93 F-350 7.3

I think a main bearing spun in my 93 F-350 with a 7.3L non turbo Diesel with a 5 speed.

Dont wanna take ol yeller outback n shoot it,, know what Im saying?

Ive had it for about 6 years now, had only 117,000 miles on it. Its popped a head gasket once, pump and injectors went south, and had all that rebuilt and turned up just a tad but not to the point of it belching clouds of black smoke.

It ran real good, did not use a drop of oil, changed every 3500 miles with rotella.

I took it for a long road trip during this cold spell, it did not wanna warm up,,, Im wondering if the oil filter may have gotten really cold, it was -13 here that night,, and was driving it around 55 to 60 mph.

Anyways, I like that ol truck, and I do like the body style.

The 7.3 had plenty of power for what I needed. But, was wondering since I may replace the entire drivetrain, and thinking outloud on a possible later model engine swap options are outhere to make a decent streetable, usable machine, that might get 20 miles per gallon.

Ive heard I do not want to turbo charge a NA 7.3. So that brings up the next step up, the 7.3 power stroke. The earlier ones, like up to say 1995 that still had that body style.

Or should I pull the old one out and totally overhaul it. When I had the heads off, it looked to need a fresh bore job in its future,,, but ran good, started good, didnt smoke, or use oil.

Do they have overbore kits for a 7.3, or??

What happened to you is not common. 6.9s and 7.3s up to early 1994 are basically the same engines. 7.3 has a slightly bigger bore. Most easily outlasted the trucks they were in. At least here in NY since the trucks rust out something awful. That being said, I come across good running 6.9s and 7.3s often, for less then $500.

That would be the way I'd fix it.

I would not be afraid to stick a turbo on a NA 7.3 either. When Ford first did it, they used ATS turbo kits, often dealer installed. When Ford sold factory installed turbos, they were detuned ATS sytems and the 7.3s got a little beefed up to handle boost, but not by much. My 94 with a factory turbo makes 7 PSI of boost max. Has over 300K miles and no internal work has ever been done to the engine.

The Powerstroke 7.3 that came out mid-1994, is quite different then the IDI 7.3, and would take some doing to get swap one in.

In regard to getting 20 MPG? Good luck. Maybe with tall gearing, and a wind at your back on a highway cruise. My 94 has gotten a high of 18 MPG, but that's with an E40D trans and 4.10 axles. That is in the flatlands of northern Michigan. In NY, it usually got 15-16 MPG on highway trips. My 92 Dodge-Cummins with 3.50 axles and a Gertrag 5 speed has gotten 21 MPG.

I would put a 12v cummins in it,lots of info on doing them out there.It wouldn't be as cheap as finding an idi 7.3,but it would be a pretty nice truck.

www.destroked.com

I was averaging 17 with it, This truck is a short wheel base cab and chassis model, and it had an overhead hoist mounted to it,, It busted the suspension mount in the driverside and they parted the truck out. I fixed the front end, put on a 7ft flat bed, across the scales its right at 6500# It does haul a load nicely, but I never get over 45-50mph with it and tried not to over work it on the hills. The truck is in good condition, with a few dents, but it aint rusted out yet!!

The truck was not running when I got it either,,, the fuel pump was out, and soon after the injector pump, new injectors, I modified the stock air cleaner,, where it bottlenecks into the intake I opened up the hole, that made a good difference, it perked up. LOL.

The injector pump dumped some fuel into the oil, that was upon first firing it up after a new fuel pump was put on,, it smoked and misfired, but it had good oil pressure for years. I put 35K miles on it in that time.

If I bought a used replacement, I would look for fleet trucks, that had a good mechanic overlooking em.

I wouldnt be shy about totally overhauling this one, but have no idea if they made bigger pistons to fix a worn block. It had great power and ran excellent for quite a few years.

Did they all have roller cams in them?

Maybe even a DT360IH or a DT466. That would really wake that truck up. Ive seen a 5.9 in a 99 Ford. Powerful truck.

A V-10 would work good in there too! If I wanted a gasser.

The old 7.3 IDI's usually run forever but are pretty gutless when it comes to pulling a heavy load.I've seen both Cummins and Powerstrokes put in to replace a tired 7.3 IDI...Earlier this year I passed on a 1989 F-350 with a 5.9 Cummins for $4500.

If you have access to a 12 Cummins, a conversion kit from fordcummins.com makes it a pretty attractive option. 455 for the basic kit. You supply the engine.

7.3L IDI engines are relatively easy found. There is a guy in Berea Ky advertising on ebay that is parting out a 91 ambulance. Or a used 111K in Salem OH for 900.

The Powerstroke is probably not a good swap candidiate per my opinion.

Aaron

Yes, all the GM 6.2s and 6.5s, along with Ford-IH 6.9s and 7.3s have roller cams and roller lifters made by Stanadyne.

With the expense of engine parts, I can't imaging a rebuild being worth the bother. Plenty of good used 6.9s and 7.3s around for less then $500.

I have rebuilt a few 6.9 and 7.3 non turbos. Yes they do make overbore kits for them BUT, you have to be careful. These blocks had corrosion -cavitation problems and a lot of times they have a hole in the cylinder wall when you bore them. I will not rebuild one without boring all 8 holes and sleeving them back to standard. It is no fun to find water in the oil on a new rebuild.

Pistons for the IDI 7.3 come in standard and oversizes of .020", .030", and .040" and they often cost $100 each. Much cheaper to buy a good running used engine.

Either install a cummins or you could find a 7.3 turbo diesel that they put in the trucks before the powerstrokes from 94-94.5, isnt that right? I would think you could find an early cummins with rotary pump out of an 89-93 model truck rather cheap, maybe $1500 or a little more.

My brother and his son run an ambulance business with about 25 Ford ambulances. He buys engines from a school bus salvage yard. Has had good luck with these engines and always keeps a few spares around. Ambulances are hard on engines... Gene

Stay with the IDI or a Cummins. Powerstroke has a common rail fuel system with a computer to control injection, and very expensive injectors. Plus speed sensor that the computer needs in the drivetrain to make it all work. Heck, even the footfeed is a sensor to the computer. Great engines just not a good swap. Dad had a 88 7.3 IDI with a Banks Turbo and I swear it had more guts than my 96 Powerstroke. He passed in 2001, and the truck is still running strong today. Will prob run a long time.

John

I'd say find a good used engine.

BUT, If you should decide to either get rid of the truck, or are going to re-power it and not use the tranny that's behind that 7.3, please let me know as I'd may be interested.

I have a 86 that I pulled the 6.9 and put a 7.3 in about a year ago. I have the 3 speed auto, but would really like to convert to a manual..

Brad

Years back, Dad had a 1980 F-350 with a 351 Modified/400 and a C4.

Flatbed, Cab and chassis model again,,, used to be an old tire service truck. Had 2 toolboxes that ran down each side of the bed. Even had a gas powered air compressor on it!

6mpg with a 2 barrel loaded right at 10,000lbs.

We put some miles on that truck. had 67,000 on it when we got it, when dad sold it, it might had 180,000. One transmission in its whole time we had it.

Then came this 93,,, and Dad picked it right up. We went up on my birthday and got it,,, Back then, a 1993 was the second newest truck we ever had, vs the 96 dodge.

had low milage. Body was rough, but the cab was not rusted out. Dents,,, the big mirrors have torn the door sheet metal and I want to find a 93 XLT Lariot regular cab but had the good interior package and make my ride a little nicer on the inside. Almost thought of Bronco of that year, they were pretty nice inside! I want to put power windows in,,, etc etc. Make a real nice ol truck.

This thing even had setup to have air brakes. For a trailer, the truck has HYD with ABS, I belive that was part of the lift bed they had on it, it was an aftermarket addition.

The compressor was missing, but they left everything else there.

Had the 5 speed. When I was in high school and these things were new, all the guys said, gotta have a dually, diesel with a 5 speed.

I remember a fella who his dad bought a brand new 93 F-350 and he had it in town. A nother guy had a late 80's chevy 3500 with the 454. They hooked back to back,,, that ford dragged that other one around.

Anyways,,,,,

Thanks for letting me talk about an old truck here. it aint new, it aint flashy, got alot of life left, and it is a real nice driver.

JDmarris, I hear ya on throwing in a 500 swap.

I will do that, I found one out of a 93 ambulance at the local JY. 68K miles, was rolled over. They said my frame was the same as the ambulance.

I can hear it run, I will go have a look. But I intend on atleast pulling the heads off, stripping it down to the shortblock, new gaskets and seals. If the bores look good, Ill run it. But I gotta know if it will be a good one,,, them engines are big, and IF I get lucky, I will be an old man before something goes wrong with it again.

I had the head gasket pop on the drivers side in 05, had some wear but the block was in real good clean shape. Had some cracks around the glowplug chamber in both heads. Had em checked, they didnt leak. Had the heads rebuilt, and they got low miles on em, so if they check good again, or need to be swapped, I got another set and parts on hand to fix them.

One time I bought a 350 chevy, off a guy, oh yeah runs good! put er in it ran 30 feet/30 seconds up the drive way and the cam froze solid in it. Had a new cam and bearings I could have put in,,, didnt, learned.

Anybody got any pics of interiors for the single cab trucks? When I find the dorrs with power windows and get em working, gonna rip that matting out and put in insulation/soundpad and carpet if there was such a thing for those trucks. Did they ever have a padded cloth headliner? All the cabs Ive seen are plain jane steel. Chrome grille and a nice bumper with driving lights,,, seen a F-150 that had that,, maybe off a lightning,,,

Gonna be pulling the doghouse off it anyways to pull the engine, (i know dont have to) but gonna put on the fenders I got for it, gonna try and pull some dents out of the rocker panels, might even do some body work!

Thanks again. It aint new. But Ive seen some nice ones in my time.