A friend of mine recently aquired an 88 F250 4x4 with the 6.9 liter diesel and a 5-speed at a farm auction; it's been offered to me for a very small price. I'll likely use the drivetrain(except TTB front end) in a Landcruiser project rig. My question is what axles did these rigs run in the rear, what transfer case, axle ratios, any info on this engine (hp/torque, cubic in, were they turbo'd or not?) and or truck would be greatly appreciated, any specific web sites with spec on this era truck?

 

I can give you some of the info. Rear is a Dana 70, likely 3.54 or 4.10 ratio. No turbo on the engine if it's stock. 6.9 liters is 420 c.i. 170 HP/315 ft# torque. They last pretty good if left stock and if the coolant is maintained properly.

The DieselStop has a pretty active forum devoted to these trucks.

http://www.thedieselstop.com/

 

WannaDiesel, thanks for the info and the link, I'll see what I can learn over there.

 

**** good engine. get it and you wont be dissapointed.

 

go to www.oilburners.net (very good multi brand site) theres alot of ford people there that will give you all the info you need and yes thats a very good engine

 

I agree

i wish i had one... (parked next to my cummins..)Just as dependable as the 7.3, i have heard that the originals were no good tho.. but then again, there are lemons to everything.. argve has one, and he is an idi walkin encyclopedia.. he can help..

best of luck

Tx

 

My '86 has a High Altitude 6.9L. It is 150hp. Non-turboed, indirect injected (IDI). Ford/Sterling 10.25 rear axle. Dana front. C-6 3spd. auto. 3.55 gears. Either a Borg-Warner 13-45 or 13-56. Don't recall which one, of hand. My previous '82 F-250 gasser had one those, and the '86 has the other.

 

owned a 1987???? 6.9 L Ford F-350 i think that was the year :/ Bought it from the dealer new, and she actually had very low miles but they were all "work" miles, no driving to the grocery store for her... sold it with 80,000 miles. which for being... 12 or 13 years old when i sold it is pretty **** low.

overloaded it one time and blew all 4 rear tires.. i must have had 6 tons? maybe 7? it was crazy! couldnt kill that girl!

, that truck would start on -20 Fahrenheit days, without being plugged in mind you!

truthfully it was the most reliable truck i ever owned to do work with "construction"

hauled 4 tons of stone every other day for 12 or so years,

Ended up buying a dodge dump, atliest this has air conditioning!!! woohoo

the dodge dump was a gasser... can you say mistake? 360 3500 gasser... i hate this thing, on a windy day on the highway blowing at me, i have to down shift into 4th gear to keep my speed above 55 mph!!

hah underpowered truck, but still just as reliable as that 6.9 was

 

Thanks everyone for all of the input, I'll hopefully get to take a look at it in July (it's located in south-eastern New York, hence it'll be some time before I can get back there).

 

Are you looking for something like this (Google search results):

http://www.buysell.com/root/details/..._43980807.html

 

Charcoal,

Expect to put head a set of head gasket on it because the 6.9 are known for popping the head gaskets are the rear of the heads (oil induced problem - CDR) but other than that they are a pretty solid runner in the IH IDI world. Coolant conditioning is recommened but they don't seem to fail to cavitation because of the thick cylinder walls (as compared to the 7.3 IDI).

You'll want to check that rear end because somewhere around the 88-89 model year Ford started stuffing Sterling rear ends under them. I know my 91 Dually had a Sterling and the DANA was an option that original owner did not spring for at time of purchase.

The two websites listed oilburners and TDS are both good sites for the IDI. Most of the hard core IDI'ers have now moved to oilburners but still frequent TDS from time to time. I visit both on a daily basis and read all the posts on both in the "basement" as we affectionally call it.

Now I see where some one posted that they had a high altitude pump - yep they (factory) turned them down when they were for the high elevations because of the thinner air but that can fixed real easy. Simple turn of the internal fuel screw on the DB2 pump.

88ish was also the year(s) that they started bringing in the solid state glow plug controller so you could have either the old relay logic style (problematic at best) or the solid state system (rock solid). Most that have the relay style just wired around them to make 'em manual style. The IDI's won't hardly start if you don't have glow plugs in good working order, they like to be warmed a bit before lighting off - nothing like these Cummins (hit key like in a gasser).

I only know about them because I pushed to the breaking point many many times... Just remember they don't like water injection at ALL...

 

As for the 6.9, it will be a better power unit, as far as acceleration and general driveability, in that Land Cruser than the F-series it came from. They are work-engines only, very little real acceleration, do not like to rev, and as the previous post mentioned, they will barely start at all if the glow plugs are not in great shape. I would simply change all 8 of them on install into the new truck if I were you. Even with glowplugs operative, they tended to be hard-starting, perhaps requiring a gentle push of the throttle as you crank it. Consider the weight and space factor, it's a heavy old unit, and the LC's were designed for an I-6, as you know. Good luck!

 

Yep, I know. Getting rid of the truck one of these days. Tired of working on the thing. The last 4 times I've driven it, something else broke. That is why I bought the Ram. Haven't driven it much since then.

I'll be doing good to break even on parts.

Had to put in a set of headgaskets at 129k. Puked oil.

Never should've bought it.

 

bmoller,

If you have had trouble with your rig, and if you have the space, time, and intrest, have you given thought to parting that truck out and selling it on ebay? Many of those old units are actually worth a lot more apart than as a whole. Takes some time, patience, and effort, but it could pay off. Just my $.02.

 

We own one, it has 547 000 kms on it, and it hasnt been drove easy to put it lightley. It's a woods truck, hauled fuel tanks, rarely gotta old change. Everything else fell top crap, but amazingly the engines lasted.