Thinking of jumping on the diesel bandwagon....

[rusty ol ranger]

Found a real nice 86 F250 XLT Lariet, got the 6.9L. C6, 4x4, club cab, and virtually no rust. Insideis like new, havent heard it run yet but what do you guys think?

If i got it i would prolly be getting rid of both my 96 F150 and my 78 F350....crazy or no?

later,.
Dustin

 

[ati190]

the 6.9 isn't turbo'd afaik, and wasn't such a hot engine from what I remember. Swap in a 7.3, and ditch the f150, not the 78 F350!

 

[Ozwynn]

the 6.9 can handle 10 lb of boost, banks makes a kit for it (or used to). it wasn't a ba engine, just slow.

 

[Born24wheel]

Tough decision, the 6.9 isn't bad, good for mileage, but don't expect anything for power, although I think they do make turbo kits for them depending on what your going to use it for. Its probably better to look for an early 7.3 turbo. Just depends on how much they want for the f250, and if its worth selling the other two.

 

[bobbywalter]

well, those 6.9's run ok but generally dont get real good milage for capacity.


but run great with a banks setup...hypermax is real cheap to go with and a great value.

with a hype setup and some simple injector upgrades they run great...ok on mixes i use to get costs down. one thing i like about them is they are even cheaper to work with then the 6.5 on the open market for things like injectors and injector pumps and like the hypermax systems, just dont get better milage and really no more power till you mod the inj pump, but at least they can take the inj pump mods without exploding if you want to go that far.

 

[Ozwynn]

it makes about 350 sbc power.

Humble Beginnings
The party started back in 1982 when Ford offered its first diesel engine option in its pickups, vans, and special service vehicles (i.e. ambulances and buses). Ford chose Navistar, the parent company of the International Engine Group, to provide a solution in the form of a powerful V-8 that would allow many hard-working Joes like us to benefit from a reliable and economic diesel-powered truck. The 6.9L, 420-inch V-8 produced 175 hp and 318 lb-ft of torque with 20.7:1 compression. It featured IDI (Indirect Diesel Injection), which used a mechanical pump-line nozzle injection system that metered fuel into a small pre-chamber in the head before it was mechanically injected into the combustion chamber right before TDC. In 1984, a boost in compression to 21.5:1 jumped torque to 338 lb-ft, but there was no horsepower gain. These engines were typically good for 250,000 miles when properly maintained.

http://www.musclemustangfastfords.com/tech/mmfs_070025_power_stroke_diesel_history/index.html

 

[Will]

which used a mechanical pump-line nozzle injection system that metered fuel into a small pre-chamber in the head before it was mechanically injected into the combustion chamber right before TDC.

Whoever wrote that is a dangerous intellect. It should read more like:

which used a mechanical pump-line nozzle injection system that injected fuel into a small pre-chamber in the head, where the combustion begins, forcing the rest of the fuel out into the main combustion chamber right before TDC.

 

[Ozwynn]

I knew that didn't sound right.

 

[Simple_serf]

I seem to remember you bitching about the diesel "fad" in another thread though.

At least you choose a good engine...always amazed me how this was a 250K engine in a Ford but a 500K+ engine in an IH/Navistar though. I was lookin g at a school bus with one. It had over 600K miles, and the motor ran fine, just didn't like those winter starts.

 

[TinyBear]

The 6.9 and the Original 7.3 Diesel were really much the same.

The 7.3L is just a board out 6.9L but has a better top end (stronger head bolts) and a better glow plug modual.

But the 7.3L also had much thinner cylinder walls and were more suseptable to cavitation especially if the coolant was not treated with SCA's on a reg basis. The 6.9L did not have this issue.

Personally i have owned a old 7.3L with the Factory Turbo option. It is still by far my favorite pickup truck Diesel ever made. Made more power than i ever needed in stock trim and was a BEAST with a little wrench turning.

If i even had the need for heavy haul pickup again i would love to get my hands on a 1986 Crew Cab F350 with the 6.9L and a 4 or 5 speed stick 4wd. Id then get a banks kit for it and a gear vendors overdrive.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Well....im not going to get it.

Reason being....i went and took it for a drive and The trans was slipping like crazy....and the injectors we're leaking.

175HP and 315ftlbs? Thats less then my 400M makes.

later,
Dustin

 

[Sunk]

I drove an 86 F-250 Ext cab 4x4 with the 6.9 for the better part of last year. It wasn't too bad, just not too quick. Once it warmed up, it did fine but on cold mornings you couldn't be in a hurry. It never seemed like it wanted to go more then about 55-60, but I didn't really want it to either. In 4x4 it was pretty unstoppable though.

 

[Maverick]

Well....im not going to get it.

Reason being....i went and took it for a drive and The trans was slipping like crazy....and the injectors we're leaking.

175HP and 315ftlbs? Thats less then my 400M makes.

later,
Dustin

Shit man, injector seals are $35 and take about an hour to install. C6 are dirt cheap to rebuild also. Just offer him like $1000 less than he wants. If it really is a nice truck it would be worth it.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

It is a nice truck...only rust i seen on the whole thing was where the big west coast mirrors hook to the door, and it was just minor surface rust.

Its got probely the plushest interior ive ever seen on a Ford truck.

I dont know....ive never been a big diesel guy though....and besides that its a pain in the ass to run an extension cord to your driveway and plug it in every night.

Ive had experince with quite a few 6.9's, theyve been good engines but they were tempermental as a women in PMS.

later,
Dustin

 

[Sunk]

The dual captain's chairs with the big ass center console? Yeah, pretty plush for a truck from 1986.