yester year part deux

[Brad Clayton]

The year was 1994, the mighty "power stroke" was unleashed on the public. What a power plant, it looked unique, sounded wild, and had an incredible amount of power. The warranty on this engine was unheard of at the time and was actually questioned quite a few times. Interestingly enough, for the F-350 in 1994, there were quite a few engine options: the 4.9L, 5.0L, 5.8L, 7.5L, 7.3L IDI, 7.3L IDI turbo, and last but not least the untested 7.3L DIT. Quite a few options when ordering a new truck.

 

Our fleet sales manager came to me and said the local stereo shop was unable to put speed control on the new truck which was not equipped. He wanted to know if I could do it, saying that a 30 truck deal hinged on this issue. No problem I says, thinking the stereo shop were a bunch of slackers. I popped the hood, after already agreeing to the job with a pocket full of confidence, what the...... there's no throttle cable! What kinda space age crap is this, drive by what? After some investigating and studying I found out it was as simple as replacing the horn pad [with switches] in it and a new master cylinder with the [redundant] deactivation switch. Hey this drive by wire is pretty cool.

 

The engine management was interesting, it was tested using OBD I methods and was crude to say the least considering it's 104 pin processor capability. The engine would shut down injection when not needed (downhill stints at speed). It had a programmable RPM feature for people with PTOs. Unfortunately you almost had to write the code for engine management to diag. any problems with the super star II tester and throttle blips to scroll thru diagnostics. So a PCM flash was developed. Huh, more new stuff. This allowed the inside OBD II connector to be utilized along with a whole new wealth of information. The only drawback was the selectable RPM feature went away, and customers had to bye the brand new APCM unit, which worked much better any way. OBD II.... the only other car that comes to mind in '94 was the 4.6L T-bird.

 

First encounters with the new unit involved more oil and a much bigger filter during services. No more air in fuel problems during fuel filter changes, nice. Breakdowns were spaced out pretty even. Mostly consisting of glow plug relay failures. It had this tiny little relay which would almost melt off the engine. Water pumps went out for a while, which was odd compared to the IDI. Then came the two biggest reasons for un commanded shut down, the cam sensor and the IPR valve. Took quite some time to figure these puppies out considering I had no idea how they operated in relation to the engine.

 

The first crank no start bombarded my diagnostic abilities and wore them down to nothing. It was a major learning curve and left a lasting impression in my Ford diesel career that will not fade as long as I am in the game. I thank the Good Lord I was around during these learning pangs, because I believe it helps out in todays arena. I would hate to start out as a new tech today.

 

I quickly learned that the shop manuals were for information only, and not to be followed to closely. The injector removal process was the most time consuming thing with some really "hoaky" tools involved. I tried that once then it was my own process after that and the tools collected dust in the box.

 

The 7.3L DIT was over engineered and built to last, which was refreshing after seeing great cars in the 80's fade to blah cars of the mid 90's. The only bad part is it outlasted the governments ideas for emissions and was retired long before it's time.

[Alex Bruene]

It was a major learning curve and left a lasting impression in my Ford diesel career that will not fade as long as I am in the game.

I had to learn on the 6.0... how do you think that makes me feel?

[eastendpowerstroke]

I just checked my first "OFFICAL" diesel training was 12/05/97, a fordstar FIRTFT class 7.3L DIT Diesel drivabilty diagnosis.

[DwayneGorniak]

October of 1995 for my 7.3L DIT training. And you weren't kidding about being built to last and outlasting the government's emmissions plans.

 

And look at the crap we have now. oh well, I guess we have job security for life.

[G. Bedford]

Man, I feel old now. I took my first diesel course in February of 1985 on the 6.9l. Where the diesels are now has been just a steady incremental progression for me. I shudder to think of starting out on the 6.0l.

[jaysonfordtech]

damn guys you made me go look up my history in stars. The first diesel class I list is a self study class in diesel engine operation in January of 2000. I started in the dealer in the summer of 1998, and had 41 other classes under my belt before being duped into diesel training. I didn't get to go to classroom training until 2002.