[Cousin Vinnie]

Looking for advice . . . . I'm not a gearhead but I'm a good listener.
I'm on my 3rd PSD truck and always had good luck till now.

I got a 2002 7.3 Crew Cab 2 WD 8' bed with 175,000 miles. I was 110 miles into a 3,000 trip when I developed a skip in the engine. I had just gotten fuel so I thought it was bad fuel. While trying to get to a dealer I developed a lot of blow by. Got to a Lincoln/Mer dealer who deals with Ford trucks. They check the codes and said something was wrong with the left bank. They did a compression check and discover zero compress in cylinder 2 or 4 and 50% compression in the other cylinder. They guessed it was either a hole or a crack piston in the one cylinder and maybe some bad rings in the other cylinder. They tested the fuel and said it was OK. They said the best thing to do is buy a long block for about $9000 and about $2000 to install. I said the truck is only worth about $13,000. So I had the truck towed home it still runs but is low on power and smokes a lot.
Yes I did the air intake, the Super Chip and Exhaust, I ran it only on the middle program (adds 70 hp) and it was the best 170,000 miles I ever had in a truck, it would really haul my 40 ft trailers. Other than the engine this truck is in great shape. I just had the whole front end redone for $1200 the truck felt better than new.
My question is what would you guys do. I only need a truck for another 6 months to sell off my camper and 2 car trailers and I got to move myself from CT to MA.

Thank you in advance for any helpful advice.
Cousin Vinnie

 

[Marty]

Have that motor rebuilt, swap in a motor from another truck or swap in a longblock from an enginebuilder. All options should cost FAR less then 9,000 dollars and when it's all said and done you can sell off old parts you don't need.

Can you do this work yourself? It's not SUPER difficult, just a bit time consuming with the correct tools.

 

[Hank]

My son's been pricing good, used 7.3s and said they can be had for $3000-4000. Won't hurt you too bad especially if you can drop it in youself. He said to look on eBay. Good luck.

 

[Marty]

You can buy a fresh longblock for 3500 from diesel innovations and then pay shipping (arm + leg) or you can buy directly from where he gets his motors... and pay under 3,000 IIRC.

If you just need to make it another 6 months, a USED engine from another truck will be perfectly fine.

Since you don't care about performance... any PMR block will do and I've seen 02/03 blocks with under 100k on them go for 300-500 bucks

 

[lifewitlooie]

Look for a used motor. Its your best bet. Then do some networking and find someone skilled enough to do the swap , dont go out buying tools cuz that will add up quick.

 

[smitty16s]

eBay Motors: FORD F250 F350 7.3 L POWER STROKE DIESEL ENGINE ENGINES (item 220222834569 end time Apr-17-08 12:42:56 PDT) you could bid on this and see how it turns out