First Time Ford Owner… and First Diesel!


Beautiful truck! That 7.3 with a manual is a beast… and you’ve got a ton of life left in it. Enjoy!

Riley said:
Beautiful truck! That 7.3 with a manual is a beast… and you’ve got a ton of life left in it. Enjoy!

Appreciate it, man!

She’s got a lot of miles left in her, for sure!

Now all you need is a turbo kit, and you’ll really wake that IDI up!

Hayden said:
Now all you need is a turbo kit, and you’ll really wake that IDI up!

Maybe someday!

First, I need a spare tire. Previous owner gave away the stock wheels when he upgraded :man_facepalming:

@Val
Shouldn’t be too hard to track down a spare for that thing.

@Val
If you weren’t in Canada, I’d hook you up—I’ve got a spare set of Alcoas just sitting around.

Scout said:
@Val
If you weren’t in Canada, I’d hook you up—I’ve got a spare set of Alcoas just sitting around.

I’ve got an old bullnose IDI with some junk wheels—where are you? I need to replace mine anyway.

@Sky
I’m in Oregon.

Scout said:
@Sky
I’m in Oregon.

I actually bought my truck south of Bend, OR! Haven’t been back in a while, though.

Scout said:
@Val
If you weren’t in Canada, I’d hook you up—I’ve got a spare set of Alcoas just sitting around.

Dang! Appreciate the thought though!

Scout said:
@Val
If you weren’t in Canada, I’d hook you up—I’ve got a spare set of Alcoas just sitting around.

Looks like it already has Alcoas, just painted matte black.

@Val
Check your local junkyard. You’ll probably find one there.

:notes: Ford Man, you don’t have to put on the red light… Don’t ever sell that diesel to the night… Foooorrrd Man! :notes:

Nori said:
:notes: Ford Man, you don’t have to put on the red light… Don’t ever sell that diesel to the night… Foooorrrd Man! :notes:

:joy: Don’t think I will, my good man!

That should be a 7.3 IDI. If it has a turbo, you get an extra ~80 HP. The naturally aspirated ones don’t pack the same punch as the later Powerstrokes but are super reliable and easy to work on.

Swap out your coolant with high-quality extended-life coolant—these engines have thin cylinder walls, and you don’t want cavitation eating away at them.

I had an ‘89 7.3 IDI for years, so feel free to hit me up with any questions.

Also, hope you never have to deal with the nightmare that is the dash wiring on these trucks… mine was a mess towards the end!

@Noa
Really appreciate the info, man! :pray:

The previous owner just replaced the radiator, so hopefully, he put decent coolant in.

Just changed the oil to start fresh.

She’s naturally aspirated, no turbo (yet!).

I’ll shoot you a PM to stay in touch. Thanks again!

@Noa
Dash problems? I’ve got a ‘90 7.3 with some weird electrical shorts—headlights, driver window, wipers, and dummy lights all randomly cut out.

Noor said:
@Noa
Dash problems? I’ve got a ‘90 7.3 with some weird electrical shorts—headlights, driver window, wipers, and dummy lights all randomly cut out.

Oh man… I spent days chasing weird electrical gremlins in my old F250. Hope yours is an easy fix!

Watch out for fuel leaks in the engine valley and steering column issues—depends on the year, but some had problems. Otherwise, solid truck.