International 9.0 Liter Diesel

[Walter]

Overseas 9.0L owner here. My 198x bus came with it. I get the dislike for it, being outdated and such. Sure a modern V6 + turbo outguns it by miles, but what makes me a very happy man is that there is no electronic BULL**** anywhere to be seen. It -will- start on icy mornings, and like other's said it will go on forever as long as you don't lug it nor overload it. It's wonderfully easy to work on, especially with a Front engine bus.
Parts are 'a thing', but remember these engines where used widespread.

And the V8 roar sure as hell makes heads turn haha.

Read this for some uplifting info on the 9.0L 9 Liter Engines | BinderPlanet

[WARNING, large PDF files]
I DO have found a 500 page PDF part list on the entire S-chassis from Liberated Manuals.com. The body is an Army fire truck but that doesn't matter, your S-chassis shares all components. http://www.liberatedmanuals.com/TM-5...14-and-P-1.pdf

Also a whopping 900 page PDF from the same website that lists complete overhauls and service of -every- S-chassis component. Amazing stuff.
http://www.liberatedmanuals.com/TM-5...14-and-P-2.pdf

Have fun...and a good printer.

[EastCoastCB]

If I had a 9.0, I'd focus on keeping it alive and forget making more power with it.

[Brad_SwiftFur]

The thing is, the 9.0's were *NEVER* intended to be powerhouses to start with. They were a re-do of the old 550 gas engines of the 50's and 60's. In the late 70's there was this big push to start moving large vehicles to diesel power and many school districts (and other municipal branches such as water and public works departments) still had mechanics not familiar with diesel engines.

The DT466 was in production and already a well designed engine. The thing is, IH had to contend with "bean counters" and try to justify a more expensive (initial cost) engine. Enter the 9.0. They produced brochures that showed a Return On Investment in fuel saving alone within the first 2-3 years, longer service intervals, and longer life expectancy as opposed to gas engines. Cities and counties that wanted the "diesel savings" but not such a high purchase cost would opt for the 9.0.

The demise of the 9.0 wasn't so much its own shortcomings (which in later years were, for the most part, corrected), but a new emissions standard for 1988 that the 9.0 and 6.9 diesels couldn't meet. The 7.3 (basically a re-engineered 6.9) was developed and introduced to meet the '88 emissions. The former 6.9 and 9.0 were dropped, the 7.3 taking their place. The Ford version is widely known simply as the 7.3; the IH counterpart (essentially the same engine) can be referred to as the 7.3 or more commonly the T444.

[cadillackid]

how does the injection system work in a 6.9 'IDI', and was the 9 liter the same way? or was it the standard style direct injection to the cylinders like the DT-360 / 466 used?
-Christopher

[Kubla]

IDI stands for indirect injection, fuel is injected into a prechamber in the head where a glowplug is, glowplug ignites the fuel and the combustion spreads to the main chamber to push the piston down, also keeps the glowplug hot for the next cycle

[cadillackid]

so the fuel is injected in the cylinder during the compression stroke? during the intake stroke? im guessing the idea is that you can inject the fuel without a 3000 PSI pump?
-Christopher

[Brad_SwiftFur]

The 9.0 (and '94-up T444's, VT275, VT365) all used a Direct Injection system. The 9.0 was said to be rated to start as cold as -10 without starting aids.

The way diesels work (For those of you who don't know) ... if you take (any) fuel and spray it across a lit lighter, candle, etc, of course it will burn. Diesel fuel has a temperature at which it will spontaneously combust (in a vapor form), typically between 130-200 degrees (according to a quick Google search). The high compression ratios on diesel engines is usually enough to raise the temperature of the compressed air in the cylinder; the fuel is sprayed (injected) into this now-hot compressed air and it ignites due to the high temperature. Gasoline would nee a spark (and gas engines run at considerably lower compression ratios). It is for this reason that, when idling, diesels only spray enough fuel to keep the engine running; gassers need a specific air-fuel ratio to continue running.

When it's *really* cold, and an engine has aged and worn enough to affect the compression, and the fuel is stale and a "summer blend", it can reach a point the compression temperatures are not high enough for the fuel to ignite. This is why some engines have glow plugs or other pre-heating methods.

[cadillackid]

im just trying to figure out the cycle of an Indirect injection diesel.. in a direct injected diesel, once its running you no longer need glow plugs.. some like my DT-360 start at 0 degrees F without glowplugs (though it does take a bit)..

in an IDI is there still a high pressure pump? is the fuel still injected to time the flame like in a direct injection? except the injector and glowplug are in somewhat of a different "chamber" than the piston?

obviously as brad noted a gas engine requires a spark.. so its easy you can intake the air and fuel together.. even compress them and they wont burn till the spark is applied.. thus the cylkinder flame start timing..

im in the mindset of a diesel that the flame starts immediately when the directly injected fuel hits the hot compressed air of the cylinder...

later enfgines like T-444E (mid 99 and newer) used 2-shot injectors to ensure a nice complete even burn..

-Christopher

[Kubla]

IDI is injected at the top of the compression stroke just like direct injection engines, not sure why it was done that way, just know the difference

[bartthebus]

Our bus is now for sale, if anyone is interested!