Jake is a founder of 8020 Media and one of the lead writers at DieselIQ. He has over 10 years of experience in the automotive industry and is the proud owner of a 2002 F-350 7.3 PowerStroke. When Jake isn’t working, he’s usually wrenching on his PowerStroke, single turbo BMW, or Miata track build. Jake delivers tons of knowledge and hands-on experience and is a valuable asset for those looking to take their diesel to the next level. He is highly knowledgeable on Powerstroke and Duramax diesels.
A new problem has developed on the 6.7 Cummins, and it’s happening at an alarming rate, enough for us to now consider it a common problem. The factory grid heater has a bolt and stud on the bottom side of it. From heat and deterioration the bolt has a tendency to fall off, which then…
Tuning is the best performance modification for a 5.9 Cummins. It offers huge power gains and the lowest cost per horsepower of any other modification. But there are a lot of considerations and options when it comes to choosing the right tuner for your goals. Tuning is very different for the VP44 engines from 1998.5-2002…
The MAP sensor on the 7.3 Powerstroke is limited to around 22-24psi of boost. Once you start pushing the turbo beyond that range you will start getting a check engine light with overboost codes. The overboost codes then cause the PCM to start defueling which results in decreased performance. The way to fix this is…
My 2002 F350 7.3L Powerstroke is what I like to call “full bolt-on” – meaning I have every basic modification. Tuner, intake, intercooler, exhaust system, up-pipes, and so on. My favorite upgrade so far is my intercooler. Now, not for the reasons you might think – an intercooler really isn’t a power adding upgrade. When…
Whether you’re just looking for some addition sound or you’re tuned and looking to increase power, an exhaust upgrade is one of the modifications for the 7.3 Powerstroke. Only a handful of Ford’s 7.3 diesels came with emissions exhaust systems. This was mostly limited to the CARB versions of the F250 and F350 that were…
Ford’s 7.3 Powerstroke produced great power back in the 90’s and early 2000’s when it was produced. In today’s day however, they are a bit underwhelming compared to the 1,000+ torque being produced by the newer modern diesels like the 6.7 Powerstroke. The hands-down best performance modification for a 7.3 Powerstroke is tuning. Tuning can…
The Ford 6.6 and 7.8 diesel engines are medium duty truck engines primarily used from 1985-1994. They were popular in B series buses along with the F-600, F-800, and F-900. Ford 6.6L and 7.8L diesel engines are officially the Ford-New Holland engines and may also be known as the Ford “Brazilian” diesels. The Brazilian diesels…
The ZF5 speed transmission was released in Ford’s heavy duty diesel trucks in 1987. It was a replacement for the T19 BorgWarner 4-speed that was used in prior F250 and F350 models. While the ZF5 is generally considered a pretty good and reliable transmission, it did have a number of problems. In this guide we…
Ford launched the 6.9L IDI diesel engine in 1983 alongside a partnership with International Harvester. The terminology ‘IDI’ stands for indirect injection. The 6.9 IDI is a four-stroke, naturally-aspirated V8 diesel engine. It was largely a diesel alternative to the 7.5L Ford 460 engine also used in F250 and F350’s of the time. In 1988,…
The most important addition to the 6.4 Powerstroke was the DPF, or diesel particulate filter. Unfortunately, the DPF filter was a common 6.4 Powerstroke problem. The particulate filter was prone to clogging which caused a number of performance and reliability related issues. Additionally, when the DPF filter does fail it can cost a smooth $3k-$5k…
The 3.0 EcoDiesel was plagued with emissions related problems, especially with components like the EGR cooler and DPF system. These can lead to some very expensive repairs and cause for general reliability concerns. Not to mention, this equipment is restrictive from a performance standpoint as well. Deleting the EcoDiesel DPF system in Ram 1500’s and…
Tunes are one of the best performance modifications you can make on your 6.7 Powerstroke. There are a lot of different tuning options from off-the-shelf flash tunes to custom tunes to dyno tuning, etc. Whether you are just looking to add an extra 50rwhp or trying to build a 700rwhp monster, tuners are an important…
