Non-Turbo IDI horsepower curves

[perryg114]

I was going up a mountain with my camper on the back and noticed that it did not seem to matter weather I was in 3rd or 2cnd. It also did not seem to have much effect after half throttle. It would kick down to 2cnd when I floored it but nothing much happened other than an increase in RPM. The camper weighs about 1500lbs loaded. How the heck do you pull a 10,000 trailer up a mountain if about all I could do was 40mph with only 1500lbs. On flat ground it seems to run pretty good but hills make it shudder with fear.

Perry

[cdnsarguy]

http://www.gearvendors.com/hrfordhptorque.html

[JustinWhaley]

What was the grade of the road that you are talking about?

Another thing, how old is your fuel system?

[asauer]

How many miles are on your tranny? I bet it's slipping horribly. Sounds about like my trans before it puked- Didn't matter much past 1/2 throttle- it would just be slipping and burning itself up. I hate those transmissions with a passion. Do what I did- get a 5-speed and never look back... [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smokin.gif[/img] But I bet it could be your torque converter-- that's what took mine out.

[perryg114]

I hope it is not the transmission. I can't afford that sort of problem. The fuel system needs some work. I know it needs injectors. It has the originals at 175,000. The injector pump seems to be ok. I know it has been replaced at least once since it is not painted gray like the injectors. It seems to start well hot or cold. It did not like to start hot when I had return line problems but that is fixed now. Injectors are the next fix on my list. I just got the radiator fixed. It was probably a 5% grade not very steep. The transmission would kick down to 2cnd when I pushed it too the floor but it did not seem to have any increase in horsepower. I don't think it was slipping cause the RPM was constant in a given gear. It shifts pretty well for an automatic (knock on wood). I wish I had a 5 speed.

Perry

[cdnsarguy]

The fact is as the hill increases you must shift down, I have gone down to 2nd with rpms at 2500+ rpm and half throttle (so as not to smoke abnormally) to make the Ossoyos hill in BC towing my 26TT at 45mph.

[navistar45]

perry.it's very possible you will have the original pump on the truck.they are not painted grey like the injectors are,[none i have seen].look for paint marker marks around your throttle linkage,cap screws on top of the pump,and other linkage parts.not saying this is 100 percent your problem,but i have seen many diesel engine wake up,with a properly built inj pump.they can get tired with miles..

[Justmike]

Rather than make the diagnosis as complicated as possible from the beginning, it might be prudent to eliminate the simplest of possibilities before going on to the more complex. This problem could be as simple as a fuel filter being in service too long and not allowing proper fuel flow. It could also be a clogged air filter but I think the sign of this would be much more black smoke than normal. It could be that his injector pump was not properly set for the correct rate of fuel delivery, being set much too low. (an unheavily loaded engine would run just fine but not give adequate acceleration) If the I.P. is near the end of its service life, I think it should have given the symptom of engine hard to start when warm. I got 278K miles on my original I.P. and, really, the main trouble I had was "hard to start when warm." Even with a tired I.P. the truck would still pull my 5,000+ pound boat/trailer adequately and that's going up hills. Checking for the right pressure at the Schraeder valve on the fuel filter housing can be a fooler too. You can have the proper pressure and still not have proper flow. Start by eliminating the simplest of possible causes of this trouble by making sure the air filter is good and clean and if you weren't the one who last changed the fuel filter, you can't be certain when it was changed last so go ahead and change that too. I had an '87 GMC Suburban with a 6.2L diesel which exhibited this symptom and all I had to do was change the fuel filter. Good luck!

'94 F250 turbo diesel, 4X4 SC ZF5 stock and as anemic as ever

[perryg114]

Sounds like the fuel filter is a good place to start. I did have starting problems before return lines and new batteries but that is gone now. I am a little hesitant to dump money into this thing. I could spend Several hundred dollars putting in a new fuel system then have the engine cavitate or the transmission die on me. The air cleaner is new and the bowl has been cut off by the PO. I am planning a couple of trips to FL soon so I hope it does not break down. Does Autozone or Advance have a fuel filter for the IDI's ? I am going to try to do this in stages and not break the bank. I guess ignorance is bliss as far as problems go. I paid $6000 for the truck a couple of years ago and have not used it much but am planning of taking it camping fairly often now. I don't want to end up spending several thou on a old truck when the $$ could go to a newer power stroke with a manual transmission. I guess injectors is next on my list. Does midwest fuel injection still have the best price on injectors and are poeple having problems with getting bad new ones? The truck does not seem to smoke (black) as much as it use to but I attributed that to using fuel additive (power service and Stanadyne). One injector has been replace along with a fuel line so things may be out of balance.

Perry

[oldcoldankles]

[ QUOTE ]
The fact is as the hill increases you must shift down, I have gone down to 2nd with rpms at 2500+ rpm and half throttle (so as not to smoke abnormally) to make the Ossoyos hill in BC towing my 26TT at 45mph.

[/ QUOTE ]
Exactly - my heavily loaded F350 LWB dually 4x4 was smoking badly as it climbed the Coquihalla Connector with a 7-8% grade for 27km. I radioed ahead and the driver reported he was pulling 1,500 RPM in third gear. I requested him to shift to 2nd and he continued on at 2,500 RPM with little smoke and the same speed.