dieseldoc

AHAAA!!! I finally found it again. http://www.dps-performance.com They have ceramic coated pistons, head stud kits, stage 1 injection systems, custom built injection systems, water methanol injection. If you use them and http://www.gohypermax.com I think you could build a pretty strong IDI. If you are willing to spend the money I guess. Thanks again guys.

Let it fly Jim. I always find your posts interesting and 99% of the time I learn something from them.

Well thanks guys. Will have to do some more digging. Just wish I could find that web site. I thought for sure it was gohypermax.com. But oh well.

I have a customer that came to me and asked me about overhauling his 7.3. He wants to put a turbo, intercooler, water methanol injection, and bigger injection system on it. I told him what he wants to do would be cheaper with a cummins, but he is set on pumpin up his old 7.3 IDI. I told him I would have to do some research than get back to him. Does anybody know anywhere that has performance parts for the IDI's(ceramic coated pistons, head studs, performance injectors and pumps. etc). I know I saw a sight on the internet a while back, but now I cant find it. Any help is greatly appreciated. I know there is a couple of different companies that make turbo kits, etc. But I cant find any internal parts for them. Are the stock parts strong enough you think.

We dont have to fill out paper work for every little scrape, but for some reason some of the guys do. I have started wearing glove much more often now. The winters here are very cold and very dry so the hands take a beating. We have these glove they are like a knit glove that fits the hand very snugly(almost like a nitrile or latex glove). But they have a rubber type of coating on the palm and fingers. They are really pretty comfortable to wear. The only thing about them is the back of the hand and down two knuckles on the back side are the knit, they breath really well but they also soak up fuel, and oil. I decided to wear them for one month just to see if they really helped with the cuts an knicks. For the most part they do. I dont think they will actually require them but they mentioned it. I dont think the mandatory gloves would have the effect they are looking for. They did tell us if we need gloves for anything see your lead man for a shop RO and order some. They provide us with nitrile, these knit gloves, and impact gloves.

How many of you guys wear gloves while you work? Heres the reason I ask the question. My shop is considering the idea of requiring us to wear gloves all the time when we work. Just like safety glasses and steel toe boots are required. We apparently have a very high amount of hand injuries over the last year or so. I dont know about you guys but I dont wear gloves all that often. I wear nitrile gloves when I have to wash a lot of parts, or leather ones when dealing with hot components. Appears to be common sense to me. I have noticed though the last couple years of tech school kids we have had wont touch anything without wearing gloves of some kind. I dont know there reasons and I dont much care. To each his own I say. But I do know that they are the ones that when they get a scratch they go fill out a form with the front office ladies. To me this has always been part of the job. I am the guy that gets a cut, wraps a piece of shop rag (maybe a band-aid if I'm feeling crazy)around the cut , than puts some electrical tape around that to keep it in place and try to avoid coolant and brake clean. If it is still bleeding at break time a few hours later than well maybe I oughta go talk to the ladies up front and consider going to the vet to get it sewed up. Just my humble opinion. Wow, sorry for the long post but the rumor of this policy got me to thinking.

My state is a "right to work state". We have a union but not required to be in the union to work there. I personally am not in the union. I luckily am paid hourly wether my time is billable or not. I just hate sitting around doing nothing. I would rather have a project than no project at all.

I have gotten wild when making a complaint about things in the past and it got me going backwards. I try to be level headed about things like this. Seems to get me further. Sometimes we have a bad day and miss something. A very good reason like you said to have a couple people that glance over things before it is considered done. I would like to be a ford dealer tech. Maybe I am wrong but I think I would make a good one. These engines and vehicles really intrest me. I am just scared to be working on flat rate. Maybe it isnt as bad as I think. But I know in our truck shop it will be slow for days at a time, than it picks up a little and we get to draw straws for who gets a job. Maybe the automotive field is different than the heavy truck industry.

Well I appreciate that you guys are with me on this. I dont expect a wash and wax, just to get my pick-up back as I dropped it off. When I picked it up it was almost closing time and no one but the cashier and a few salesman were left. I called them today and talked to the shop foreman that I always talk to and told him what I found. I wasnt angry or whiney about it. Just told him what I found. He sounded a little upset, said he was sorry that it happened and that he would make it up to me next time around. It is a small dealership, in a small town. They are great to me. I have bought all of my vehicles from them and will in the future. As a matter of fact I drive 60 miles one way to take my vehicle there. I hope that it is not a sign of things to come. However I think Jim is right again and things like this will happen more and more. The way kids are raised these days is creating this problem and it will only get worse. I am still a kid by many peoples standards I am sure at only 25. But I guess my folks raised me old fashioned. Taught me to have respect for people and their stuff, work hard, earn what you recieve.

I had an experience today when picking up my f-250 from the dealership. I took it in for some warranty repairs(I know you guys dont really like warranty work, since it doesnt generally pay as well). I dropped it off and told them they could have it as long as they needed it. When I picked it up today there was greasy fingerprints on the door handle, the front bumper, and body shop dust all over the interior. This kind of bothers me, it gives me the feeling they don't care about my vehicle at all. When I first started pulling wrenches 10 years ago I worked at a full service gas station. We cleaned the windows and vacuumed every vehicle that entered the shop. Whether it was a $30 oil change and tire rotate, or few hundred dollar repair. The customers loved it and commented to the boss how much they appreciated the gesture. This is something that I have carried with me. When I work on a truck I make sure that I didnt leave any fingerprints behind, always use a seat cover and floor mat, and I give the windows a quick wipe. The total time for everything takes me maybe 6 minutes. I have had customers comment how they appreciate that I took the time. In fact I have a few that request me. Heres the question am I out of line here? Do I expect too much? Maybe I am just that pain in the ass customer(I really hope not! I always leave it and tell them to take their time, and do what they need to to fix it right. I dont mind paying a little extra so it is done right the first time)? Just curious what your guys opinion is on the subject and what your shops do. I apolagize for the long post, but had to vent a little.

Wow bruce that is an awesome deal! thanks I will definitely give you a call in the next week or so. The trouble with e-mailing you was probably my computer, Its had issues lately. Once again thanks for deal on the package sets.

I was looking at the books you have for sale on your site. I tried to contact you in the contacts part but couldnt get it to work. Is the 7.3 tips and tricks book different than the manual that comes in the manual and dvd package? By the looks of the picture it is the same book. Am thinking about buying the both the 7.3 and 6.0 training book/and dvd packages. (sorry kieth if this reply is out of line. Let me know if it is not ok)

sound like my old 90 7.3. it has 250,000 miles on it, looks like hell. did a compression test about a year ago and it was 295-325. It burns a bout a gallon of oil in 1500 miles. I plug it in from october 1 to may 1 or it wont start. But when its running it runs good, great mileage(prolly from all the oil it burns), still pulls like an animal. I figured a year ago that I might get another couple months out of it and than it would be done for. Still running strong. Gotta love the old mechanicals. I have several of these pick-ups for parts an what not so it doesnt really cost me anything to own. Run her till it blows. The old 7.3s are still my favorite to work on.

Bruce your training sounds extremely thorough and helpful. How does a guy go about getting into some of them? I have visited your site and looks like you do training for independant shops and fleets. I am the only one at my shop that works on our ford fleet(when they dont take them in for warranty, our fleet has gotten updated lately and we only have one that isnt in warranty). These engines are extremely interesting to me and the fleet wont be in warranty forever. I try to learn everything I can wherever I can find info. But tough to know if you can trust it or not. Thats why I love this site so much. Hats off to you keith

I have worked on a few dodges. The 24 valves are pretty good engine with exception to the fuel systems. The lift pump in the tank can be troublesome causing low fuel pressure. They have also found that a bit of design flaw in the injection pump can lead to pump seizure. One of the circuit boards in the injection pump can also fail. These problems are fairly easy to fix however not the cheapest. The transmissions are the biggest problems with them. If you get a six speed manual you will have the least amount of problems. One thing I like about the cummins is that it is a very strong platform. You can build a lot of powerful relatively safely witht the stock base engine. Building the type of power you want to would be a lot cheaper with the cummins as opposed to a 6.0 well good luck with your decision. I however I am a ford guy and wouldnt be caught dead in one of those ugly dodges. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/rofl.gif

I meant more for say my own pick-up, our service truck fleet, and specific cust. I like the idea of the electric gauge. If ford was really thinking they would put a fuel pressure gauge in instead of and oil pressure gauge. After all th HEUI wont run to long with out charge pressure(base engine oil pressure). I see where your coming from though. Most people wouldn't understand or care to monitor that particular vital sign. I will have to do some research on the subject of an electric gauge. I know in my own rig I would rather pay 100 bucks or so for a nice gauge if it could maybe save the cost of a couple injectors or more.

I had a thought the other day. I have read a lot of posts on here about injector damage from low fuel pressure. Also had to replace 2 injectors for a customer after he gelled up. I was wondering what you guys think about putting a fuel pressure gauge in the cab. A decent looking gauge mounted nicely, and cleanly in the dash. Interested in your thoughts.

That is awesome!!!!!! To bad there isnt a real squad like that to keep the rif raf out

I been pulling wrenches for a living for 6 years now(was the official trouble light holder since I could stand). Worked at a service station all through high school and first year of tech school. Than I worked on big rigs, specifically CAT engines(loved rolling on the dyno and troubleshooting power complaints). Now I work on ag equipment, it pays the bills. My passion has always been diesel pick-ups(specifically fords). Have wanted to work at a ford dealership for a long time, but intimidated by getting paid on flat rate. "real trucks dont have spark plugs"

Thanks guys. I found a place called randy's ring and pinion on the internet. They seem very knowledgeable and helpful. There prices are pretty reasonable too. I am going to try using the hubs I've got from the heavy duty I beam axle. All the parts look the same. Thanks for the help guys.

IMHO. . . I dont think synthetic oil is worth the money. I worked on CAT truck engines for 5 years and now fix CAT Ag equipment. I believe very heavily in oil sampling and so does my dealership. I maintain our Ford service trucks. When I started with the company we ran CAT DEO(diesel engine oil made by mobil)in all of our trucks. For some reason they switched to Mobil 1 5W40 synthetic two years ago. I have looked back at the oil sample results and all wear metals and soot are the same synthetic to conventional in the same pm interval. According to our oil lab we could run longer on both oils. My philosophy is oils and filters are cheap compared to engines and downtime.

I have the auto enginuity scan tool on my laptop. I looked at all kinds and even asked around on here before buying one. I work on mostly 7.3s and it does everyhting I want it to do. When it comes to 6.0s I would like it to do more but like bruce said ford wont give up the code to do everything on CAN vehicles. For the money it is worth it I think. The updates are affordable as well. I do some stuff on GM and Dodge as well and it works better on those as well. Ultimately it is up to you.

What is your guys opinion on winter fronts on 6.0s? I have had a few guys ask me about them and not sure what to tell them. My opinion is use one when it gets below zero(like it does here from late nov.- may). I tell my guys to buy one that opens up, open it when you tow, and when the temp gets above 0, than take it off when the temp stays above 20 regularly. I have been told conflicting answers from the ford dealer. You guys get to work on these every day and just wondering your thoughts on the subject.

That is awesome. I would love to see some pictures of that. If you ever get the web site going let us know. Maybe keith could help you get some pictures on here. How tough was it to get the wiring to work?

I am putting a dana 60 solid front in my personal 90 f-250. I picked up a used axle out of an 87 f-350. Both rigs are diesels. The bad part is the brake calipers are shot, one lock out is junk and I need to put 4.10 gears in it. Wondering if I can use the hubs and calipers out of my heavy duty twin I-beam axle? Wondering if you guys have any reccomendations on where to get gears from, that arent outrageous. thanks for the input.