I have been lurking on this forum for years about any and all issues I have with our farms many old ford pickups. It’s helped be resolve almost every issue (which aren’t many thankfully) I’ve ever had to fix. Now I have a question of my own I hope I can get some other opinions on.



I own a 1990 f-super duty with a 7.3idi in it. The other day it devopled a slight chatter when at higher rpm’s that I didn’t think much of until it turned into an intense knock followed by blue smoke pouring out of the exhaust. When I say pouring I mean it looked just like a guy who loves to roll coal on the highway. Since we are extremely behind on planting corn and soybeans I had the truck towed to our local garage where the mechanic there said he would take a look at it.



So after reading numerous posts on this forum about 7.3 rebuilds I am now presented with a situation where I could use some advice. If the engine unfortunately needs a rebuild should I just look into buying a rebuilt engine from a reputable company? Should I consider rebuilding the one that is currently in it? Oh I forgot to mention earlier the engine that’s in it is already a jasper reman that the seller had told me had 60k on it. If I was to buy a rebuilt “crate” engine is there any value to purchasing the 7.3idi turbo and putting it in my truck or is that not as easy as plug and play. I’m new to the idi but have loved owning it for the past 2 years. I pull a lot with it so I definitely need some loaded get up and go. Any advice is welcome as I am still learning and am quite flustered at the moment. Thanks y’all

 

Does the reman engine have the turbo, the proper exhaust, the CDR relocation, the intake box, etc.? If not, you can't easily install it in place of your NA engine.

Did you ever get a receipt from the previous owner showing that the engine was a Jasper rebuild? It will be interesting to see what info the shop give you.

 

To answer your first question, no my NA engine doesn’t have any of those. I was wondering more about if I was to buy a 7.3 idiT would it be able to just take the place of my NA engine without having to do any major reworking or the engine bay.

for the second question, the seller did not have any info on the jasper rebuild. He bought it on an auction at a good price and his wife told him he had to sell one of his two idi’s lol. The only reason I know it’s a jasper is because there is a sticker on the left valve cover saying jasper reman and then I believe it has a number after it, can’t quite remember it’s been a while since I looked at it.

 

I bet someone at Jasper could tell you more about it with that number.

 

I am not a huge fan of Jasper remanufactured engines. I certainly would not buy one, and if I bought a truck that had one installed, it would make me nervous.

I think you would be much better off removing your engine and getting it rebuilt by a reputable shop.

I'm in the middle of removing a 6.9 IDI (NA) and replacing it with a 7.3 IDI turbo that I will rebuild. The engines are very similar externally and I do not expect any issues with the swap. The induction and exhaust are different, but it's a bolt-in swap.

 

my feeling about that jasper engine is, just look for a good running IDI in a junk yard.
jasper engines are for people looking to put a cheap running engine in a truck they are getting rid of.
if you find a turbo engine, it will drop rite in.