Howdy,

I have 93 F250 7.3L truck, and after 175,000 miles sadly it's time for a new engine.
I have done a little looking on the internet and found several different companies selling complete drop in engines for as much as $10K and as little as $4K. Besides price, what should I be looking for so I know I am getting an engine that will hopefully last a little longer than this one did. Is the turbo upgrade worth the $3-$4K more? Which companies have you used? and did you like the engine?
Has anyone had any bad experiences?
I am looking for lots of input before I buy so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Gr8ride.

 

First what is wrong with the old engine.........

Make sure whatever engine you get has been sleeved in all 8 cylinders. You can't just oversize the cylinders on a 7.3, they are too thin already.

Jasper has a good reputation........

 

Reviva 7.3 turbo upgrade 2 year unlimited mileage warranty.
Reman motor installed on 12-15 2003.
Motor #1 2759 miles cracked block, blown head gasket on 2-6-2004. Warranty replaced motor and paid for install minus antifreeze, oil and state sales tax.
Found out later the cooling system pressure did in my radiator and heater core which they did not cover.
Motor #2 9759 miles crankshaft broke 7-17-2004. Warranty replaced motor and paid for the install minus antifreeze, oil and state sales tax.
Found out later the crankshaft took out the input cover and seal on my T 19 transmission which they did not cover.
Motor #3 8-18-2005 after 20,000 miles cylinder #1 has antifreeze in the combustion chamber. I have not torn it down yet to find out if it is a blown head gasket or cavitation. Even though I have warranty till December 15th of this year, after 3 motors I do not think I will be installing another Reviva motor. I do not even think I will be getting any parts from them, I can not afford the down time. This engine remanufacturer has been responsible for more down time of my truck in one and a half years than it has been down since it was new. Going on 5 weeks of downtime since the original install and it is not running again. I hope to get it in the shop this week and pull the engine and heads to see what is going on.

The bad thing is Reviva remans engines for a lot of different places including Ford, Chevy and Dodge. They also reman Cat and some one else I can not think of right now.
The mechanics that help me swap my motor had a Ford gas motor that they went through 4 motors before they got it to run. The shipping carton had a symbol on it that he called me to ask about because it looked like something he had seen before. Turns out it was a partner company of Reviva that did gas motors.

With out saying anything more I guess you can see what I am advising.

The turbo upgrade is worth the money, I love mine when it is running.

 

Your American dollar isn't worth that much more here in Canada now but buying from Diesel Auto Services was a good deal for you guys South of the Boarder.

As for what you should do all depends on how long you plan on keeping the truck. You can go with the cheapest option is a basic rebuild which will be a N/A spec'ed engine. A turboed engine does have beefed up internal parts which is why they cost more.

Any rate you have to consider is your truck worth spending the money on it might be time to sell it and buy another truck with lower miles.

 

The engine isn't dead just yet, but I know it's on it's last lap. This is the second oil report I have gotten saying it's got coolant in the oil. Also a trailer I used to be able to pull in overdrive @ 70mph with no problem, now I can barely pull it @ 65mph and the engine starts to over heat. The guy that owned the truck before me pulled a 32' long tri-axle cattle trailer filled from end to end with holstein cows. From that you can tell it was worked pretty hard.
I had been shopping around for a newer truck, but everyone I test drove had something wrong with it (engine transmission AC). That's when I decided it was better to fix this truck and spend less than half the money of a newer truck, and not have to fix the newer trucks problems. I replaced the transmission about this time last year, so it's practically brand new, and I replaced lots of other parts here and there, so a new engine and a paint job should make it a brand new truck.
Thanks Kenworth, I will look into DAS and see what the have to offer. Have you used one of there engines in your truck?
Dave how much power do you think the turbo added to your truck?
Great input, please keep it coming.

Thanks,
Gr8ride.

 

Going from a tired 6.9 to a 7.3 turbo was like installing a second motor.
I work my truck very hard, the hills I used to pull at 30 MPH with a load are now 50 MPH and easy.
We have a lot of hills in WV.
My fuel mileage is down some, but since it is doing a lot more work that is to be expected.

I have seen lots of reports on DAS engines since I have been here, none of them have been bad.
I have had several conversations with people that had Reviva (Used to be Dealers Diesel) that had problems.
I do like the full ATS turbo system with the complete 3" exhaust included with the engine, but the problems I have had make that a very expensive turbo system.

One thing I will also say is you should ask for a build sheet with the engine so you know exactly what was replaced, remaned or reused.
When I asked Reviva for that info on the last engine, I was told it was confidential.
I should also say when I was shopping for my engine they were doing business as Dealers Diesel. When I was in the parts department of the local Ford dealer they had a Dealers Diesel poster behind the parts counter. I thought if they were good enough for Ford, they were good enough for me.
Boy was that bad thinking.
When I tore down the first engine to find the crack in the block I found all kinds of interior problems with stripped bolts in the intake manifold, improper torques everywhere some of the bolts were finger tight in the valve train, head bolt holes full of assembly oil so the torque was wrong there as well, the valley pan had the bolts off from the pre punched holes by 1/2 a bolt.

My impression was the engine was just thrown together with an impact wrench and not retorqued to specs. And the quality control did not catch anything. The engine also came with a dyno sheet with all the specs on it. That sheet had impressive numbers on it like 223 HP at 3100 and a little over 400 Ft Lbs at 1900 when assembly was finished before it left the plant. I will also say that it has taken 20,000 miles for it to loosen up and start to really run good and get good mileage. I started out in the 9's for mileage and right before the last problem I was in the high 12's most of the time. Not to bad since the last load I was dragging was a mini excavator that put my gross at about 21,500 pounds up some very steep hills.

 

man dave,i need to stop asking you how the engine is running

 

I have heard nothing but good reports with DAS engines I was going to buy one but I found a good used engine to stick into my 89 when I was putting it together 2.5 years ago.

 

Well Reviva is sending me another motor and paying to install it.
The warranty guy says they were having issues with the sleeves they were using on the blocks.
They have changed sleeve styles and this will not happen again.

Maybe fouth time is the charm?

So far I have averaged 9800 miles each on three engines.

 

Well at least it seems like Reviva is willing to work things out.
You should try to get them to extend your warranty for free.

Gr8ride.

 

I can give them credit for standing behind the warranty. They have done exactly what they said they would do. They are covering parts and labor 100%, but they are not paying state sales tax. And it has really surprised me that they have not given me a hard time about replacing the engines after three went bad in that amount of time.

I have set a record with their company for bad engines.

I am also getting very good at pulling 7.3 turbo engines out of 86 Ford trucks. It only took 3 hours to have this one out and on the floor with a head removed.
Guess if I get tired of digging dirt, I could go into the mechanic business and do diesel engine swaps.