6.9 rebuild questions

[JPalmer81]

Okay guys. Many of you know of my woes with my not so good investment on a 1986 F350 Crew with the 6.9. I am going to go ahead and pull this thing out in the near future. I say not so good investment, but even if I put a couple more thousand in this thing it will still be a good investment for the price I got it

I need to know if anyone has bought a rebuild kit, what brand and how was the quality? I have seen kits from $885 all the way to $2700. I have had the whole motor pretty much all apart aside from the lower end already. So, what is my best bang for the buck? The cranks on these things are forged IIRC so I really hope I won't have to mess with that too much other than a polish job. I want this thing running and I want to be driving it!! Hopefully the rebuild will be happening in the coming couple months. And I will try to remember to take pictures, haven't been doing so good with the picture taking part.

Here are a couple kits i have found so far, wanna know what others have gone with in the past.

http://www.agkits.com/International-Navistar-69L-Late-Engine-Rebuild-Kit.aspx
http://dieselrebuildkits.com/k2/die...e/ford-powerstroke-v8-6-9l-engine-rebuild-kit

and then there is the obvious choices from rockauto and the local auto parts stores. Any good Ebay kits out there?

Thanks

 

[hesutton]

Don't know about kits out there. I recently rebuilt the 6.9 in my crew cab and I just really got all the parts from the cheapest sources I could find. There are a ton of posts on that rebuilt. Click my user name and go to my profile. Then click on "started threads" and you can find them easily. I do have a parts cost/labor list I'll post for ya....... just give a second.


Heath

 

[hesutton]

Machine work and installation of new cam bearings $1100 ($220 of that was balancing work)
Gasket set and valley pan (Victor Rienz) $250
Clevite 77 rod and main bearings $314.25
Mahle reduced compression pistons with rings, pins, clips $550
"typ4" cam $200
New Ford lifters $90 (eBay find)
Intake vavles (Perfect Circle) $75
Exhaust valves (EngineTech Stelitte face) $105
Comp cam 910 springs $81
Rear main seal with repair sleeve $42
Head work (had to be redone, 1st shop didn't do what they said they did) $410.26
ARP head studs $215
7.3 PSD intercooler $200
Intake hat $66
Intercooler piping/boots $194
Moose pump $689
Moose injectors $1085
Water pump (new Ford) $95
Head dowels $12.50
New 7.3 rockers (Melling) $95.92
Rodney Red Radiator $750
-------------------------------------------------------------
Total = $6619.67


Heath

 

[WhiskeyBottle2]

Hey Jpalmer81...What hesutton did and used on his rebuild is about typical if you want to do it right and your own way. Cost is the typical part and hesutton got some good parts in his mix instead of a kit...His is the way to go and like me...he will probably never have to spend bookoo money again...

BTW...Did you notice the reduced compression pistons on the list? If you are going to turbo that 6.9...the reduced compression pistons will help a lot...I did the same...except my pistons were good so I just had them shaved down .020" and had them ceramic coated....

 

[JPalmer81]

Machine work and installation of new cam bearings $1100 ($220 of that was balancing work)
Gasket set and valley pan (Victor Rienz) $250
Clevite 77 rod and main bearings $314.25
Mahle reduced compression pistons with rings, pins, clips $550
"typ4" cam $200
New Ford lifters $90 (eBay find)
Intake vavles (Perfect Circle) $75
Exhaust valves (EngineTech Stelitte face) $105
Comp cam 910 springs $81
Rear main seal with repair sleeve $42
Head work (had to be redone, 1st shop didn't do what they said they did) $410.26
ARP head studs $215
7.3 PSD intercooler $200
Intake hat $66
Intercooler piping/boots $194
Moose pump $689
Moose injectors $1085
Water pump (new Ford) $95
Head dowels $12.50
New 7.3 rockers (Melling) $95.92
Rodney Red Radiator $750
-------------------------------------------------------------
Total = $6619.67


Heath

That is some crazy bank there Heath, little bit steep for me at this point. I bet you are very glad of the outcome though.

Hey Jpalmer81...What hesutton did and used on his rebuild is about typical if you want to do it right and your own way. Cost is the typical part and hesutton got some good parts in his mix instead of a kit...His is the way to go and like me...he will probably never have to spend bookoo money again...

BTW...Did you notice the reduced compression pistons on the list? If you are going to turbo that 6.9...the reduced compression pistons will help a lot...I did the same...except my pistons were good so I just had them shaved down .020" and had them ceramic coated....

Seems like spending a couple grand on a kit would be the way to go. No turbo for this motor at this point. I like the extreme simplicity of an NA motor, and they put out plenty of power for my towing and hauling needs. I would like to get my pistons, pre and combustion chambers and all parts that are under extreme heat to be ceramic coated, that would be well worth my money.


On a different note. I found a guy selling a complete 7.3 from a 89 van for $600 with only 115K on it. Will this bolt directly into place in my truck? I noticed the 7.3 glow plug controllers are different, will I be able to make mine work on the 7.3 or will the one that is one there work? Noticed it mounted to the intake manifold and possibly had a different harness. Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[Knuckledragger]

The only differences between engines are the piston bores. $600 sounds like a pretty inexpensive substitution for a whole rebuild. Beware of cavitation (read about it in the tech articles). The GP system is an upgrade that is much better than the original 6.9 system and easily retrofitted, even if you don't get the 7.3.

Don't bother spending the money on ceramic coatings if you are not going with a turbo, the N/A engine will never reach the high EGT. Precups are made of inconel, the same material that jet fighters use in their afterburners. No need for ceramic coating there, either. The best money to spend outside of a turbo system is getting the rotating mass balanced. It makes the engine and driver very happy, and is not at all expensive.

 

[icanfixall]

The above is so true... Thats the voice of experiance talking. Many here can back up what they post from practical experiance. Some good.. Some great.. Some not so good too. But we post up what we know so others wont be out of pocket making the mistakes that many of us have made before you...

 

[idi_econoline]

The only differences between engines are the piston bores.

But, Knuckledragger didn't mention that, although the 7.3 is the same block bored out, there are minor basic differences on a van engine vs. an F engine. (learned these installing an F engine in my E, long before joining this forum)

1. Oil cooler is slightly different. Ends are different to position the tube into the different application. Hopefully your 6.9 F cooler will work to interchange with the 7.3? That one I can't answer.

2. Engine mount brackets are quite different, again owing to a different crossmember and location vs the engine. The brackets remove easily from the block.

3. Fuel filter setups are different. Instead of the tower behind your alternator, the van used a more compact mounting atop the intake manifold. Again, just switch 'em out. EDIT: 7.3 uses a water separator in the filter, IIRC 6.9s didn't?

4. One exhaust manifold is different. IIRC, it's the passenger side one.



Relatively minor issues, provided you deal with them while the engine's still out. We forgot about the mounts until after the engine went back into my van.... oops.

Oh, one more thing: if, when you have any of these IDIs out, you suspect that the o-rings on the oil cooler are not fairly new, it's wise to replace them. Not only can they give you a false oil-in-coolant-oh-no-my-head-gasket-is-bad reading, they can cause oil to leak from the oil cooler itself. Learned that one the hard way, too.... after the engine was back in-frame. (oops, again!)

 

[dgr]

Dieselmann has a good writeup on upgrading to the 7.3 gp setup. If the engine has all the wiring for it you should be golden

 

[Knuckledragger]

All of the items mentioned above are accessories. The engines are all the same. He is not putting an engine in a van (don't know where the 7.3 may be coming from). The different exhaust log is on the driver's side.

If you do get the 7.3, it is indeed a good idea to service the oil cooler while it is easy to get at. About $50 for the O-rings from Ford or IH, maybe $6 for the gaskets from anywhere.

 

[icanfixall]

Yes... Please do the oil cooler gaskets when the engine is out of the truck or van.. As posted above its the drivers side exhaust manifold thats differant on the trucks and vans. Otherwise these engines either 6.9 or 7.3 all all drilled the same and will bolt into any van or truck. Even the internal parts are the same from the 6.9 to 7.3 engines.. Rods, crank, cam oil pump, valves.. Mostly all the parts are the same. Now the 6.9 block is differant from the 7.3 block. The 6.9 has 7/16 head bolts and the 7.3 has 1/2 inch head bolts. They look the same but they are differant blocks. Not just a bored out block. I have never heard of a 6.9 being bored or sleeved to 7.3 either but I have heard of a 7.3 being sleeved down to a 6.9. The differance is 25 cubic inches and maybe 10 hp... Nothing we can fell. If I had a machine shop I would build a 6.9 with 9/16 studs for head bolts and install threaded Boss 429 freeze plugs. Now that with a ZF 5 speed would be a dooms day prepper rig...