I have a '86 F350 4x4 with a 460 gasoline engine and 4 speed manual transmission. Does anyone know if a 6.9L diesel will bolt up to my transmission?

 

You have to find a diesel bell housing.
The diesel bolt pattern is different from all the gasoline bolt patterns.

Also the granny first gear in the gasoline transmissions is going to be really slow in the diesel, 3300 max RPM.

 

A 460 truck also has a T19 like the diesel, depending on which way the wind was blowing when they put the drivetrain together at the factory, it may have the same ratio sets as a diesel trans. I know mine do, but a friend of mine's 85 drivetrain had the stupid tall first gear behind the diesel.

 

Gasser ratios were usually'
5.11 first
3.03 second
1.79 third
1 fourth

Diesels were usually,
4.02 first
2.41 second
1.88 third
1 fourth

Sometimes I think they just grabbed the closest one to put in.

 

That's what I figure. Both my 6.9 and 460 are 5.11:1 first, John's truck was 4.02, even with 4.10's(has 33's on it), taking off in first was a clutch burning proposition with any sort of a load on, mind you being a 4x4 crew, it is far from lightweight.

 

I gather that the consensis is that it will work and it may actually be acceptable. Since I use this truck mostly on the farm to pull heavy loads at low speeds or in the woods the low low first may be better. I can run the diesel at a moderate rpm and not pound across the fields. I might be better off to use second gear. As it is with the 460 the low is too low sometimes and second is too fast. With the diesel the second gear might be just about right for idling across the field or going down farm roads. Does any one know just which bell housing I need to ask for, part no's etc. Also will the fly wheel from my 460 fit the 6.9 diesel? Thanks again for you help

 

My father has an 88 with a 6.9 and we have not been satisfied with the power. We rebuilt a 6.9 for the truck and it didn't last 50,000 before it started using oil. We are still driving it but it uses at least 2 quarts between fill ups.The motor that was in it was a6.9 and it had a big crack in it. I believe the reason that our new motor is using oil is that my dad drove it to easy and the rings got carboned up and stuck. My brother and I use to drive the truck and keep her guts pulled out but when we started driving other things and dad was the only one to drive the truck it went to hell. The only good thing about it is that it gets right at 20 miles to a gallon. But my 300 straigh six has more power. If you need power don't change.

 

Also my fathers 6.9 doesn't have hardly any bottom end torque. I would install the 7.3 natural if you want to go to a diesel. And also sense you do slow driving you had better keep an i on the oil. Just thought I would warn you because our truck is a farm truck and we have not been very happy with it. It is ok for a better truck but don't hook a load to it. It just doesn't have to power.

 

You have got a sick truck. My 6.9 pulls just as good as my 7.3. And they also seem to last longer. If I had the choice and they both had overdrive, I would choose the 6.9 any day.

 

I am comparing it to our other towing trucks we have. We have a 3/4 ton dodge with a 360 with a pulling cam shaft and 4.10 gears. We also have a 97 ford with the 7.3 power stroke. So you could see why we don't think it has much power. It has decent power on the top end but for short trips you need the torque you won't be winding it up to 2200 rpm very often which is where our truck starts to pull

 

I'll also vouch for that being a sick 6.9
My 6.9 has more power down low than either the 00 7.3 I used to own, or the 6.0 I have at work. Mine's not the greatest right off idle if I take off in second, but the power is there before it hits 1000 rpm. Both PSD's are turbo dependent for power, espically the 6.0.
As for oil useage, I run 0W40 full synthetic in my truck, and I use about a quart in 5000 miles, in the winter, that includes a good bit of idle(probably upwards of 4 hrs a day in the real cold weather) and low RPM time.
I'm not about to say that all 6.9's will have good power. Mine has a 7.3 injection pump and injectors on it, and I feel that that may be very responsible for why I have the power I do, espically down low.
To be quite honest, my 6.9 doesn't drive all that different than my 460 did when that truck was all stock.

 

If your 6.9 does not have bottom end torque, something is wrong.
I broke more than one U joint with my 6.9 bottom end torque.
I also pulled over 20,000 gross weight here in the WV mountains with my 6.9.

 

ive got a bell housing for an extra bell housing for a t19 pm me if u are interested

 

Matt, I am interested in your extra bell housing. I need to verify that it will connect a 6.9 engine to my 4 speed transmission which I have not accomplished as of yet. The numbers on the side of the transmission are 13-065-9 borgwarner. The (6) may be an eight. Does anyone know if my flywheel from my 460 gas engine will connect to the 6.9 engine? How much do you want for the bell housing and how much does it weigh? Please send me your zip code so that I can calculate shipping. Thanks.

 

I'm not sure, but I highly doubt it will. They were made by different manufacturers and the 6.9 is a conversions from an old International gas engine.