Okay, I've got a 92 F-300(F-250 Dually) and hopefully this upcoming weekend I become the new owner of a 88 7.3L IDI, I'm looking to Swap and I was kinda curious about the wiring, The engine is supposed to have the complete harness still on it, so I'm definitely thinking that'll help, I'm swithcing from the E4OD I currently have to a ZF S5-42. So far I think all I need for the swap would be:
Engine
Motor Mounts
Transmission
Crossmember
Clutch Pedal
Clutch Hydraulics(Slave cylinder etc...)
Fuel Sending Units
Driverside Battery Tray
Radiator
Core Support

I believe thats all I'll need, so that leaves the wiring, if I'm correct, all I need is a ECM from a 92 truck with the 7.3 and manual trans, then connect the wires in from the cab and the wires from the engine in their respective slots and it should run, correct?
or am I missing something?
Also, any idea what kinda mileage i could expect?, I'll be running 225/70R19.5's, about 32" tall, 3.55:1 gears, and a manual trans..
Thanks
-Kevin G

 

Also is there anything I should be wary of when I look at this engine? He says the odometer of the truck it come out of reads 146,880, howewvr I believe these odometers were only five digit right? so it could be 146,880, or 446,880 if i'm correct

 

Yeah, you're correct on the odometer...
Also, the fuel tanks are different. The gas tanks are galvanized, and diesel will corrode that. The fuel senders were made to physically not fit correctly in the wrong tanks..
Ask the PO of the '88 about SCAs, and check the coolant.
I'd do a compression test on it while it's still in the '88. That will give you a good idea of any big issues. (It's a lot easier to change the head gaskets, or fix a leaky oil cooler when it's out of the truck...)

 

Also neither the 7.3 IDI nor the ZF5 trans need a computer to run them so strike that off of your list.

 

Ok, I wasn't sure if i would need a computer for the guages in the 92 or not, or if they are just run off signal wires?

Phy- The engine is out of the truck already, Its a supposed 7.3 so i'll be looking at the glow plug harness for the updated style, the "88" on the heads(not sure where that is though) and finally the serial number by the injection pump, and I won't be able to check SCA's cause it should be a dry block, however if cavitation is eating through, if its bad enough, there will be coolant in the oil correct? and i'll be pulling the glow plugs to turn the engine over too

Anything else to look for?

 

If you feel you really don't know the mileage on the motor, I would be tempted to mic the cylinders and measure bearing clearances. I would say for the cost of head and pan gaskets (and some plastiguage) you would learn a ton about the motor.

With cavitation, it can seem to be 100% fine today and pooched tomorrow.

 

I would but here is my over-all plan, I'm gonna swap the diesel and 5-speed into my dually

Then I wanna get an 80-86 4wd F350 ext or crew cab frame, and redo it, I have a dana 60 dually front kingpin axle for it i would like to go through, then when i have another vehicle pull the engine and rebuild it, hypermax pistons, turbo, intercooler, etc. full build, rebuild the zf s5-42, and rebuild my dana 70hd under my dually now and put it all under the older truck.

But for now I'm just looking for fuel mileage, and my first diesel without breaking the bank, reason being is hopefully about double to fuel mileage 8/12 to 16/24 and save as much as possible to build a bigger dually.

So i'm not too awful concered as of right now as long as it runs, and if it doesn't then I'll just start rebuilding early and drop it in my current dually, I'm a diesel mechanic so the only way it won't run is something catastrophic like broken rings etc.

 

I converted my truck from gasoline to diesel.

The tanks are exactly the same between the trucks, I swapped out my sending units for the ones that were on the diesel truck, the sending units are the same, but the gasser has in-tank pumps, and the in-tank pumps operate the selector valve on the gas trucks, normally you can get away with replacing the pumps with lines, but then you have no way to operate the selector valve. The selector valve is electric on the diesels, because there is no in-tank pumps to operate it.

The engine harness on the gas trucks is integral with the headlight harness, so unless you want your gas engine harness wires laying about the bay not hooked to anything, you have to swap in a 92-94 IDI harness. To hook up a diesel engine/headlight harness, you need the matching dash harness, which means you have to have the right cluster as well, along with removing the dash to run the wires.

All in all, I found it easier to buy a parts truck and swap everything, and I even did the cab so that I could have the correct diesel VIN... Its is a bit more work, but if you have plans to keep the truck for a while, its completely worth it to do it right the first time. I had most of my swap done in a weekend. Sold the extra parts from the parts truck and broke even.

Its either that, or strip the extra wires from the engine harness and retape it... Thing with that though is you dont get a diesel specific tach (which means no tach, at least factory) or fuel gauge. Some states also frown on swapping diesels into gas powered vehicles, I know here in WA, its illegal, and they will fail you at emissions without even running the truck. At least with a diesel VIN, you can be legal, even if the truck was originally a diesel.

 

So i need a diesel dash with a factory tach then if i want a tach, and I think i'm only going to run a single tank for now because the back tank leaks anyways, so i should be able to put in either a diesel tank or a sending unit, then just a fuel line to the mechanical pump, i have a gps for a speedometer, so i just need voltage, oil pressure, and water temp gauges and i would like a tach, I've built a full harness for a 460 running a mass air 302 computer and the engine ran so i don't think the gauges will be too challenging, so i just need to run two wires from my ignition switch to the injection pump and keep the wiring for the starter relay, and it should all work correct? I don't have testing and i'm not worried about keeping it all correct because eventually my running gear will be going into an older body truck which will be all correct. so my new list as follows:
-fuel tank/sending unit
-transmission
-motor mounts
-driveshaft
-clutch hydraulics
-clutch pedal
-trans crossmember
-trans mount
-core support/radiator

anything else?

 

Question, will an 87-91 gauge cluster into a 92-96 dash? I know the speedometer is mechanical in the older series, so would the gauges be as well? so could i just run a sensor wire to my coolant, oil pressure, and voltage? or will the sensors out of the 460 fit into the 7.3? so i could get rid of all the wires on the ecm other than sensor wires to the dash?

 

[quote=RacinNdrummin;11813534]I converted my truck from gasoline to diesel.

The tanks are exactly the same between the trucks, I swapped out my sending units for the ones that were on the diesel truck, the sending units are the same, but the gasser has in-tank pumps, and the in-tank pumps operate the selector valve on the gas trucks, normally you can get away with replacing the pumps with lines, but then you have no way to operate the selector valve. The selector valve is electric on the diesels, because there is no in-tank pumps to operate it.

The electric in tanks pump can be used with D2. You just have to reduce the voltage to them to reduce the pressure to ~ 5-6 PSI. As has been pointed out before, you should bypass the MP.

 

I'm just using one tank, currently the guage doesn't work, so i'm just gonna get the diesel sending unit, will i have to replace my fuel lines or will the gasser lines work?