Rebuild or Replace 7.3 Turbo Engine???

[fine6.9]

type4, please do a rebuild thread, that would be great!

 

[typ4]

What did it cost to do the ballancing? I didn't bother with mine because I knew I would never have to go past 2500 RPM if I didn't want to.

180.00 same as most V8's . the rods were way off, pistons were pretty close , flywheel was real close, pressure plate was 4 grams off.

 

[icanfixall]

The rods can easily be balanced but the pistons are tuff. Not much area to take from. I talked to an engineer at Mahle about their pistons being so far out of balance. Eric told me they could be as much as 14 grams differance between pistons and still run smooth..... Thats what I called it. So as you can see in my mini build writeup the pistons are now as close as they can get without being over the top. A smooth balanced motor will run longer and make more horse power easier. Someone did get a good deal on a set of pistons if they were Mahle and the rings were set for that...

 

[kcw12]

If it was my motor, Id throw a new set of bearings and rings in it and put some gaskets in it and be done w/ it.

 

[88 Ford]

Stock non turbo piston pin size is 28mm. The turbo pins are 33mm. Building a turbo 7.3 is easy. Ford still sells the turbo rods and Direct Diesel in Florida had 2 pallets full of them. No core either. I have several sets but am holding on to them for now. Someday they will be impossible to find. The exhaust valves are inconel material and Hypermax sells them. Figure around $34.00 per valve. Everything else is the same for turbo and non turbo 7.3 motors. Have your block sleeved and not bored. Do not mill the heads. Mahle sells turbo and non turbo pistond in both low compression or standard compression. Figure around $550.00 per set of 8 with rings. Check Ebay for gaskets. I paid around $50.00 for 2 sets of valve job gaskets. They usually cost around $100.00 for that set. Don't use the pan gasket. It will leak soon. Use RTV and it will never leak. Have your cam reground or buy another cam. again, Ebay is the place to be looking. I paid $15.00 for a new cam. Ford and International will charge you around $800.00 for the same thing. Northern Autoparts sells cams on the cheap side so look them up. I feel aftermarket heads are superiour to the OEM heads but... They need some cleaning up in the port areas. They are thicker decks for better holding strength. Alabama Cylinder Heads sells them cheaper than anyone else but again Ebay is a good place to be looking. I paid $102.50 for a set of new bare heads with no shipping charges. You just can't beat that price... Glad to see you are keeping the truck too...

Hey icanfixall you said not to have your block bored. The guy who rebuilt my truck bored my engine .01 over. How bad is this for engine reliability. My thought is that it probably affects cavitation. It runs real well though.

 

[1dieselman]

I had to replace the block in my truck, after checking for cavitation and any other problems it was bored .020 over. I'm sure it will probably have a little shorter life expectancy but so far so good.

 

[zpd307]

that is pretty much it. the 7.3 cylinder walls are allready thin, compared to the 6.9. that is why cavitation is a concern onthe 7.3's. so when you bore, it make the all ready thin walls even thinner.

 

[Todd C]

I hadn't thought about balancing... I guess with new pistons and connecting rods that would be a good idea. How important is balancing? I get the feeling alot of people don't have it done? I wonder if Jasper did it for my engine...
Todd

 

[icanfixall]

Balancing the roatating material is very important when you rev up really high rpm. On our trucks its not that important but... Why go to the trouble of a rebuild if you are leaving out a step. It will make things run better. The differance in around 2 grams at 8000 rpm is enough to scare you. Its something like 40 lbs thats stopping and then excellerating again only to stop again and go the other direction in the cylinder. Sure,,, We don't turn up that high but keep thinking whats going on in an unbalanced rotating mass. I want my motor to last longer than International thinks it should. The realiblity factor is also very important to me. A few years ago the Indy motors had a 2 1/2 inch bore and a 1 1/2 inch stroke. They turned 12,000 + rpm..... Thats 200 rpm per second. I sure would like to watch that being balanced.

 

[88 Ford]

I agree with icanfixall I think it is important to balance a motor. The guy who rebuilt my motor before I got the truck didn't balance it and can tell even without already knowing. You can tell just by hearing it run.

 

[FordGuy100]

I agree with these guys, if its as cheap as Russ's balance job, then you might as well go for it. I doubt the Jaspers are balanced to be honest, they might be, but I really dont think they take the time to do it.

 

[david85]

180.00 same as most V8's . the rods were way off, pistons were pretty close , flywheel was real close, pressure plate was 4 grams off.

****!!!!! is that all? I wish I looked into this when I had mine apart. Didn't even ask how much it was because I assumed it was too pricy. Although down time was a problem and as it was, my block was in their shop for a while before anything was done to it.

Oh well its still a good runner the way it is.

 

[sassyrel]

Dont forget he would need Connecting rods as well. There was some other minor things as well, nothing to major though if I remember right. G code injectors, the valley pan thing a magig where the turbo pedistal drains into is a better design I believe.

read my post again--

 

[Todd C]

Well, if I can get it balanced for around $180 then I'll definitely do that. I am hoping to get started today getting ready to pull the engine, but we'll see... it's up to 12 degrees now with a high forcast of 20... Meantime I'll start looking around at parts prices.
Todd

 

[typ4]

Get on ebay and do a search and get your stuff from falconglobal sales. They have the best prices I have found so far. If you do pistons get the anodized ones with the .010 shorter tops.