Bad news 7.3 blown

Dave 001

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oem turbo motors also have a propensity to chuck rods sooner than their NA cousins.

Do you notice this when turbochargers are added to NA engine?

Or do you think people just tended to beat on the turbocharged engines harder because they though it was cool?
 

towcat

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Do you notice this when turbochargers are added to NA engine?

Or do you think people just tended to beat on the turbocharged engines harder because they though it was cool?
unknown. in fleet trucks either NA, turbo added, oem turbo motor, they all get worked hard and treated poorly. i don't have a quantitative answer for you, just an observation drawn from being around these motors since 1993. I certainly don't have the time or money to do destructive analysis and come up with a report.
 

icanfixall

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Some feel the turbo pistons have a larger wrist pin that causes them to fail because of less aluminum around the pin boss. I don't feel that way. I have seen it go both ways with the wrist pins. For a long time it was felt that the smaller pins in the na engines would flatten and freeze up in the piston causeing a rod window. Then the turbo rods were seen to window the blocks. As towcat suggested. It really expensive to test this out for a concrete final thought. I had nearly 250,000 miles on my oem na block with no overhauls and a Banks wastegated sindweinder turbo pushing 12 to 13 lbs of boost.. Hauling very heavy al over this country. No one of those na small dia pins were found even slightly ruined. I even still had an oem head gasket on the passenger side head with the oem head bolts...:eek::thumbsup: I never had any kind of head gasket failure on that side but.. Cavation happened on the drivers side cylinder number 7. It was relseeved on that cylinder and a new piston with rings and bearing installed... $4400.00 too.... I'm a firm believer that a person can ruin something rock solid if they don't take care of it. We even had a member here long ago driving home from work one nite and needed to stop in the woods for a *** break. Left engine running and was making water when he heard the engine making metal noises. Finished and while running back to the truck saw lots of water and oil pouring down under the truck... Threw a rod thru the block and broke the crank.. Never did hear if a valve dropped or coolant got into a cylinder hydrolocking it... As we al know, fliuds do not compress and they will bend rods or send one to visit another rod next door to it.. For me when I built my engine turbo rods were what I wanted for the strength. I got them from Diesel Direct in Florida for $42.00 each factory rebuilts and no core charge. They had found 2 pallets full of them somewhere. At that time Ford wanted $57.00 plus a like return or a $47.00 core... Thats simple robbery without a mask. I have a set still waiting for another build someday. I would not be concerned using the na 28mm pin pistons nor would I feel risking the turbo 33mm pins either. I really value towcats finding too. He has been in these engines for a long time in a harsh inviroment. We did have a member that was running these na engines with a turbo and cranking them past 21 lbs on stock oem head blots too. Yes... Some of those engines were hurt bad but he was able to do it. I want to get there and back safely. We don't drive rocket ships with the id engines under the hood... That we leave to the cummins guys...:D
 

llebhsoj

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Ok Fellas, as promised I went afer the serial numbers to verify whether or not it's a factory turbo and decided it was too dark to look at the time, mainly because of the sticker on the valve cover which reads "Turbocharger Model 190@3000." Tht's good enough forme, though Iwill still get the serial numbers when I have better light, just to have handy.
Man, that engine is BIG wnen it's out hanging on a chain... Factory turbo makes it impossible to change two of the eight glowplugs, so I had to remove the turbo. I can change glowplugs with my Hypermax in place on the 84. Anyway, I pried that sucker (blower) off and changed them out. Thank the Lord, they all came out in one piece! They were Autolites and I tested them and yes, they all still worked. So today I plan to remove the valve covers and give them a touch up coat of gray, istall new valve cover gaskets, install the oil cooler that I just rebuilt, and painted john Deer green, and paint the air box Ford blue.
Can I insatll the engine in the truck with all the turbo and piping in place?
 

towcat

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Ok Fellas, as promised I went afer the serial numbers to verify whether or not it's a factory turbo and decided it was too dark to look at the time, mainly because of the sticker on the valve cover which reads "Turbocharger Model 190@3000." Tht's good enough forme, though Iwill still get the serial numbers when I have better light, just to have handy.
Man, that engine is BIG wnen it's out hanging on a chain... Factory turbo makes it impossible to change two of the eight glowplugs, so I had to remove the turbo. I can change glowplugs with my Hypermax in place on the 84. Anyway, I pried that sucker (blower) off and changed them out. Thank the Lord, they all came out in one piece! They were Autolites and I tested them and yes, they all still worked. So today I plan to remove the valve covers and give them a touch up coat of gray, istall new valve cover gaskets, install the oil cooler that I just rebuilt, and painted john Deer green, and paint the air box Ford blue.
Can I insatll the engine in the truck with all the turbo and piping in place?
i did it by lifting the cab and shoving a 4x4 blocks between the cab and frame mount.
front radiator support already removed. disconnecting the steering shaft and master cyl from the booster also helps.
 

llebhsoj

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Probably easier to just install engine without turbo, then install turbo afterwards?
 

slvrwrx

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check with "no sprk" in santa rosa. he just bought a running parts truck.

I bought the 6.9 from nosprk.. I'm doing the swap from wasted7.3 to the 6.9. So far ive had to swap headers, oil cooler, engine mounts, and glow plug system. Also going turbo so had to run oil feed lines. I'm 70 percent done. Hope to have my truck back soon and ill do a write up :)
 

llebhsoj

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I'd like to start this engine prior to installation, mainly because I do t have time to take it up to where the truck is located for a couple of weeks. I don't have a started or ring gear however. I tried my hole hawg with a socket, no way. Any ideas?
 

riotwarrior

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I'd like to start this engine prior to installation, mainly because I do t have time to take it up to where the truck is located for a couple of weeks. I don't have a started or ring gear however. I tried my hole hawg with a socket, no way. Any ideas?

Starter and flywheel....that's what it's going to take.... LOL
 

llebhsoj

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I finally got it installed. Pretty uneventful. I do have one issue that you fellas can probably offer me some wisdom on. The new engine is a factory turbo(ats) and it didn't come with the downpipe so I ordered one from Banks. I still had to cut and alter the pipe downstream of the downpipe. No big deal, I should probably have a pro build me a new section though. The problem I have is with the tranny dipstick. I had to bend and beat that thing in there and it's still not all the way in the transmission like it should be. I bent the firewall as much as I could too. Now it's in such a bad position that I cannot even get the dipstick all of the way in. It also transfers vibration to the cab. Did ford use a different dipstick on the turbo models? Should I buy a new dipstick tube and the two foot section of exhaust pipe that I need fro
Ford? Has anyone else installed this exact combo? 7.3 factory turbo, banks downpipe, e40d?
 
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