I know it's not just me who feels this way. But my truck has become part of who I am. It's not just a truck, it's part of me. People who I don't even know know me from what I drive. I am by no means an artist, but my truck is a work of art in its own right.

To whomever have seen the dyno sheets or the videos alot of you know that for a factory turboed IDI not running an innercooler and having well over 200k miles to be pushing out over 215hp and 429ft-lbs of
Torque is still pretty impressive.

But unfortunately a series of events has taken place and the heart of gold inside my truck has started showing signs of serious wear.

I noticed oil leaking out of my stacks about a month ago, but now it seems everything decided to fail at once. The trucks burning a massive amount of coolant, I'm not sure if its cavitation related or if it's a head gasket. There's no coolant in the oil or vise versa. The teuck is running 100-200 degrees hotter at all times now for no apparent reason.But something's not right.

The clutch and dual mass fly wheel are nothing more but a failing connection between a dieing engine and the ground.

Anyways long sob story short the engines on a severe decline. This leaves 3 options.

1:Replace it with a re-man.
2:use my other 6.9L blocks and parts from the current engine to build a new and improved one
3:engine conversion.

Honestly after looking at the prices for machine work, custom pumps ect I could swap in a cummins or Somthing else for far cheaper than building a "performance IDI"

I'm really playing with the idea of finding an building a DT466 with a P7100 pump. I wouldn't mind the fab work that comes with that. Because I know it's a fairly rare swap. But from what I have seen they are extremely successful.

I know if I tear into my engine it would get head studs, new bearings, valve job, the works. But, for the money I could replace it with a different power plant. I guess im just kinda torn.

 

Compare apples to apples... Those swaps you are talking about for less than an IDI are used engines I presume. Not fresh rebuilds. A decent running drop in IDI is what? $500-$800? Everything from your IDIT will bolt on performance wise. Sure, a "performance" build can add up to more than a used 5.9 but it is a "new" engine. That said, with a dead power plant you have options. If you want to try out something different under the hood then go for it. Just keep in mind the devil is in the details and swaps have a way of running over budget for both money and time. Personally I would opt to put that 6.9 together and steal all the goodies off your IDIT and slap them on it. Do the cam and studs while its apart then upgrade fuel and turbo as funds allow. That way you don't loose that sweet V8 rattle! Just my pair 'o pennies.

 

those are options 2-4.
option 1 is properly diagnosing the issue, and potentially just replacing a head gasket and keep on truckin' for years to come.
this is what id do.i see the issue with a clutch going too,but hey,lots of us have driven our share of manual shift trucks.them's the brakes.clutches ware out and cost money.its a heck of job wrenching.no trans is without it's cons.
keep your chin up and just start diagnosing thoroughly before jumping to any conclusions.

 

12V Cummins swap.

 

I agree with F250, could be something as minor as a head gasket. As for oil in the stacks, are you sure its not moisture melting and mixing with the soot?

Next, set aside $4000 for a stock VE pumped 12v swap, i imagine alot more fab and money for a DT466. I could be biased, but seems to me you can get a lot of IDI for $4000

 

Well the truck also has a large amount of blow by. It's pushing oil up through the dip stick,

Idk. I have a perfect 6.9l block. Maybe I should work on that. Do a full build. We will see

 

Out of curiosity, hows the boost? Has it fallen off? Could be the seal in the turbo, but then again that wouldnt exactly cause alot of blowby...

 

Boost did drop a proximity 2-3psi at wot

 

Dont know how much good it will do at this point, but i would definately do a compression and leak down test if possible just to give you some idea of what went wrong. I hate to admit it, but all the symptoms do point to bad rings. As a last resort you could dose it with some of that auto Rx stuff and couple quarts of lucas.

 

Yeah, I thought the truck had an exhaust leak but turns out it pumping smoke and oil out of the road draft tube.

Not worth punching out a 7.3 block. I could use the rods, crank ect and build a new engine with my other parts.

Then see about lower compression pistons ect and do a power build.

Or save my money and do a engine conversion. Hard to say at this point

 

Unless you really want a different engine I would stick with what you have. Like mentioned conversions really start to add up on time and money. Is your motor running a stock pump? Watched the video, your truck was running really well.

 

I love IDI's don't et me wrong.

But a DT466 has been a dream of mine. I'm a fabricator by trade.

I know for that engine it's alot of work and I'm not really impressed with how strong the frame is anyways. So I wouldn't mind the fabbing.

Idk ill do some thinking

 

the dt466 would make it a bit nose heavy and you'd probably lose room for the radiator. I say a dt360 with a fuller 6, would be a better fit. fab in the front 2 crossmember out a f600+ and get a front d60 if you dont got one. that would allow you to delete the current front crossmember to give room for the pan. that is if your wanting to do a swap, I was thinking doing it to the 71 I had

 

It's a no brainer

 

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Oh wait, that's my dream swap.