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DIY T444E Swap

16K views 45 replies 8 participants last post by  Redlineauto 
#1 ·
I've been spending way too much time on these forums trying to figure out how to swap in a T444E to my 99.5 F250. Haven't found someone who posted a complete swap process yet, so I figure I'll be that guy. This is my first diesel truck, bought it a week ago and found out that someone went to a lot of effort to cover up what I suspect is a cracked block.

This is a work in progress, but I want to have it done in the next few days. Might as well start now though.

Picked up this T444E from a local junkyard today. $1500 out the door (well, before Uncle Sam got his cut), 114K miles, came out of a 2001 school bus. First engine I've put in my F150 that actually caused suspension sag.

Also had to drive the truck 5 miles or so from the shop that was diagnosing the coolant -> oil leak. Paid them an obscene amount of money to not only not fix anything, but make several things worse. Also, the truck that I bought a week ago got backed into in their parking lot, so that's a bonus. I'm taking the insurance money and putting it towards what I'll lose when I sell the truck. Had someone tell me it was leaking coolant at a stop light, but I had a mile or so left to go and the engine is coming out anyway so screw it, it's going to make it there whether it wants to or not. Here's where it was leaking, from where the shop charged me $200 to pull the water pump and look at the front cover for cavitation. Not sure I got what I paid for with that shop. But it made it home, so that's what counts. I guess.

After some head scratching about exactly how I was going to get the engine out of the bed of the F150, I got it on the hoist.

I don't have a stand that can hold this thing, so I pulled the oil pan tonight and cleaned it up a little, I'll get it spotless tomorrow. That epoxy is no joke, hopefully I can get things clean enough that it forms a good seal even without flipping the motor. The pan is one of the things that has to get swapped, so that was non optional.

Tomorrow the engine comes out of the 250, and then things start getting swapped. Be back with an update soon.

EDIT: Apparently I can't have pictures inline due to a low post count. That's unfortunate, it would be much more efficient to be able to just link them, but whatever.
 

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#40 ·
IT'S ALIVE!

Sorta...

Got my electrical stuff sorted out. Turns out that if you ground the glow plug relay instead of going to the starter relay in a fit of ineptitude, bad things happen. Also got the RH battery cable properly grounded. That fixed that. Unfortunately, that means that the fuel pump was able to run, and allow one of the feed lines to do a pretty decent Old Faithful impression. Had to get new seals for that. $30 for some little bits of rubber is offensive, but it fixed that.

Tonight it was time to crank it. Took 30 seconds or so of cranking, spread out over two or three attempts, but it fired up and ran. Smoked like crazy from somewhere around the turbo, so I'm guessing that I didn't get the up pipe clamp on right. Didn't have any coolant in it so I shut it down pretty much immediately after it found idle.

And noticed a torrential oil flow from the flywheel inspection cover. Like, multiple streams. Stopped almost immediately after the truck was shut down. It didn't occur to me to check the rear main while the engine was out, but plenty of regrets now. Hoping it's something like a line that's not connected right, but given the remarkable quantity of oil that it lost in 5 seconds of running, I don't have high hopes.

And the drama continues.
 
#43 ·
IT'S ALIVE!

Sorta...

Got my electrical stuff sorted out. Turns out that if you ground the glow plug relay instead of going to the starter relay in a fit of ineptitude, bad things happen. Also got the RH battery cable properly grounded. That fixed that. Unfortunately, that means that the fuel pump was able to run, and allow one of the feed lines to do a pretty decent Old Faithful impression. Had to get new seals for that. $30 for some little bits of rubber is offensive, but it fixed that.

Tonight it was time to crank it. Took 30 seconds or so of cranking, spread out over two or three attempts, but it fired up and ran. Smoked like crazy from somewhere around the turbo, so I'm guessing that I didn't get the up pipe clamp on right. Didn't have any coolant in it so I shut it down pretty much immediately after it found idle.

And noticed a torrential oil flow from the flywheel inspection cover. Like, multiple streams. Stopped almost immediately after the truck was shut down. It didn't occur to me to check the rear main while the engine was out, but plenty of regrets now. Hoping it's something like a line that's not connected right, but given the remarkable quantity of oil that it lost in 5 seconds of running, I don't have high hopes.

And the drama continues.
MAYBE A PLUG AT THE REAR OF THE HEAD.....OR A LOOSE OIL LINE IF THERE IS ONE TOWARDS THE REAR OF THE MOTOR?....

You give me too much credit lol. Okay what is rms?

Clue me into this oil lost situation so I can picture what’s going on to see if I can help
REAR MAIN SEAL.....
 
#45 ·
@GETFURIOUS thanks!

If it’s not the main seal, like above, it could be the

rear galley plugs (1/2” Rachet square head to remove) and riffraff sells the o-ring or plugs plus o-ring

Rear cover. To reseal, this must come off with the rms :(
Hpop line leaking (engine is tiled back and will run back to towards the rear)

Cracked cylinder wall (really, anywhere)

Those are the only things I can think behind there.


—————signature—————
~Don’t overthink something simple~
...:uptight people suck:...
 
#46 ·
@GETFURIOUS thanks!

If it’s not the main seal, like above, it could be the

rear galley plugs (1/2” Rachet square head to remove) and riffraff sells the o-ring or plugs plus o-ring

Rear cover. To reseal, this must come off with the rms <img src="http://www.powerstroke.org/forum/images/smilies/frown.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Frown" class="inlineimg" />
Hpop line leaking (engine is tiled back and will run back to towards the rear)

Cracked cylinder wall (really, anywhere)

Those are the only things I can think behind there.

—————signature—————
~Don’t overthink something simple~
...:uptight people suck:...

Well that narrows it down a good bit. Since it leaked as I was adding oil and before I ever tried starting the truck, combined with the sheer volume (imagine if you turned a full quart of oil 90 degrees onto it's side) I think I can safely eliminate the hpop, cracked cylinder, and rear cover. First two since it leaks when stopped, and second by sheer volume. No way the rear cover leaked like that unless it had a gaping hole. Guess I'll hose it all down with brake clean and try to figure out where it's leaking from tomorrow.

This is a pain.
 
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