Ford 7.3 Diesel...only 185 HP

One could get an injector for the early motors, still can for $50-75. 400-500 for a set. Looking at 500-1000 per injector today!

A few of the 6.2's had 120hp or there abouts.

The IDI7.3 had a 135, 155 and 175 in IHC's. Still have a 175 version. The 185 came via ford engineers playing with the tune as they did with the the T444E/7.3PSD version. Max in a the mdt lineup was a 235/620 setup. Lowest IIRC was around 185/400, with three or 4 other versions in between. I still use the 175/335 in my mdt with a 7sp emanual tranny! Pulls a steeper grade with the 10.08-1 first gear than you could with my 05 dmax at 30K vs 20K total!

The B5.9 had HP's from 160-300 or so for normal use, and two around 330 and 360 for emergency rig uses.

My 96 6.5TD was also pretty easy to wrench. Cheap to fix too. Could not say the same for the 05 dmax. I did like the power of the 6.6. Not sure I need more than a 300/600 motor. A 250/500 would give me plenty for what I do.

One could also back then, get a 300 CID I6 gas motor with around 105-120 hp stock. Now folks complain it a 25/35 series motor does not have at least 300hp. Heck a BB gas 454 in 81 only produced 195hp and 330 ft lbs of torque! With a POJ 3 sp auto tranny behind it! blew them up regularly at 30K miles!

Marty

Another thing I like to wonder about is are these new diesels going to be around in 30 years like my 6.2. I don't see a lot of these things around any more but I still run into one from time to time. I don't think they were ever regarded as bullet proof as a pillar of reliability, but they are so simple I can wrench on it myself. Kind of a hobby like a lot of the people over at the DieselPlace.com. In 20-30 years it will be very interesting to see if there are 2010-2015 model year diesels floating around, and I doubt most people will be able to wrench on them in their driveway.

dreeder wrote:
I would take the latest 7.3, if it it was brand spanking new of course..:), over any of the diesels available today. I loved the near bullet proof reliability, wonderful sound teamed up with a manual transmission. But yeh, its amazing how far power output has progressed with the current diesels.

I remember the Internet forums calling the 7.3 PSD a POS when it first came out in 94...lol... People were all "buy the IDI Turbo while you still can"... All it took was the 6.0 for the 7.3 PSD to become legend.

I remember. My FIL had a 6.9 that he had turbo'd after he almost couldn't pull his fiver up the hill they lived on (5 mph floored!). Turbo made a small but useful difference.
At the same time I had a 6.2L Chevy (Detroit) diesel with a big 155 HP. Man was that thing gutless. Got my first Cummins after that with 160 HP and 400 lb/ft of torque and even with a TC in the back it would blow the doors off that poor Detroit.
I think the newer diesels are less maint. at least as far as oil changes go.

I would take the latest 7.3, if it it was brand spanking new of course..:), over any of the diesels available today. I loved the near bullet proof reliability, wonderful sound teamed up with a manual transmission. But yeh, its amazing how far power output has progressed with the current diesels.

I have an 87 Chevy V20 I bought from my uncle that has the 6.2 diesel rated at only 140hp.

Have the trailers today gotten that much heavier, or were people in less of a hurry then.

I had a 6.9.