hi guys I know it may sound silly but I am new to diesel engines and would like to get a little help form you guys, I have just purchased a 1995 ford bus E350 Diesel 7.3L and automatic transmission which I am planning to use as a motor home I have never driven a diesel before and was told that they are the best engines you could get for your money if I do the maintenance properly and on time
first please tell me
what kind of transmission this ford have
what type of maintenace is recomended for this vehicle and how often does this truck need maintenance
is there something to minimize the engine noise
is the revolutions at 645 rpms is normal when bus is in newtral(seems to me it is to low compared to my ford taurus that is set at 900rpm in neutral
I thank you for the imformation and hopefully meet some time some where on the road.

 

To answer your questions.......

1- Tranny should be a E4OD......basically a C6 W\OD.

2- Oil Changes.....but they hold something like 10 qts of oil so it gets expensive.

3- Engine noise? Thats just something you gotta live with on a Diesel.

4- 645RPM sounds about right.....900 sounds high for that taurus. You gotta remeber that Diesel redlines at 3500 or so, so ofcourse its going to idle lower.

later,
Dustin

 

Alright, first off, as rustyolranger said, 645 is plenty for idle speed, i've even seen 'em idle nicely at around 550, but moving on...

*Warming up and cooling down of the engine - A diesel engine needs to warm up, especially in the winter because diesel fuel will gel if it gets too cold, so before pushing the engine, warm it up a few minutes, 5 should be plenty if it has sat all night...if it's summer, about 1-2 minutes will be enough. As well, when shutting down the engine, the turbo, after being used, will be extremely hot as they can get upwards of a few thousand rpms and its goin all the time...now it is cooled by the engine oil, so naturally, if you've been running it hard, ie//highway or pulling a trailer, you need to let it cool down and give the oil a chance to circulate through it a few times...if you've run it hard for a long period of time, again, 5 minutes is the rule, however, if you're just running to the store ect...30 seconds to 1 minute will be plenty...these things will make the engine, and the turbo last a lot longer...

*Oil changes are done like on a car, every 5 thousand kilometres or 3 thousand miles, if I'm not mistaken, they take about 13.5 L of oil, but a mech. will know that.

*Noise goes w/ the territory, but if you move the exhaust as far back from the driving area as possible and aim it straight back, it should reduce the noise on your end.