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1994 F250 7.3 IDI Turbo

43K views 6 replies 7 participants last post by  c_grimpe 
#1 ·
Hello::ford::ford:

Looking to buy a 1994 F250 IDI factory turbo, 7.3L, E4OD automatic, 3L55 rear end gear ratio with 170,000 miles.

My questions are only for this truck and I want to do what ever is reasonable to get the best MPG.
Today, in Houston Shell stations on I-45, diesel was $351.9 per gal and gasoline was $3.01 per gal. Today a friend of mine in rural Texas paid $3.79 per gallon. Does any one think diesel prices will fall below gasoline prices again?

Because I am new to diesel, I have a few questions:

1. Is this a pretty good truck? I am told that in 1994, the three choices were:
A. IDI 7.3 non-turbo.
B. IDI 7.3 turbo.
C. DI 7.3 powerstroke.

2. Turbo. Can anyone help me understand what the turbo does--increase HP, increase Torque, and increase MPG. How many MPG increase will a IDI Turbo have over a IDI non turbo? Now, I am not considering 1994 7.3 Powerstroke.

3. Turbo. What effect does a bad turbo have on a truck?

4. Turbo. A Ford partsman told me a new IDI Turbo would cost about $850.00. How many hours would it take to install it?

5. Turbo. Is it cheaper and easier to rebuild a turbo or doe it take many more hours?

6. Injection Pump. Can it be manually adjusted to increase MPG like the old 6.9L ?

7. Injection Pump. Can a remanufactured Injection Pump increase MPG? A Ford parts man said it would cost about$575.00.

8. Rear end Gear ratio. How many more MPG should I get with this 3L.55 versus the 4.10 rear end?
I am a conservative driver in city and on highway.

9. Fuel Injectors. Would new injectors increase MPG?

Any help will be apprecited.
Thanks,
Pat1920
 
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#2 ·
Welcome to TDS........ You sound like you spend a lot of time leaning on the Ford parts counter. There are many fine suppliers for replacement parts at reasonable prices that Ford would bend you over the counter for.

Will the price of diesel go down....... not until the farmers start plowing in the northern USA and Canada in a couple months. Regular fuel was $1.08 per litre CDN here and diesel is about $1.12 right now.

A rebuilt injection pump and new injectors will certainly help, coupled with engine timing you should see fuel mileage relative to the way you drive.

I will leave the turbo questions to those with one and experience.....

The truck sounds like worth while venture
 
#3 ·
Historically, diesel goes higher than gas in the winter when heating oil demands go up, and then in the summer, diesel prices go below gas.... BUT ever since hurricane Katrina all bets are off. The oil companies have been milking that one for everything they can so I don't know how many more years they're going to keep ripping us off in the summer on diesel prices. Even so, if you need a truck to pull anything, you're not going to spend any less on fuel per mile doing it with a gasser no mater how you slice it. Especially with what you're looking at with a 3.55 rear, fuel mileage should be pretty sweet.

There's a guy on ebay selling a rebuild kit for a turbo for under a hundred bucks and he'll balance the assembly free if you send it to him.

A turbo is a funny thing, it can give you more power or better mileage, but not both at the same time. If you realy watch your foot and let the truck accellerate slowly allowing the turbo to spin up a little before giving any more fuel and letting the engine run on more air, you'll get beter mileage. If you tromp on it and stuff the fuel to the thing and get the turbo spinning hard, you're mileage will suck, but you'll have lots of get up and go.
 
#4 ·
Check the turbo blades and the shaft play if you can get to them. I am not sure how the IDI turbo is set up. On my psd (guess what, its a 1994!) you cant get to the shaft without taking a solid elbow off. make sure the blades are not chewed up. It will have SOME circular play but make sure it does not contact the housing. Check the end play of it by pushing in an out. It shouldn't be excessive. Rebuild kits are probably the more economical way to go for me.


Anthony
 
#5 · (Edited)
like pete said you can get parts a little cheaper from places other than ford.

for some of your questions

yes you can turn the pump up just like a 6.9

an ip pump and injectors will give you more mpg and make her run better.

also get the ats upgrade kit for you factory turbo setup as this gets rid of tons of restriction put on there by ford

and some kind of better flowing exhaust and you will get 20-22mpg if you do what you were told about easily getting on the pedal.

and it will go down but i doubt it will go lower than gas.

and if you need a turbo rebuild it or get it rebuilt it is alot cheaper.
 
#6 ·
Yeah like other people said- check the play and look at the blades. If it feels like it has too much play, it probably does...if the compressor wheel is chipped up, you'll want to replace it.

Rebuilding a turbo is easy BUT you may want to look at having it rebalanced. I put new bearings in mine and marked the shaft before I took it apart, so I'm placing my bets on it still being balanced so I can save $100. I'm hoping it doesn't come back to bite me in the ass.

Removing the turbo can be a pain, but it's actually not all that hard, especially if you're only removing the center section to rebuild it. That's actually pretty easy.

Oh, and 3.55's should get you decent mileage...I picked up a set of 3.55's for my truck, I just have to get them swapped in.
 
#7 ·
Hello::ford::ford:

Looking to buy a 1994 F250 IDI factory turbo, 7.3L, E4OD automatic, 3L55 rear end gear ratio with 170,000 miles.

My questions are only for this truck and I want to do what ever is reasonable to get the best MPG.
Today, in Houston Shell stations on I-45, diesel was $351.9 per gal and gasoline was $3.01 per gal. Today a friend of mine in rural Texas paid $3.79 per gallon. Does any one think diesel prices will fall below gasoline prices again?

Because I am new to diesel, I have a few questions:

1. Is this a pretty good truck? I am told that in 1994, the three choices were:
A. IDI 7.3 non-turbo.
B. IDI 7.3 turbo.
C. DI 7.3 powerstroke.

2. Turbo. Can anyone help me understand what the turbo does--increase HP, increase Torque, and increase MPG. How many MPG increase will a IDI Turbo have over a IDI non turbo? Now, I am not considering 1994 7.3 Powerstroke.

3. Turbo. What effect does a bad turbo have on a truck?

4. Turbo. A Ford partsman told me a new IDI Turbo would cost about $850.00. How many hours would it take to install it?

5. Turbo. Is it cheaper and easier to rebuild a turbo or doe it take many more hours?

6. Injection Pump. Can it be manually adjusted to increase MPG like the old 6.9L ?

7. Injection Pump. Can a remanufactured Injection Pump increase MPG? A Ford parts man said it would cost about$575.00.

8. Rear end Gear ratio. How many more MPG should I get with this 3L.55 versus the 4.10 rear end?
I am a conservative driver in city and on highway.

9. Fuel Injectors. Would new injectors increase MPG?

Any help will be apprecited.
Thanks,
Pat1920
ok my name is chas. i own a 1994 idi turbo diesel. i know it like the back of my hand. one the turbo basically produces boost to your upper cylinder to increase power. it does give you more mpg than a standard diesel with no turbo. honestly i am very satisfied with this truck. i pull a 30 foot horse trailer with it and it pulls better than any diesel ive ever driven. it is an excellent truck. a bad turbo in a truck puts major lag in your motor which is dangerous when the motor is designed to run with boost. a diesel cannot be lagged if you understand what i mean. it will drastically increase your egt's.(exhaust gas temp.) to install a new turbo on that same truck it takes me 3 and a half hours at the most but i can do it in 2. if your going to rebuild the turbo make sure a proffesional do it. i dont reccomend doing it on your own unless youve done it before. takes to long. and turns into a hassle. the injection pump can be increased just like the 6.9 liter, same way you would with the 6.9. its very easy. a remaned pump probably wouldnt do much for you as far as mpg goes but it may depending on if yours is damaged or not. the 410 gears will give you more torque and power but on highway it will drastically change your mpg. the 3l55 will deffinately be the better way. it will still give you the power and the highway speed. much more efficient. if your injectors are bad you will feel a miss in the engine but they very rarely go bad and the stock injectors are pretty efficient for fuel milage. they runn about 34 dollars a piece brand new. but if you have any other questions feel free to e-mail me or quote me back. the 7.3l is a very good engine especially in the f-250. one other thing i could tell you is the injector lines, when they leak you will notice power loss. its because its sucking in air and your lossing fuel milage badly. if they look like they leak at all i would buy a injector line rebuild. they run anywhere from 35 to 70 dollars depending on what all you buy. have funn with the truck its an awsome truck to have they are very rare i would take this one over a powerstroke any day.
 
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