I've heard that the early 7.3 IDI's have are mechanically injected and have no computer on them. Is that correct and would they be suitable for a gas>diesel conversion? Mine's a 89 F250 with 5.8 gasser and 5 speed zf trans. I know there's a lot of money involved converting to a diesel, but in Europe diesels are way to expensive to buy for me (about 20k$ with 120000 miles on them) and gas is to expensive 4$ per gallon just about!!! Is there a good source on the net about converting a gasser to this engine?

Last but not least. Any experience with that engine. Problems???

Thx

Kris

 

You'd have to really want it bad to justify all the work. The engine and parts can be had easily enough. My best guess would be $6500 (US) for everything you need (rebuilt engine, radiator, misc stuff) assuming your transmission works with it (I'm not familiar with the gas set up, but the 7.3 IDI does use a 5 speed ZF). You may also have a problem with the suspension since the diesel is quite a bit heavier (someone else could probably answer that). So far as the 7.3 IDI goes, it's a great engine and I wouldn't be afraid of it in the least. Since it's all mechanical you don't have to worry about any elctronic junk. Maintain it well and 500,000 miles is not out of the question. I have an 89 F250 with 442,000 on it. It still pulls strong and gets 17 MPG.

Bob

 

Thanks a lot for the info. Will be a great help. Would you by any chance possibly know where I can get some information on that engine?
I only found a lot of sales pages but no specs. About the wheigt...

Well I've got an 8 bolt front axle. Don't you think it should hold up to the extra wheight??

Kris

 

It wasn't the axle I was talking about. It was the springs. I'll look up the weight for you. What other specs did you want?

Bob

 

bainbob, is that original engine for 442k?

 

It is true that the diesel uses a ZF tranny, however the 5.8 gas and the diesel use a different bellhousing pattern.

Since the ZF has a non-removable bellhousing you will need to locate a tranny from a 460 or a diesel. The gas version has a lower first gear ratio and that is about the only difference.:-)

 

Thanks for all that information. Concerning the engine specs. Well in terms of power and torque. I have no ideas how much these engines put out. Those springs you were talking about, do you think a swap in from a diesel F-250 is possible or is this some major work?

Thx

Kris

 

Yes and no. I lost the original engine at 96,000 miles (1992) due to the infamous cavitation problem. Like many other people, I never added anything to the coolant since neither the manuals or the dealer ever said to do so (and in 1992 the dealer thought it was a bad casting!). Yes, I'm still pissed off about that one, and all these people who say "you should know better because ALL diesels require it" are full of ****. I've owned a lot of diesel equipment. Some diesels require it, others don't (go look at any OLDER diesel and tell me it needed it). I pulled the current engine from a wrecked truck with 17k on it. The 442k is on the current engine (I also changed the instrument cluster because the gauges were intermittant so the odometer is from the wrecked truck). My truck actually has 521k on it. Yes, I drove it to work today...

Bob