Hello Everyone I have been perusing here for a long time to make sure I tried not to create a thread that has already been covered. So forgive me as to some of my verbiage. I'm trying to learn as I go here. My dad never wanted to touch an engine so I have to learn it on my own.

My story starts like this I bought a 1994 F- Super duty DRW flatbed 2 years ago from a guy on craigslist that used it as a summer project for him and his son. Being he owns a body shop he completely went through the truck body and brought it back to life. New panels, paint trim etc. Well I drove it back about 250 miles and noticed some things right off the bat. Brakes in the rear were completely shot which lead to completely going through the rear axle. Then the Dual Mass Fly wheel shelled out. So that was update to the single mass version. Many other things were peppered in for repairs. The final one was the head gasket blowing. Since I had only owned it for 6000 miles or so and not know the actual miles on the motor (has a reman sticker on it). I decided to look around to see what was available.

Back to craigslist I go looking to see what might be out there for an engine. Low and behold I find a hobbyist with a perfect candidate. A 7.3 idi but this one has a turbo (factory). Great, so I picked it up for $2000 all new parts, receipts etc. Fast forward a little I install the motor think i'm doing everything right and only 2000 miles later blow the head gasket. Well this time I don't have any time to mess around so that brings us to today. I have a shop tear it down to do the head gasket and find that many things are not as they appeared. The heads were not gone through, the deck of the block is damaged and needs to be resurfaced, etc.

So to my questions:

The block is completely torn down now and I'm planning on keeping it for a long time. What should I do to insure as long of life as possible?

I already have the ARP head studs. Thinking it was just going to be gaskets.

The block is original and needs to be bored out. How far over do you go and what parts should I use on the rebuild?

Sorry for being so winded, I will try to get some pics posted. I need to make some decisions very soon so that I can get back on the road. Thanks for you time.

 

Rebuild the oil cooler. Chances are it needs it.


The minimum amount you can. Your machine shop should tell you what it needs when they bore it. Typically, the way it works is they set it up and then bore it until the bore is clean. They then inspect it(magnaflux) to check for cracks/leaks; they then know if a sleeve is needed.
Otherwise, they will bore it to a standard size(Typically in .010 increments), then hone it. You(or they) then purchase a set of pistons to match.
Mine ended up being .030 over, which is 'good'. The smaller it cleans up, the better -- more cyl wall thickness.

As far as parts, my shop used something like this: Master Engine Rebuild Kit Ford IDI Diesel 445 7 3L OHV V8 1989 1994 | eBay
I'm not sure all the parts, but some were made by enginetech(whoever they are), Victor Reins gaskets, etc.

 

Thanks for the info. The oil cooler is brand new so it should be good to go.


As of right now it needs to be bored like you said .010 over.

Does anyone know what gasket is used to seal the top hat of the turbo to the intake? I can't seem to find if its an o-ring or what. There is oil leaking from there with the CDR venting into the air intake.

We really had to do some modifying of a 3" down pipe to get it to match up to the OE garret turbo. Any thoughts?

 

I don't have your kit, but what I did on mine was just make a wrap of paper towels, several layers thick and zip-tie it around there.
Doesn't get hot enough to even turn the paper brown, and keeps the top of the engine clean.

Maby you can get it to seal right, but I've always had trouble(But again, different kit).

 

These engines pretty much have to have the heads resurface and the the blocks decked to get rid of the fire ring grooves that develops as these engines are used. If not head gasket failure is almost guaranteed. I would have the block sonic tested for cavitation then bored. You can get reduced height Pistons to compensate for decking.

 

Thanks for all of the info.

Have there been any known problems with the cranks? Anything special to have checked there before reinstalling?

Can any point me to a thread on oil? Does anyone use synthetic? I've got a ton of Mobil 15w40. Planing on using that unless persuaded otherwise.

 

No real problems with cranks. Have it checked for size and turned if needed. Have the rods checked for size and roundness recondition as needed. The mobile 15w-40 will be just fine.

 

I've been using the Mobil 15W40; You will definitely want to run it for 10K or so after a rebuild, or the rings might not seat correctly... at least, that's what I've heard.

A few days ago, I decided to try Mobil 5w40 synthetic, now that I have a rebuilt motor with new seals. So far, no noticeable leaks. Seems to be slightly smoother for some reason. Hot idle pressure is low(12PSI), but comes up if I even hit 800RPM. With the 15W40 regular oil, I was hitting 18PSI hot idle minimum.