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im buying a 1984 ford f-250 4speed idi 6.9 diesel but the engine is shot and the truck is REALLY CHEAP can i swap in a 6.9 or 7.3 idi that was hooked to a auto and have it bolt right up or would i have to find a engine that was bolted to a stick trans and would a 7.3 bolt up if i found a cheap one.
The new 6.9 engine will bolt right in place of the old one, I suggest you look for an '85-'87 engine as they do not have the block heater issues your original engine has. The 7.3 should fit in there as well. You will have to remove the flexplate off either if it was used with an auto trans, and then you bolt your flywheel to the crank.
correct me if I'm wrong, but the 7.3 IDI is just a bored out 6.9L IDI right? so the 6.9L mounts should fit the 7.3L ?and everything else is just a hook up away from running ?
BUT, from what i have read here, and i'm new to this forum, the 85-87 6.9L are the diesel to have for this generation of truck.. They do not suffer from the cracking blocks the 83-84 6.9L engines did, and the 7.3 IDI's had cavitation issues that if not treated early and often with SCA's only lasted about 150 -200k before you had to sleeve it, or get a new block. The cavitation would eat the cylinder bores from the coolant passage side of the bore if not treated with SCA's (System Coolant Additives).
i think you are right about the 7.3 being a bored out 6.9 and also i think the block might be cracked on this truck im lookin at but its cheap and i can find an engine for cheap but if every thing goes south with the truck i could always scrap it and get my money back out of it or part it out
welp its a no go on that truck i showed up at the guys house to day and it was leaveing on a flatbed the s.o.b sold it on me and i had a $100 deposit on it too. but thank you guys for your help
Last edited by BIG BAD BENTON; Oct 8, 2009 at 11:26 AM.
Reason: forgot to add somthing
yea he was wettin his pants and he was makein up a hole bunch of excusies for why he sold the truck out from under me but oh well theres much nicer and cheaper trucks out there that RUN lol