1983 6.9 engine oil cooler bypass kit?

Hey everyone. I've searched till my eyes bled, but couldn't find a lot of info. I have a 1979 IH 1724 dump truck that had the 446 MV gas engine. I found a 1983 F250 at the local wrecking yard and Im in the middle of the swap. So far so good, lots of little things to deal with, but for the most part...its been a direct bolt in. My question is, does anyone know if its possible to delete the tubular engine oil cooler? Its interfering with my rad outlet, exhaust, and couple other small things. Yes, I could probably make it work. But I could kill several birds with one stone if its possible to convert it into a external Air type cooler. I would probably have to do a oil filter or bypass relocation too, since the oil filter screw onto the cooler itself. Anyway, has anyone ever deleted it or know of a kit? Im thinking most likely Ill have to deal with it as is, but just thought Id see if anyone has any ideas or info. Thanks.

A air to oil cooler is not as efficient.
Keep it.

Now with that out of the way. Yes, you could, if you know how to machine block off plates and tap them for oil line's.
My 6.2 gm diesel runs the oil through a cooler in the radiator. Very similar to a trans cooler.

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The stock oil cooler does an excellent job at cooling engine oil especially during severe duty periods. No need to get rid of something that works so well IMO. An aftermarket setup won't be able to match it.
If your worried about it, take it apart and reseal it.

This engine was used in a lot of different applications. You would think one of them would have had a different/remotely located oil cooler. They put these engines in dump trucks and school buses. I wonder how they resolved your issues, your dump truck is not that much different is it?

I take that back, looking at this link they didn't use the 6.9 idi in your truck did they?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Harvester_S-Series

He's putting the 83 6.9 engine from a f250 into a 79 IH 1724.....

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I understand an air to air cooler isn't as efficient as liquid to liquid. My sole purpose of removing it is clearance issues, etc. I think they offered the 7.3 idi in later model S series applications, but yes, they never offered the 6.9 in an S series as far as I know. Since they did use the 7.3idi in that application....I wonder what oil cooler they used? I'll have to research that. I didn't even think of that possibility.

The blocks on the 6.9 & a7.3 idi are the same dimensionally so they fit thew S series 1600 rigs. Different oil pans, exhaust manifolds, coolant outlets, and finally the oil cooler rear header was different. Might be different for the front too. you may not know this but the van oil coolers are much different from the pickup truck oil cooler headers. The oil filter hangs differently on the vans.
About not using the oem oil cooler.. We can but MAJOR modifications are needed. Simple block off plates wont cut it. In the rear header you have the oil pressure regulator and the bypass if the filter ever gets plugged up. ALL engine engineers feel that dirty oil is far better than no oil. So figuring out how to make a front header where the oil comes out of the oil pump. then make a rear header for it to reach the oil filter.. Well you can see all the engineering you have ahead of you.

This weekend I may be able to get pics of what you need. There is a s1600 with a 6.9 in it st my local yard. As Gary said the s series had a lot of parts that were different than the ford truck parts. Exhaust manifolds and water necks are big difference.

The Ford E250/350 van 6.9/7.3 IDI engines use an exhaust manifold, oil cooler and motor mount on the driver side that are different from the pickup trucks, that allow for the tighter clearances on the driver side in the vans.

I have also seen, likely on this forum somewhere, adapters to replace the coolers with external ones. Using that approach, you could even mount the stock cooler off the engine.

I have swapped the particular driver side parts on pickup engines I got for our vans, with those from van engines that others wanted to put in the pickups.

VanDiesel said:

The Ford E250/350 van 6.9/7.3 IDI engines use an exhaust manifold, oil cooler and motor mount on the driver side that are different from the pickup trucks, that allow for the tighter clearances on the driver side in the vans.

I have also seen, likely on this forum somewhere, adapters to replace the coolers with external ones. Using that approach, you could even mount the stock cooler off the engine.

I have swapped the particular driver side parts on pickup engines I got for our vans, with those from van engines that others wanted to put in the pickups.

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Ya, Ive had a chance to finally mock everything up real good this a.m. And My bell housing interferes with the passenger side exhaust outlet and is dang tight on the drivers side. I found some dorman 6.9 van manifolds, but they look exactly alike in the pictures. Not sure if dorman uses generic pictures for everything, or if the differences are undetectable in photos? Ill run the part numbers and see if there is a difference. Another avenue is to look into s series 7.3 manifolds. So ya, Ive got some homework. Thanks for the comments guys...they are very helpful. Ill keep this swap updated with my progress.

Dieselcrawler said:

This weekend I may be able to get pics of what you need. There is a s1600 with a 6.9 in it st my local yard. As Gary said the s series had a lot of parts that were different than the ford truck parts. Exhaust manifolds and water necks are big difference.

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That would be extremely helpful. I really appreciate that. If you can see the part numbers too, that might even be useful. And that's what im having most issues with is the manifolds and water necks. I think I can work the ussues out with the water necks, but the bellousing to exaust outlet on the passenger side is terrible. It points almost directly into the bellhousing. But I really appreciate your help. Thank you.

VanDiesel said:

The Ford E250/350 van 6.9/7.3 IDI engines use an exhaust manifold, oil cooler and motor mount on the driver side that are different from the pickup trucks, that allow for the tighter clearances on the driver side in the vans.

I have also seen, likely on this forum somewhere, adapters to replace the coolers with external ones. Using that approach, you could even mount the stock cooler off the engine.

I have swapped the particular driver side parts on pickup engines I got for our vans, with those from van engines that others wanted to put in the pickups.

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That's definiatly an option. I have pretty good access to fab shop and can custom make pieces if I need to. But man, it would really be helpful if that oil cooler was remote mounted. I am presently investigating the Van route. Thanks for the comments. They are very helpful.

Yes a medium duty and van's use a different oil cooler than a truck. I use to have one, wish I would have taken pictures of the difference but you also need a driver side manifold for the oil cooler clearances


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FarmerFrank said:

Yes a medium duty and van's use a different oil cooler than a truck. I use to have one, wish I would have taken pictures of the difference but you also need a driver side manifold for the oil cooler clearances


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Thank you. Can you tell me what year van you had? I looked at ones for an 86 E350...but the pictures look identical to the truck ones....at least on the Dorman site.