93 ford diesel

[rdbrumfield]

I am looking at a nice 93 with a diesel and auto. I have a 93 with a 460 5sp. Is there some of you that could give me some info on miliage on the diesel and if the auto will stand the load of a 30ft fifth wheel rv? Thanks

 

[DieselPower]

Is it a diesel engine or a 460 gas engine?

 

[underdawg]

Well the way I am reading it:

He owns a 93 with a gas 460 and 5 spd tranny.

He is looking at a 93 with the diesel and auto tranny.

And the big question is will the auto tranny stand up to pulling a 30ft RV?



Ted

 

[GaryCrowell]

The auto trannies from that time period are weak, expect to pay for a rebuild if you work it hard. The IDI diesels aren't powerhouses by any stretch of the imagination, they're not the powerstroke series and are pretty low power and gutless. Expect decent fuel mileage out of them, maybe 18-20 on the highway unloaded. I don't know about loaded, maybe 12-14 pulling that trailer. All in all, a diesel from that time period wouldn't be my first choice. If you want a Ford then I'd look for a diesel '95 or up although you'll still be dealing with the weak auto tranny. A manual would be preferred, none of the manufacturers really got a diesel automatic right until GM brought out the allison.

Here's a forum that's got a lot of good reading on Ford diesels:

http://www.thedieselstop.com/forums/

 

[Dmace]

I have a 94 Ford F-350 DRW dump truck 7.3l IDI diesel (non-turbo, not powerstroke) and have had great use out of it. When I am not towing my tractor with it (approx. 7500lbs with trailer), I have a 9ft Fisher plow on it for the winter. Empty, I get about 18mpg and towing the tractor it drops to about 12mpg but I live in a very hilly area also.

The tranny is the E4OD which is a 4 speed with electronic overdrive. I had a small problem with the tranny going into "limp mode" where the O/D light would blink and the tranny would shift very firmly but that was cured by replacing a $15 ABS sensor on the rear axle. Other than that, it's been very good and being a plow truck for the past 14 years in northern New England has put a lot of use on the 1st and Reverse gears.

The truck has 60k miles on it and has been used as a plow truck / gravel truck since it was brand new off the lot so it has seen a "ton" of abuse (pun intended). The tranny has not had any service besides fluid changes which are critical on any auto tranny and it performs well. There is plenty of power out of the diesel, especially down low and it is very easy to work on. The powerstrokes added power but they came with a high cost of a turbo system that was not very reliable. I would rather have a non-turbo IDI diesel, turn up the fuel pump a couple of notches and enjoy the same power with much better reliability.

If towing that 5th wheel on a regular basis, I would look into adding a tranny fluid cooler but it will handle the load just fine.


Click thumbnails for larger images

 

[mwb]

I have a '94 F250 N/A diesel 4X4 and it is an excellent truck. I agree you could get more zip out of a power stroke but you DON'T need it. I have 170,000Km on it (it's my baby, not a plow truck) and then engine and transmission have never been touched. The tranny did go into limp mode when it was less than two years old, the throttle position sensor went bad and it was an easy fix.

I have had the pleasure of towing a loaded horse trailer (filled with wood working equipment ~7 to 8K) and other comparatively heavy trailers and I am very satisfied with the power.

Empty I get 19+mpg (imperial), with a full bed it gets 17. I have not pulled far enough to get a good read on mileage with a large trailer but I would estimate 14 -15.

The only thing I don't like on this truck is the injector pump; I think Stanadyne made a lousy pump that is the Achilles heal of an otherwise (IMO) perfect truck. There may be rebuild options for this that resolves the flaw.

If the truck is in good shape then I would go for it. If you need to you can always replace the transmission, you still have less invested than a new one. I hear that some of the TX rebuilds fix some design weakness, I will certainly look for that when I need to change mine.

You could always get a Dodge with a HEMI