New truck need help 1994 7.3 IDI Factory Turbo

[IDIBRONCO]

Why not if they do it by volume? How we did it at the shop I used to work at was to tear the engines all apart, take the parts to the machine shop, usually in groups of individual parts (blocks, heads, cranks, cams, rods), then we would pick up the parts in bulk as they got them finished. All of the parts would then be put in their own storage spots. When it came time to build the engines, the builder would just grab the first parts that he came to and would then assemble the engine. We never knew which parts came from what engine before. The one thing that was certain was that there was no factory turbo rods in any of our engines. I was told that you could only get new factory turbo pistons from Ford (1995-2001 was when I worked there). I don't know whether or not this was true. I would lean toward the fact that they were probably more expensive and the boss just didn't want to buy them. We just threw all of those rods in our scrap metal barrels and they were hauled off. I would assume that a company that remans these engines would do it in a similar manner to how we did it, not like we would do it ourselves. We usually take one engine, tear it apart, have the machine shop work on only the parts from this one engine, and then reassemble them back into an engine again. This is why they could and probably would change out all of the rotating assemblies.

 

[Thewespaul]

Why not if they do it by volume? How we did it at the shop I used to work at was to tear the engines all apart, take the parts to the machine shop, usually in groups of individual parts (blocks, heads, cranks, cams, rods), then we would pick up the parts in bulk as they got them finished. All of the parts would then be put in their own storage spots. When it came time to build the engines, the builder would just grab the first parts that he came to and would then assemble the engine. We never knew which parts came from what engine before. The one thing that was certain was that there was no factory turbo rods in any of our engines. I was told that you could only get new factory turbo pistons from Ford (1995-2001 was when I worked there). I don't know whether or not this was true. I would lean toward the fact that they were probably more expensive and the boss just didn't want to buy them. We just threw all of those rods in our scrap metal barrels and they were hauled off. I would assume that a company that remans these engines would do it in a similar manner to how we did it, not like we would do it ourselves. We usually take one engine, tear it apart, have the machine shop work on only the parts from this one engine, and then reassemble them back into an engine again. This is why they could and probably would change out all of the rotating assemblies.

Haha yeah I could see that happening, but I’d be concerned weather the dampener was changed or if they just balanced the entire rotating assembly to a mix of turbo and na parts, which could make a real mess. Either way whatever is in there replace with the same component and you should be golden

 

[Codeman021]

So let’s say it is a mixture of parts. Does that change the reliability of the motor ?

What reputation did dealers diesel have ?

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Thewespaul. Ok here goes the comment I've been holding back for some time. I know that the factory turbo balancer and flywheel/flexplate look different that the N/A ones, but I'm not really convinced that they really are balanced differently despite of looks and what has been found in print. I described how we did the engines at the shop I used to work at. The balancers were ALL thrown in a big tub and cleaned up, put on a shelf, and then grabbed to install on an engine. The only "factory turbo" part that was reused was the flywheel/flexplate. Those were always kept with the truck that they came in with. I can only remember one engine that had a SLIGHT vibration issue. It wasn't bad, but noticeable during the fast idle. The customer complained because his dash rattled. The fact that the dash was loose didn't make any difference to him. I had to install another engine for him to make him happy. I wouldn't have been happy since the first engine had MUCH more power than the second one. The second one didn't lack power, the first one really felt like driving a stock first gen PSD. My theory is that we had gotten ahold of one of Russ's cams. But if the factory turbo parts are actually balanced differently, then since I did a lot of engine swaps on factory turbo trucks and we mixed and matched turbo and N/A parts, there should have been more with vibration issues. I'm sure that I'll get several people telling me that I'm wrong, but I can only give my experience. I have literally swapped out hundreds of engines. Without issues, I could easily change out 4 or 5 per week. This being over the six years that I worked there.

 

[FORDF250HDXLT]

Thewespaul. Ok here goes the comment I've been holding back for some time. I know that the factory turbo balancer and flywheel/flexplate look different that the N/A ones, but I'm not really convinced that they really are balanced differently despite of looks and what has been found in print. I described how we did the engines at the shop I used to work at. The balancers were ALL thrown in a big tub and cleaned up, put on a shelf, and then grabbed to install on an engine. The only "factory turbo" part that was reused was the flywheel/flexplate. Those were always kept with the truck that they came in with. I can only remember one engine that had a SLIGHT vibration issue. It wasn't bad, but noticeable during the fast idle. The customer complained because his dash rattled. The fact that the dash was loose didn't make any difference to him. I had to install another engine for him to make him happy. I wouldn't have been happy since the first engine had MUCH more power than the second one. The second one didn't lack power, the first one really felt like driving a stock first gen PSD. My theory is that we had gotten ahold of one of Russ's cams. But if the factory turbo parts are actually balanced differently, then since I did a lot of engine swaps on factory turbo trucks and we mixed and matched turbo and N/A parts, there should have been more with vibration issues. I'm sure that I'll get several people telling me that I'm wrong, but I can only give my experience. I have literally swapped out hundreds of engines. Without issues, I could easily change out 4 or 5 per week. This being over the six years that I worked there.

Well,your right and wrong.
Your wrong that the parts can interchange.However your right,in that the engine probably won't come apart in just a few miles.Just because they didn't rattle themselves apart within a short period of time,doesn't mean they wont prematurely ware out.

This picture courtesy of member: "IDI guy" of another forum.Here he has shown the cranks side by side.He states the Turbo crank is on the right.

Also see external balance differences due to the different rotating assembly between engines here:
http://www.oilburners.net/media/external-modifications-of-turbo-idi.73/

 

[icanfixall]

That wire behind the air filter is the dash oil pressure gauge. My bet is yours does not work.

 

[Thewespaul]

Thewespaul. Ok here goes the comment I've been holding back for some time. I know that the factory turbo balancer and flywheel/flexplate look different that the N/A ones, but I'm not really convinced that they really are balanced differently despite of looks and what has been found in print. I described how we did the engines at the shop I used to work at. The balancers were ALL thrown in a big tub and cleaned up, put on a shelf, and then grabbed to install on an engine. The only "factory turbo" part that was reused was the flywheel/flexplate. Those were always kept with the truck that they came in with. I can only remember one engine that had a SLIGHT vibration issue. It wasn't bad, but noticeable during the fast idle. The customer complained because his dash rattled. The fact that the dash was loose didn't make any difference to him. I had to install another engine for him to make him happy. I wouldn't have been happy since the first engine had MUCH more power than the second one. The second one didn't lack power, the first one really felt like driving a stock first gen PSD. My theory is that we had gotten ahold of one of Russ's cams. But if the factory turbo parts are actually balanced differently, then since I did a lot of engine swaps on factory turbo trucks and we mixed and matched turbo and N/A parts, there should have been more with vibration issues. I'm sure that I'll get several people telling me that I'm wrong, but I can only give my experience. I have literally swapped out hundreds of engines. Without issues, I could easily change out 4 or 5 per week. This being over the six years that I worked there.

Hmm that’s really interesting, I personally haven’t had any personal experiences with an idi that had an imbalance issue so it could be a really isolated event when you hear about it, makes me feel better about my Frankenstein engine I’m building for sure, thanks for the insight man

 

[Thewespaul]

Well,your right and wrong.
Your wrong that the parts can interchange.However your right,in that the engine probably won't come apart in just a few miles.Just because they didn't rattle themselves apart within a short period of time,doesn't mean they wont prematurely ware out.

This picture courtesy of member: "IDI guy" of another forum.Here he has shown the cranks side by side.He states the Turbo crank is on the right.

Also see external balance differences due to the different rotating assembly between engines here:
http://www.oilburners.net/media/external-modifications-of-turbo-idi.73/

No doubt the parts are different, but as long the builder balances everything to the rotating assembly it should be fine, even if they are mixmatched

 

[Diesile]

My experience.......When swapping a factory turbo '94 7.3 into my '86 with the 6.9 stick shift flywheel it shook badly. Installed listed turbo flywheel shake gone and
running beautifully 12 years later. Engine also ran smooth with factory flex plate.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Thank you for your actual experience. I would rather hear that then "look at what this person has written".