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6.9L reliability

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Old Jul 22, 2011 | 06:01 AM
  #1  
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6.9L reliability

I was lucky and unlucky my first truck was an 86 250 ext cab with a 6.9L

Now I loved that truck but the thing blew up the owner before me sold me a dud

Now I'm older and wiser and have had many people tell ms that the 6.9 is better than he 7.3 idi and in my opinion I agree

As for reliability I want to swap a 6.9 into another vehicle but in doing so what can I do to maintain reliability in this engine ?
 
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Old Jul 22, 2011 | 08:22 AM
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Change the oil at regular intervals, and maintain the sca's in the coolant .
What caused it to prematurely blow up.
These motors take as much or more abuse than most any motor.
 
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Old Jul 22, 2011 | 11:32 AM
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2 much boost pressure

It has a banks on it
 
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Old Jul 22, 2011 | 11:34 AM
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Use motorcraft/beru glowplugs ONLY along with motorcraft/navistar thermostats.
Off brand glow plugs swell and get stuck in the head and aftermarket thermostats will cause overheating and possible heat siezing
 
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Old Jul 22, 2011 | 01:49 PM
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Well my plan is throw a 6.9 in a 92 ranger ext cab
 
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Old Jul 22, 2011 | 02:28 PM
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Originally Posted by Builtihtuff
Well my plan is throw a 6.9 in a 92 ranger ext cab

Um, making a lowrider? Gonna be hard on the ranger.
 
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Old Jul 22, 2011 | 03:20 PM
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That engine weighs far too much for that truck. Good luck but I just cant see how you would fit in there in the first place.
 
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Old Jul 22, 2011 | 05:50 PM
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On the ranger forums there is a guy with a 6.5 (396ci) gm in a ranger that's Un acceptable lol and a low rider he'll no and yes I realize I'd need to beef the suspention
 
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Old Jul 22, 2011 | 09:32 PM
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I'd be worried about the wheel bearings and spindles taking that kind of weight. To be safe you should figure that motor weighs 1100lbs fully dressed full of fluids.
 
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Old Jul 23, 2011 | 06:05 AM
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I must have been saused the 6.5L is a 379ci

Also the 6.9L is 860lbs how full of fluid could it possibly weigh 1100 pounds and why the wheel bearings I don't know anything about wheel bearings couldn't I just get stronger ones ?
 
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Old Jul 23, 2011 | 11:07 AM
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I had a 1500lb engine stand and it did not like holding my 6.9, i hung the front off the cherry picker until i got the heads off. And as far as the front end goes it's just a design thing, those little spindles just don't seem big enough, I'm not saying they won't take the weight I'd just be scared of hitting a pothole and breaking something. Don't get me wrong it sounds like an awesome idea, theres something about 10lbs of sh%^ in a 5lb bag thats just plain cool
 
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Old Jul 23, 2011 | 12:06 PM
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A 6.2/6.5 is a much lighter and more compact engine package than a 6.9. I remember before putting the 2.3 TD in our ranger, it could sometimes be a challenge to work on that little bitty 2.9 EFI V6. The ranger has a pretty stout frame for its size but I still couldn't recommend a swap like this.

At least if you put it in an F150, you still have some space to shoe horn the engine in there, but I'm not sure how you could get it to fit inside a ranger.
 
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Old Jul 23, 2011 | 01:36 PM
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I know a guy that has a f150 6.9L

Any one else have some great ideas than all I want is great fuel economy and some rolling coal I just don't want to cross breed I don't need the turbos and all that mess I just want traditional old dirty diesel for daily driving
 
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Old Jul 23, 2011 | 04:44 PM
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I would sooner go with an F150 2wd or if you really want to go all out for fuel economy, maybe even an early 80s F100 with the swiss cheese frame. They aren't as strong as the later frames, but they aren't made of glass either and you won't be treating the truck like a 1 ton anyway. That gives you the option of some crazy tall gearing on relatively small tires (either a ford 9" or 8.8 semifloater rear end), small frontal area, and still a fairly light truck (I suspect a 4wd ranger is probably of comparable weight to an early 80s 2wd F100 or F150). Then just put a 4 speed manual in there and you may be able to pass 30 MPG on a good day. You could try for a 5 speed, but with such a light truck, I don't think gear spread will be much of an issue. If my F250 can reach 24MPG @ 55 MPH, I don't think 30 is out of line for a smaller, lighter version.

A turbo would be completely unnecessary IMO.
 
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Old Jul 24, 2011 | 06:57 AM
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Ya I hate turbos on idi engines, I want a small truck i can tow my small boat with and can park anywhere and drive daily that's why I wanted a ranger but an f100 seems to old it's hard in Ontario to find older trucks for decent value where everything is not literally Swiss cheese it would be kind of a single cab short box 94 ranger diesel I have a smart car diesel already that thing is great drove from Toronto to Montreal cost me 17.00 dollars in fuel lol
 
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