New Member from Saskatchewan, Canada

[6.9-250]

Came across the forum while searching for ways to correct my fuel gauges.  The ICVR information was great.  That was not my issue but I did the upgrade to the electronic version anyway.  Lots of great info on here.  

I was searching for a truck that would be suitable to pull my skid steer and trailer.  I have always liked Ford and info online says that the 6.9L was a great engine.  So I purchased a 1983 F-250 with a 6.9L auto, 2 wheel drive.  The body was fairly rusty but the previous owner said the engine was re-built.  It had a diesel shops name on a sticker on the injection pump.  

Drove this for a few weeks then a 1985 F-250 6.9L XLT 4x4 Extended cab came along.  Truck had under 200,000 kms.  Previous owner could not start it.  From the pictures I could see the cab corners were not rusted out.  I threw him an offer of 2500$ and he said ok.  Truck very in VERY nice shape for the year.

The issue with the truck was the glow plugs were burnt out.  I replaced them and the truck came to life.  

Was driving on a trip and the truck stumbled and stalled out.  It started up but was running rough.  I turned around and went home.  It never stranded me anywhere though.  Since the other truck had a re-built engine, I put that one in.  Been driving it ever since.  

I've done the ICVR upgrade, painted the gauge needles (hi-po paint), converted the amperage gauge to voltage myself (it was a lot of work but I am stubborn and not willing to pay the shipping to the U.S. for it to be done there),  changed the timing gear housing to accommodate the rpm sensor, modified the throttle cable bracket so it would have "full" range, installed a temp sensor in the trans pan with auto meter gauge, manual button for the glow plugs (after the controller stuck on and burnt mine out - I used the motor craft ones so they came out easy..ZD1 I believe), Installed Ford projection ghost shadow light in both doors, installed a full weatherstripping kit for both doors, bought a pulse meter to time the truck myself (although after the fact, Gunson says the meter is only good to 1700 rpm...needed 2000 rpm...it did read intermittently enough at 2000 rpm for me to get the timing to 9 degrees BTDC and sooo much more.

Not sure why..but the more I work on the truck..the more I become attached to it.

Proud to be a member of this site.  Thanks Gary.

[grumpin]

Welcome!

[Rembrant]

Greetings from the Maritimes!

Sounds like you've done a lot of work to the old truck. Nice when you can get everything working well on them.

[Gary Lewis]

Welcome!  

You've already done a lot of work on the truck.  And, as you've discovered, that endears it to you.  And, as you peel the onion you'll get a mess of onion rings!

So, what did it take to convert the ammeter to a voltmeter?  I'm curious about that one.  

[1986F150Six]

Welcome to the forum!

[6.9-250]

I took the voltmeter apart and cut the needle off.  I cut the needle off of the factory gauge and glued it onto the movement mechanism of the voltmeter.  I installed the new voltmeter into the factory amperage housing so it would bolt in and maintain the proper placement (depth, center, etc.) Used the factory harness and cut the wires about 12" back.  Wired to the ignition wiring harness on top of the steering column, ignition wire.  

The sweep was a little wider then I liked.  Only downside is that it disappears when the truck is off.  Mounted the gauge so that 14.5 volts or so was at the farthest right line.  

Not sure how many hours I spent messing around with it to get it mounted and the gauge needle sitting correctly.  Probably 3 or 4.  Not sure if I would do this again though, lol.  

[Gary Lewis]

Cool!  Interesting approach.  Thanks for sharing.  

[Ford F834]

Welcome to the group! I, too, am an endeared fan of the IDI engine 🙂. Nice work on the gauges.