good to get familiar with that and run the anti-cavitation additive. The higher compression ratio of the 7.3 IDI makes it especially susceptible to cavitation.

 

Just realized that I posted this in the wrong thread section.

I got a chance to play around with the truck this weekend and discovered something. I removed the filter assembly and drove it to the end of the street and back with an open turbo. Huge improvement! I replaced the airbox and left the plastic snorkel off. It will now run down the highway fine and will actually accelerate on hills!

Has anyone else run into these kind of restrictions from the snorkel? I also discovered that the PO was running 3(!!!) springs on the throttle arm. No wonder I had to stand on the pedal to get it to go anywhere.