6.9 IN PLACE OF 94 IDI TURBO....DETAILS?

[Garbage_Mechan]

So my son and I have set out to help a family friend who is disabled and has a 94 IDI factory turbo truck that died of cavitation. The turbo engine may be rebuildable in the future, but a cheap and easy way out is the way to go for now. He also has an 84 with a 6.9. Truck has been in the family for years. The engine seems to be fine but the rest a bit too much of a ranch truck to be a daily driver again. So the plan is to drop the 6.9 in place of the 7.3 turbo with as much forethought and care as he can afford. So here is the plan, what did I miss:

6.9 C6 flywheel flexplate stays on the engine and bolts up to the E40D in the 94.
Reseal anything that looks like it might leak or is leaking. Valve covers, exhaust manifolds, oil cooler. Lift pump. Return line kit. Water pump is fairly new. Radiator and heater hoses. Flush the radiator. Ford thermostat. Basic maintenance just easier with it out.

Basically Swap the factory turbo "kit" onto the 6.9 complete.

Here is where I need some thoughts: I have to swap the injection pump gear housing to be able to install a tach / trans RPM sensor. So I will have the fuel injection pump off.
Rebuilt or new injectors and pump are out of the budget for now. What fuel system to run?

The 94 seems to have a reviva or dealers diesel reman in it that was there with no history when he bought it a year ago. It seemed to run fine as far as fuel system performance.

The 84 6.9 pump runs fine has been "turned up" an unknown amount at some time in the past, has unknown miles and has sat for a few years. Injectors likely original. Looks like truck has about 150,000 miles. The 94 7.3 turbo pump ran fine once i put a return line kit on. It has unknown miles but had to be fresh when the reman engine was dropped in. Injectors too.
So do I put the 7.3 turbo pump on? If so with the 6.9 injectors? Or the 7.3 injectors? Could probably afford pop testing some injectors. Or is there a reason to run the 6.9 pump? With which injectors?

What do you guys think?

 

[Garbage_Mechan]

forgot to add that the 7.3 glow plug system and glowplugs will go on the 6.9.

 

[jwalterus]

stud the heads, rebuild the oil cooler while it's out for piece of mind, and run it as is with the turbo

 

[riotwarrior]

Yes the 7.3 IP and housing...ugh...nasty but doable. Turn 6.9 over so the IPngear appears like @icanfixall picture of timing gears all lined up...the timing mark on harmonic should also line up with 0 on the timing tab...thats the short tube. This way you at least have a fighting chance to do the swap a d get it correct fairly simply...

Swapping ip also gets you the tps for E4OD.
.not sure how that C6 flywheel will work sorry...no idea but doubt correctly but again..no clue.

Yes swap turbo oil cooler over too btw...its better...and do rebuild it.

Good luck.

 

[IDIoit]

all depends on your plans for the truck.
if you just wanted to get it running,
i would slap the 6.9 in as is.
id leave it N/A until there is room in the budget for a new pump and sticks.
odds are that if the engine suffered cavitation, the bearings in the turbo will be sub par anyways.

is the truck 2wd or 4?

 

[Hydro-idi]

I would definitely pull the heads and install new VR or FP head gaskets along with ARP studs if you have the money in your budget. 6.9 engines do well with a turbo, but it is almost a requirement to stud them or else there is a greater possibility that you will pop a head gasket.

 

[icanfixall]

Run the turbo pump on the 6.8. It will not harm anything. Hopefully the turbo engine has a pyro on it and it works. The injection pump gear housing swap can be done easy enough but my suggestion is to remove the pump from the gear and housing. Then remove the gear housing. Now instal that gear housing on the 6.9 engine. Then connect the pump to the gear and housing. You can lift the housing off any engine without disturbing the gear or the gear timing. Just make sure you clean off the sealing area very well and use plenty of RTV in the seal area. Notice that plate that covers the gears has a notch in the top of it. Thats to align the housing that the pump attaches to. Once the gear housing has been removed and the gear is exposed you can draw a line across the gear from side to side of the plate. Then the gear can be removed and then returned to this exact location. It might be easier doing that to clean up the gasket area. Just stuff a rag down in the missing gear area. DO NOT CRANK THE ENGINE WITH THE GEAR OUT. My gear arrangement pics shows what the gear timing looks like if you get into trouble.

 

[Garbage_Mechan]

Thanks for the replies guys, much appreciated! I've built several of these from a bare block so getting it together correctly is not an issue. In this case it is the opposite of my usual very thorough self. Just see how many things I can leave alone and have it run a while. Basically take the 6.9 down to a long block and build it back up with the 7.3 turbo accessories.

 

[icanfixall]

Thanks for the replies guys, much appreciated! I've built several of these from a bare block so getting it together correctly is not an issue. In this case it is the opposite of my usual very thorough self. Just see how many things I can leave alone and have it run a while. Basically take the 6.9 down to a long block and build it back up with the 7.3 turbo accessories.

Nothing wrong with doing this. Best part of any idi engine is they are drilled and threaded the same except for the head bolts. 7.3 is 12x13 threads and the 6.9 is 7/16x14 threads. Even most internal parts cross from the 6.9 to 7.3.

 

[Garbage_Mechan]

Run the turbo pump on the 6.8. It will not harm anything. Hopefully the turbo engine has a pyro on it and it works. The injection pump gear housing swap can be done easy enough but my suggestion is to remove the pump from the gear and housing. Then remove the gear housing. Now instal that gear housing on the 6.9 engine. Then connect the pump to the gear and housing. You can lift the housing off any engine without disturbing the gear or the gear timing. Just make sure you clean off the sealing area very well and use plenty of RTV in the seal area. Notice that plate that covers the gears has a notch in the top of it. Thats to align the housing that the pump attaches to. Once the gear housing has been removed and the gear is exposed you can draw a line across the gear from side to side of the plate. Then the gear can be removed and then returned to this exact location. It might be easier doing that to clean up the gasket area. Just stuff a rag down in the missing gear area. DO NOT CRANK THE ENGINE WITH THE GEAR OUT. My gear arrangement pics shows what the gear timing looks like if you get into trouble.

Thanks for the photos! The best thing you mentioned there was drawing a line across the gear, very good idea. It is hard to impossible to see the Y mark on the cam gear. Been there before, had to pull the fuel pump gear bolt access plate off another engine to get the same view you gave with the photos.

 

[Agnem]

I'm pretty sure the C6 flexplate and E4OD flex plates are different, so you would do well to swap them. I would also say swap the fuel system over from the 7.3 to the 6.9. Here is how I would do it. Set both engines to TDC by putting the crankshaft damper mark in the center of the short fat receptacle on the timing plate. The pin on the pump gear should be about 4 O'clock. Remove the side cover from both IP's and rotate both engines clockwise until the fuel screw shows up in the window, in the center of the V formed by the case opening. Insert a 5/32" hex wrench in both pumps. Unbolt and transfer your 7.3 pump to the 6.9. Make sure the hex wrench stays in place the whole time, and that when you mesh the gears, that the hex wrench isn't forced out of place.

 

[Garbage_Mechan]

"I'm pretty sure the C6 flexplate and E4OD flex plates are different, so you would do well to swap them."

Mel,

This is concerning me. I started a thread on this earlier and the consensus was the 6.9 flywheel / flex plate would work with the E4OD.

I thought running a 7.3 flywheel on a 6.9 created an imbalance problem, have you successfully done this?