Wondering how well the 7.8L Brazilian ford diesels hold up? I just bought a 91' L8000 single axle 5 yd dump truck with an underbody blade and root plow. It has 34,000 miles on it, and 8,000hrs. Everything seems to work good, just trying to see if I should hold on to it or move it, cause I don't know anything about these motors.
They are very stout engines. The 7.8L was developed during Ford's involvement with New Holland. The engine is under powered for highway use stock but are very durable. You can bump them up some without too much worry. If you aren't in a big hurry to get somewhere that old 7.8 will hold up well and run for a LONG time.
They are used in some new holland pulling tractors down this way. For a couple grand you can have a motor that will burn most others to the ground. we havea customer that has one that is going in a 2wd open modified diesel truck they are setting it up for around 1200hp on stock internals
Glad 69w900 said what he did cause I've seen a few that looked like ca-ca in trucks in the bone yard plucked from the truck and fired up on the ground and ran sweet.
My dad has a 89' L8000 with that motor in it. It's a 10 wheeler with a 4000gallon fuel tank on it. Uses it for local fuel deliveries to farmers and construction sites, etc... He bought it with 22,000 miles on it, it now has over 170k
Great motor in my opinion, he's had it almost 10 years now, and it's never missed a beat. Underpowered for the GVW of the truck when it's loaded, but it gets the job done. He had the injectors and turbo upgraded which helped immensley.
They said they could bump the horsepower up quite a bit more still, but it's backed with an Allison automatic and they are afraid it isn't a strong enough version of the Allison to handle any more power than what it's currently making. The motor runs smooth, gets decent mileage for how it's driven, and has never given any major mechanical problems.
Correct, I've done a couple 7.8s, and they wake up pretty good. A 91 should have the pump with the fuel screw, and takes about 10 min. to do. BTW, that is my site, the Low Buck Fuel rate. Very durable engine, just carry an extra set of belts, and you'll be fine. We run one at work that's been straight piped, among other mods. It's on youtube, or the "videos" link on my page at the top.
The main holdup with the Stuper Duty is the funds. Overtime has dried up at work, and I'm one income with a wife & 3 kids. I did come across a 95 DT466(with a P-pump) for 1000 bux, but couldnt get it. A 67 F100 with a 4V 300 is my daily driver. Oh, I used your name as the referral person when I signed up, just in case it helps you win the next give away.
Back to topic, there's guys that sled pull with 7.8s, so they cant be that bad.
Back in the late 80s and 90s I worked at a Class 8 dealership. We sold a lot of parts for the L series but little for the 7.8 engines. They are very durable.
Anyone have any direct contact information for someone that can get more HP out of this motor. We have one in our 1988 Ford L8000 with only 106,000 original miles and the truck works great,,,,,,,just need a little more HP.
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