Ok - here's the story.

I bought this 1984 F250 w/ 6.9, hypermax turbo, and a DNE2. The truck was in good shape, really clean, and appeared to be taken care of well.

Fast forward 3 weeks and almost 2800 miles later:

I'm sitting at a stop light, and the truck has been running like a top all morning. The light turns green, and as soon as I begin to accelerate, I hear a god-awful rattling sound, almost like pocket change jingling. I pull it over and kill the engine, get out and check over a few things.... everything looks fine under the hood. So i decide to restart it. Turn the key and I get a 1/2 crank (not a full rRr), then she locks up!

The oil pressure was right at 20psi when I shut it off, and the truck wasn't running roughly, smoking, or anything else, just rattling. The engine had not been overheated or even driven hard for that matter - under 45mph with no load on fairly flat terrain.

I've yet to pull the motor to see what ails it, but it doesn't look too good. I just have a hard time believing that this engine would go like that, without warning. I had never had a problem or even a complaint with it until now.

Also, after straining the engine oil, I found a small (approx. 3/4") semi-circle piece of brass? or bronze?. Could I possibly have a bearing problem? Oil filter inspection showed no particles.

Any help/comments/suggestions will be appreciated!!!
Thanks

 

Ouch! Dayum...I have no idea, being a noob in the world of diesels...but I'll be paying attention to this thread... Good luck!

 

Did the turbo explode? Kinda sounds like it did and filled a chaber with bits and pieces, I hope no. If not I would suspect something in the injection pump driving mechanism. The front is not to hard to pull apart... or evey better take the intake off and look in from there. Either way is the motor is shot these have to be removed anyway.

 

Pull all of the glow plugs out and see if it will spin. This will tell you in a big hurry if it is hydrauliced or not. The copper is a very bad sign indeed.

 

Thanks for the help so far. Tomorrow I'll be able to spend some time with the beast and check for the above. I'll report my findings here. Thanks again

 

How or where can I get a diagram of the Hypermax turbo? I'm unsure of how to remove it. The engine will turn approx. 350 degrees each direction, but locks up and will not make a complete revolution. I need info on the turbo to remove it in order to pull the motor. Thanks.

Vince

 

There is nothing special about it. It is held in place with a couple flanges that go to the exhaust and to the intake tract. Just remove the bolts and lift it out. Then unhook the exhaust system and that is all there is to the turbo. I wouldn't try to disassemble the turbo it's self. There is nothing in there that will keep the engine from turning. As far as lifting the engine I really like using the genuine Ford shop manuals which are available from your ford dealer for about 24 -40 bucks depending on which ones you get . I bought all that pertain to my rig so even if a wiper motor or electrical circuit give me trouble I can diagnose and repair it like the pros do. Then I can also decide ahead of time if the project is within my abilities. That is to say within the abilities of my 12 year old boy as I'm in a wheelchair now and can only guide him through it. We just put a gas engine in my van in place of a 7.3. It wasn't that bad.

 

Sorry to hear about your trouble and the chunks in the oil is sure a bad sign,
but i have a thought. I had a similar problem when my flex plate broke in half.
It might be worth dropping the dust cover under the fly wheel and taking a look. This does not explain the metal in your pan however.

Good luck!

 

I checked behind the dustcover, but everything seems to be fine. I dont suspect anything is wrong with the turbo, I just don't think the motor will come out with it attached. As far as the shop manuals, I find the haynes (I think) manual I got at autozone to be useless. Gonna have to get with ford for a real book. Thanks.

 

If it makes it most of the way around I would say that you are hitting something in the cylinder with the piston. I would venture to say that you may have dropped a pre-chamber. Pull the glow plugs and the injectors and have a look into the cylinders.

I can't think of anything right off the top of my head that is brass or copper inside the engine itself that would cause that. Not unless a bearing shelled itself out and that is what you found. But I can't say for sure. Not too sure about the turbo, but I don't think the problem will have come from there.

 

If you are pulling the motor. I'll make a tuff job a little easier for you. If you pull the front clip off it gives you way more access to the engine and removing or putting the engine back in is easy. Just take out the two bolts on ech side of the rad that are attached to the frame and make sure you get the bolts that attach it to the front of the fenders and it will come out giving you plenty of access to work.

 

Well, I came across a good deal on a 6.9 n/a from an 85 f350. got it for $800 complete engine w/30 day warranty. The local big truck repair shop says they can swap 'em for about $900. I agreed to this and took them my truck....

The next day, the man from the repair shop calls me and says, "the engine you brought is a non turbo 6.9. The one in your truck is a turbo 6.9. It came from the factory stock with a turbo. Therefore, there's gonna be a lot of differences in things like exhaust manifolds and y pipes." I told him there was no difference in the engines at all except the one in the truck has an AFTERMARKET turbo... i meanProfanity Removed aren't these guys supposed to know this stuff?

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Am I crazy or did Ford really make a factory 6.9 turbo? I have never heard of such foolishness, and I asked him, "are you SURE". He tells me yes he's sure, but tomorrow am I have to call him to see what kind of parts I'm gonna need. I think he's crazy.

The 6.9 in my truck is no different from any other 6.9, is it?
Or am i just crazy?

 

Ford never did make a 6.9 turbo. The first turbo's were on the 7.3's. In fact Hypermax has never even been a direct supplier to Ford, ATS is the company that supplies the factory turbo's.

 

No your not crazy. All the 6.9's were the same. No turbo's from the factory.

The best thing about a early ford diesel is there is no shortage of people willing to rip you off on keeping them running. Mine averaged over $2,000 a year in repair bills for 10 years. If my 460 got 1 mpg it is still more economical.

I really hate to see you change out your engine without knowing what is wrong. That new one most likely is in overall worse shape than yours. They can use all the turbo parts off of yours on the new one so don't let them try to sell you more stuff. Good luck and I hope you have a lot of money. My last job on mine was a water pump and when they got done with me my ford dealership had my bill up to $2,700. Luckily for me it kicked the rods out 3 months later. Man do I love my 460. It's so smooth and quiet. It also has double the power.

 

This one's gonna hurt!