Non Turbo IDI Ford 1987 6.9 Rebuild

[rlb245]

Well this hole thing started when the old girl started missing on a couple of cylinders on the right bank last winter. But seeing how I'm retired and on SSI the budget is not what it should be. The old girl has 875 thousand miles on the original engine. I want to rebuild the engine so I parked her until last month. I went on Ebay and found what I was told was a good running 6.9 and bought it. It just happened to be in my home town of Columbus Indiana, so rather than have it shipped to Buffalo NY, that's where I stay for 5 month of the year. I took a weekend and drove down with My Explorer and trailed it back to Buffalo. Excitedly I mounted the engine on my test stand, set it up. and spent 2 hrs on trying to start it. Well it never started. It tried! but wasn't getting fuel to the injectors. Pulled the injectors and found them all plugged with sludge. I figured I should take a good look at the injector pump to sense the injectors were so bad. Upon seeing the condition of the injectors and the injector pump I was doubtful that the engine had run in quite some time. I have spare parts for the my truck that I have collected over the years. I put my rebuilt injectors in and installed my backup injector pump. The engine fired up and ran but was missing on #3 cylinder. I done a compression check and found #3 cylinder was way lower compression than any of the others. Well in for a penny in for a pound. I tour it down and found that that #3 cylinder had a big gouge in the wall and evidence of rust. Pulled piston and found that a big chunk of it had broke off right next to the connecting rod and wrist pin on the inside. You would have had to pull the pan and bring #3 all the way to the bottom of it's stroke to see it or pull the piston like I did. Well I started a claim on Ebay and got a full refund. The seller told me to scrap the engine, He wasn't paying for it's return. The block is in great shape other wise. Cylinders are running .002 to .003 over. I'm going to sleeve #3 and rebuild this the engine with standard pistons. Cam, lifters and crank are in great shape as well. I'll mic them out today and put a new set of bearings in. Then pull the original engine out of the old girl and see what I got. Looks like I'm rebuilding 2 engines instead of one. Doing a dry fit sleeve on #3. Scored a Clevite sleeve PN 226-8138 on ebay! SWEET!!!! If you interested Ill keep ya posted on this adventure of mine. Just want to share my experience with an Ebay purchase that went bad, but had a some what happy ending!

 

[riotwarrior]

Cool...sounds like a win to me

 

[Tristan]

Yes, definitely keep posting on your progress. I hope to be rebuilding one of mine soon myself.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Sorry to hear that your engine will now cost you even more money. I'll bet that you have a better engine when you're done.

 

[Thatoneguy]

Well even though you didn't get what you originally wanted... You essentially got a rebuildable engine for free! Look forward to seeing the progress! On a side note... Does anybody know of a step by step walkthrough on rebuilding either a 6.9 or 7.3??

 

[IDIBRONCO]

I don't know of one, but if you're mechanically inclined, can ask questions instead of just trying to do something that you don't know, and can follow the advice that you asked for, they're not too hard to rebuild. I always tell people that once you get past the fuel system, they're basically like any other V8 engine. they have a cam, crank, pistons, rods, lifters, pushrods. If you haven't rebuilt an engine before, don't let that stop you. I know there's books out there on how to rebuild engines. I have one for older Ford V8s. Buy one and read it. The processes are basically the same, you just have to remember to use the specs for an IDI instead of whatever they're using there.

 

[Thatoneguy]

Ya I've rebuilt engines... But they were all gassers lol. Appreciate the info!

 

[IDIBRONCO]

So you should be just fine then. All you have to do is remember the diesel specifics such as cam timing, etc. An IDI was the first engine that I rebuilt.

 

[rlb245]

I rebuilt my first engine when I was 16, living in Mt Vernon,Washington state. It was 49 Ford with a flathead V8. My dad, besides being a farmer, carpenter, mason ran a Texaco station with a 2 bays that we're always busy. Brakes, tuneup's, tranny's and engine rebuild's. Thats where I learned my way around an engine and a tool box. I enjoy that kind of work. It take's me back to some good days in my life when thing's weren't so complicated. I could never be a good mechanic, my dad said I was to slow lol. I like to go slow and steady. paying close attention to all things involved.

On a another note:
Cylinder bore evaluation
This a series of reading done at the top, center and bottom of each cylinder
and averaged out. I'm only posting the average deviation and in the order that they were done

#1 = 4.0025 to 4.00035

#3 = 4.0035 to 4.004 Worked around the damaged area on this one

#5 = 4.003 to 4.0035

#7 = 4.0025 to 4.003

#2 = 4.0025 to 4.0035

#4 = 4.0035 to 4.003

#6 = 4.0025 to 4.0035

#8 = 4.0025 to 4.003

Crank and cam are next on my the evaluation list

Then doing a pressure was with some caustic then into a 55 gallon barrel of boiling water, **** En Span and Borax.
Then about a day of electrolysis to remove the rust in the water jacket. Then comes the Dye penetrant to check for cracks

 

[Macrobb]

The only major gotcha I've found is if you surface the heads or install new valves... the valve recession spec is CRITICAL. You never want to be out of spec on the low side; more recession = more piston to valve clearance. And it's really tight. .010" too shallow ended up with a destroyed valve guide and nice indentation on the piston, the other head was in spec and was spotless.

 

[Hydro-idi]

Did you say this engine has 875,000 miles on it? If so, that's ALOT. Don't think I've heard of an idi going that long

 

[IDIBRONCO]

I've heard of one that supposedly had over 700,000 on it. At the shop I used to work at, we had a customer who used his bullnose with a 6.9 and 4 speed to deliver to deliver campers from someplace in Utah to different places around the country. He first used our shop before I started working there to have a head replaced at almost 500,000 miles. He said that at around 640,000 the bellhousing had a crack in it so he parked it and bought a new Dodge. This was around 99 or 2000. His new Dodge spent more time in the shop for the first year than it spent out of it. He finally pulled the old Ford out of the weeds, had the bellhousing welded and started using it again because it was so much more reliable. I had no way to confirm either of these two stories. This is just what I was told. It is possible, just not very likely.

 

[gfemling]

On total accumulated miles on '87s-- the odometers are only 5 digits (ignoring the 1/10s) so keeping track of whether 100k or 200k or X00k is a challenge. And 800k is suspect- maybe not impossible but ?? ;-).

 

[rlb245]

I can see there is some question as to the actual miles on the original engine. All I can tell you is up to this year the truck make a run from Cody Wyoming in the spring, spends the summer in Buffalo, While in Buffalo NY it does the occasional trip to NC, Ohio, Florida, Tennessee and Columbus indiana. I do an oil change every 3,000 miles. It gets injectors changed out every year and I've went through 4 injector pumps sense I've had the truck. It's originally out of Bloomington Indiana, Was purchased brand new by my best friend from High school. The trip to and from is 3,670 mile, 30 hrs strait for me. Buffalo to Columbus is 1,034 round trip I do it once a month while I i'm in Buffalo. That's makes a little over 4,000. Now this is besides the normal every week driving. Then to Charlotte NC Twice a year, a little over 1300 round trip. I,ve been doing this for the past 15 to 16 years now sense I retired. Before that I spent a lot of time on the road as a field service Tech for Wast Water systems. The truck seen quit a lot of time there to. The old girl has served me well. One of my friends ask me why I don't just junk her. I looked at him and said ARE YOU NUTS! WHY SHOULD I,
Shes going to get a face lift and hang out with me until I go belly up. I figure it only right, she's do some respect.

 

[rlb245]

Just a heads up! this is not the original engine I'm working on right now. Its a temporary replacement for the original. this engine will go in and I'll rebuild the original and then sell this one to off set the cost