No-headaches 6.9 Diesel

[Ford F834]

This is a 1986 F250 4x4 T19 with a 6.9 diesel. It is being sold by Justin Anderson of IDI performance. He posted it on the IDI Facebook group but it is a closed group so I doubt anyone here could see it. He came into this truck via horse trading and has gone through all the usual problem spots. He is asking $4500 obo.

Before you jump and say that’s too high, this is a clean PNW truck with 133K miles. Justin pulled the engine and replaced the head gaskets and installed ARP head studs. He also upgraded the rocker arms to the stronger 7.3 style. It has fresh injectors, injection pump, lift pump, filter, fuel return lines, glow plugs, glow plug controller, relay and batteries. The rubber is good. Justin is a straight shooter and this would not leave his shop without being in top mechanical condition. If you want a diesel without all the usual headaches this is actually a great deal. It is ready to rock as-is and could handle a turbo up to ~20 psi if you wanted to go further with it. If it does not sell it will end up going to his dad which should say something right there. Justin can be reached through the contacts on his website http://www.idiperformance.com

[Gary Lewis]

Nice truck.    And $4,500 isn't bad at all since that is a lot of truck with no problems.

But, what is a PNW truck?

[Ford F834]

Pacific Northwest. Sorry, I guess that acronym flys around on Facebook more than it does here... I shouldn’t be lazy. Reminds me of this grumpy cat funny:

[Gary Lewis]

Ahhh!  Got it.  

I'm not a big fan of cats, but I like that one.  

[reamer]

Ill take the Bronco Please

[Ford F834]

reamer wrote

Ill take the Bronco Please

The brown brick nose in the background? Yeah, I don’t think that one is for sale, below is a picture of the engine he has in it... unofficially it is in the 500-600 hp range and ~1,200 tq. We will see where it lands when the tuning is done. We will probably see at H4H this summer (hunting for horsepower event).

[Gary Lewis]

Wow!  He got all of that under the hood?  What tranny can hold up to that?  What axles?

[Ford F834]

He has a wide ratio ZF-5 in it right now, but the 13” southbend clutch slips a little in 5th. It has the stock D44 TTB up front, and a Sterling 10.25 semi float in the back with custom 5 lug axles replacements. It’s pretty crazy in the dirt drags.

[Gary Lewis]

Hopefully the ZF is the S47, but there's really only 50 more ft-lbs of capability over the S42, so I'm not sure that matters much.

And, I hope he has the long-pinion Sterling in it, like Big Blue does.

I'll bet that thing can turn whatever tires you can put on it.

[Ford F834]

I’m pretty sure it’s “only” a S42 version ZF, and it’s definitely a newer Sterling since it’s semi float. I don’t think the ZF will last indefinitely behind that kind of power, but the first engine he had in there was ~450 hp 900 tq. on stock compression and water meth injection. It had the standard NA connecting rods and he bent them and sent one through the block. The ZF did not break. Maybe having a clutch that slips a little in 5th is a good thing as far as transmission longevity. I know he is definitely going down the road of built E4OD’s now though...

[Gary Lewis]

I'm hearing/reading very good things about the E4OD.  Glad of that because I have one.  

[Ford F834]

Gary Lewis wrote

I'm hearing/reading very good things about the E4OD.  Glad of that because I have one.  

In the diesel circles you hear a LOT of bad, bad things about the E4OD... but I think most of the problems are electrical and have to do with the control module. On the mechanical side I think the upgrades do wonders, and many of the “upgrades” became standard in later versions as you are finding out. In all honesty I should probably consider an E4OD for my diesel since my power level exceeds what the 13” south bend will hold, and my ZF needs rebuilt. I guess I just like rowing gears even though it’s not my best option.

[Gary Lewis]

One thing I've been wondering about is the gear ratios of the various transmissions, so I put together the chart below based on info from this Gear Vendors page.

So, going from a diesel ZF5 to an E4OD makes a huge difference in 1st, with the E4OD's 1st being closer to the ZF's 2nd.  Yes, you have the torque converter for slippage and some multiplication, but....

In my case on Big Blue, I think the T19 to gas ZF5 swap is going to be perfect.  I'll get a 12% lower 1st gear, so crawling will be even slower - especially in 4Lo.  Second is only 3% taller, so starting in 2nd will still be easy.  And third is 10% taller, which I like because I find the T19's 3rd to be too low when towing.  There's just too big of a gap between 3rd and 4th, so the taller gear will be welcome.

All in all, I think the E4OD is going to be perfect for Dad's truck, and the ZF5 will be perfect for Big Blue.  Win/win!  

But for your diesel and the towing you will do, I think the ZF5 is the better choice.

[Dyn Blin]

Is the NP435 ratio similar to the T19?

[Gary Lewis]

Nope.

Do you guys think this info might be good to pretty up, add the other transmissions, and put on the website?

[Ford F834]

Gary are you sure yours has the 5.11 first gear? The Novak site says that the 83-86 4x4 F250 with the 460 usually got the 6.32 first gear version, while the 2wd and diesels usually got the 4.02 close ratio. This is just internet regurgitation, but just curios if it could be the wide ratio one. If it is the 5.11 version then I definitely agree about the lousy 3rd gear jump. That is awful. The NP435 is like that as well, and was one of the reasons I went with the close ratio T19 in my ‘81. The jump from 1.00 to 1.41 is very agreeable 🙂

http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/transmissions/manual/t18-t19

[Ford F834]

Gary Lewis wrote

Nope.

Do you guys think this info might be good to pretty up, add the other transmissions, and put on the website?

Yes, I think this would be good to have as a handy reference. Here is some info on the different ratios on the 4 speed overdrive Tremec gear boxes:

http://www.f150hub.com/trans/t170-smod-srod-tod.html

[Gary Lewis]

Jonathan - I'm not sure of that.  Maybe I should check.  But, it is coming out anyway as the ZF is going in.  

And that 3rd gear is really way too low.  I take most street corners in 3rd when not towing, so once you are rolling it is really a two-speed tranny.  And 4th is good from 25 MPH up, so there isn't much shifting.  

[Gary Lewis]

I'll see what I can do, but you need to keep (get?) me honest as I am not fully up to speed on the transmission options.

[Ford F834]

The ZF will be a vast improvement either way because of the overdrive, and even more so if you do have the 5.11 version. 1.79 is a ridiculous gear jump from direct drive. My old T18’s were almost as bad. I am not super knowledgeable on the different transmission applications, but I think we will get the list rounded out.