'88 F350 with 7.3 non turbo diesel...

anybody have any experiences with this early engine?
i havent gotten over to look at it yet but want to go prepared to look for known weaknesses.

its actually an ambulance with a removeable box...i'm looking at it as a replacement for my fleet of older junk to move tractors,dozers,and other farm stuff...local VFD has it and have no use for it due to lack of EMT's
also any ideas of what auto's were available in '88
i retired from the dealerships in '88 but i was working on cars the last few years,so i'm pretty much in the dark about this truck.

The 7.3 is just about indestructable. Just worked on one yesterday that wouldn't start. It was an 02 Powerstroke so it was electronic. They have a high pressure oil system to run the injection. As soon as I put 10 out of 15 qts oil in it, it was willing to run. Didn't sound bad either. I'm pretty sure an 88 would have a C6 behind it. The only electronic thing you'll find on that truck is the regulator in the alternator...

I have a 86 that I re-powered with the 7.3 out of I believe a 88 truck..

Compared to the "newer" diesels, it can be under powered, but, I have pulled quite a few loads of right around 8k behind it, plus the truck has a flatbed that is quite heavy, plus a transfer tank, side boxes full of all sorts of things, a gas air compressor in the bed, and quite often my welder/generator too.. I weighed the truck with the tools and such and me in the seat, and I think was around 8k.. so, figure that plus the load at 16k (probably a little heavier than actual, as i can't remember the exact weight now that I want to..)

I have a 3 speed auto behind mine.. Not sure of the gear ratio however. From a dead stop, pulling a good load you won't set any 0-60 records, unless you're looking for the slowest.. LOL.. I average about 12 MPG, which I am content with..

My engine is a good runner, uses very little oil, and USUALLY starts pretty easily, even in our Michigan winters (If I KNOW I'll be driving it when it's really cold, I'll sometimes plug it in, but even without it usually will start pretty good)

The problems I have had are no direct fault of the engine.. It was a junkyard motor, unsure of mileage, but it needed a Injection pump right off the bat (which I was told is common if it had sat for a long period of time) and I had injectors tested, put a rear main seal at time of putting engine in the truck, glow plugs, and valve cover gaskets.. Pretty usual stuff I think.. I have put about 15k on it since dropping the engine in..

I am a satisfied owner.

Brad

hello bcnt;

i had a "93 250 with a 7.3 in it. it was a non turbo, and a pulling son of gun at sea level but when you got up in elevation, no pwr and lots of smoke. i put a banks turbo on it and that helped alot. but still was not the engine the later electronic 7,3 pwr strokes were/are. if you plan to use this vehicle in mountain terrain pulling heavy loads better think twice about it especially if it has the higher ratio rear end.

don

I've never owned one, but I get the impression that the International 7.3 IDI was a very good engine. It didn't have the power of Ford's own 7.3 (powerstroke) that replaced it, but I hear the International engine was actually more fuel efficient. Ford did put a turbo on early 90s models right before the Powerstroke came out to increase power, but the 7.3 IDI used in the factory turbo engines may have been built heavier than the non-turbo versions.

Judging by resale values, the IDI engines are still held in pretty high regard. Well, at least compared to the junkfest that is the GM 6.5L. They're definitely not as sought after as the 7.3 Powerstroke or a Dodge Cummins though.

The 7.3 Powerstroke came out in 94.5. Earlier models were an older 7.3 IDI. It's a different bird but was still made by International. Nonturbo will have considerable less power than a PS

ok,does the 7.3 eat head gaskets like the 6.9 binders did? one dealership i worked for had me doing those exclusivly...if i never pull a head off one of them pos's again it'll be too soon.
glad to hear its a C6 behind it.

That's the trouble with being a mechanic; you only see the bad ones and not the other 99% running down the road. :>)

But you're right to be concerned about an ambulance engine.

Those things have a high failure rate because they aren't worked and they are subject to a heck of a lot of cold starts without ever being warmed up.

Diesels don't like that. Heck, no engine should be subjected to that kind of abuse.

Allan

So I still have my 88 F-250 with 7.3 IDI non-turbo on the road. It runs great. One possible problem that is hard to detect is damage from cylinder cavitation caused by failure to maintain the cooling system properly. Not the fault of the owners, Ford sent out warnings to people in the late 90's because they were seeing more and more cylinder cavitation issues. Get some diesel coolant test strips from your tractor dealer and at least check the antifreeze to see if it may have been maintained properly.

Cavitation will cause cylinder damage that pretty much trashes the block. Also, the 7.3 block is a bored out 6.9 block, so the walls are thinner, you can't just bore it and pop new pistons in it, you need to install liners, but this engine does not have liners....

Wayne

I had a '90 f250 with that engine. Never had any problems other than one or two glow plugs every year. Got 18 mpg on everyday driving and 12-14 with loaded trailer. Had 250k miles when I got rid of it. Never had the valve covers off and still ran great. The rest of the truck body was in bad shape by then due to too many Wisconsin winters. I would be cautious of a retired ambulance as they get ran pretty hard on cold starts usually.

as others have said.. there was a 7.3 non turbo, then about 94 a turbo version came out till about 94.5, and then the 7.3 psd came out.

I've heard nothing but good things about all the engines.

keep a coolant addative in them, and keep good oil in the PSD's and a spare CPS in the clove box with a 10mm wrench and you are pretty well good to go.

soundguy

I"ve had a couple of them. The only issues I"ve had is dried/cracking return lines and o-rings letting air into the fuel system causing the injection pump to lose prime and hard/no start situations. Also, you must keep the glow plug system in top shape or they will not start. Check out www.fordtrucks.com. There is a forum there for the 6.9 and 7.3 IDI engines. It"s amazing what kind of info is on that site.

I had a 90 F-250 with 7.3 non turbo diesel and a 5 speed. Its not a power house but it was dependable. In the seven or so years that I owned mine. I had replaced a few glow plugs a starter and the positive battery lead. It was a bit hard starting in the winter until I changed the battery lead and starter. Corroded connection was causing problems. After that my hard starting issue stopped. My truck had to have the starter spinning at speed to start.

I've had two of them, both were good. The earlier one had glow plug problems- 3 different sensors, according to mechanic, hard to tell which is bad, and kinda spendy to replace. Glow plugs would come on when you're going down the road, and would get fried. Solution was to hard wire the glow plugs with #10 wire and a button on the dash, bypassing the sensors. End of problem.

Great old trucks but the 7.3 IDI"s were gutless when pulling a heavy load...I"ve owned them and have talked to many other former owners and the lack of pulling power was the main problem.....A 460 will walk all over them loaded and only get around 1 mpg less..

The 7.3"s are easy and inexpensive to work on..They will run forever if cared for..

I've still got three of the older IDI International H-Ford diesels. An 85 with a 6.9 and 330K miles, an 87 with a 7.3 and 260K miles, and a 94 with a turbo 7.3 with 240K miles (last 7.3 made before the DI Powerstroke).

6.9 and 7.3 are the same basic engines, but the 7.3 has a slightly larger bore. Both of my non-turbo versions have been extremely reliable and also dogs on fuel mileage and power. My 94 with the factory ATS turbo is pretty good on power and has a gotten a best of 17 MPG empty (E40D trans,4WD and 4.10 axles). The non-turbo 6.9 and 7.3 are both in trucks with C6 transmissions and 4.10 axle ratios. Both get 10-13 MPG.

Note that my 92 Dodge with the 5.9 Cummins, 5 speed Getrag trans and 3.50 axles will easily outpull my 94 Ford with the turbo 7.3 AND get 2-4 MPGs better. That all being said, my Dodge rides like a Sherman tank when empty and my 94 Ford rides like a Cadillac - empty or loaded.

Note I've never had ANY mechanical failures with any of my IH/Ford IDI diesels. Just routine injection-nozzle changes, water pumps, fuel pumps, a few injection pump reseal jobs, etc. All done as routine preventative maintenance and not due to break-downs. Glow plugs were never a problem once the German Beru plugs became the standard replacement (that's what Ford sells now in the Motorcraft box).

I have a 93 F350 with one. Good truck, it you treat it like a F150 with a 300 6cyl. You will be sorely disappointed if you think your gonna hook to a gooseneck and march up the road, but they're reliable. Be sure to run anti cav additive.

The short block is basically the same. Just pointing out that one with over 200K on it seems to have survived being run on 1/3 of the oil supposed to be in it...