I am new to the Forum here and wish to say Hello to all of the other Forum members out there. I have built many car motors but this is my first attempt in rebuilding a 7.3 diesel engine. Engine will be boiled, bored/honed with block plates, crank cut, and the heads will be totally rebuilt to new specs. This is a stock engine rebuild which is all I need at this time.

I have bought a complete rebuild kit, Malhe rings and pistons, piston bushings, Clevite bearings,(main, rod and cam) Melling oil pump, new lifters, freeze plugs and complete gasket set. I was told the timing gears and the roller cam shaft don't need to be replaced on the 7.3s. The engine has close to 400K on it before the rebuild and would like to hear some Forum member's thoughts on this.

I will be rebuilding the injectors for the motor. There isn't a company here in the Houston area that rebuilds the injectors so can anyone recommend a good rebuilder for the injectors. I will send my old injectors to be rebuilt so I don't have to play the core exchange game that some rebuilders use to make extra money from you.

I will be using a new turbo on the engine also. I will stay with a Garret turbo as I don't want any imported turbos on the 7.3 engine. I have found a turbo wholeslaer in Dayton Texas close to Houston that sells these turbos. Has any Forum members done business with this firm? Dayton is a very small town. With this rebuild maybe the 7.3 will see another 400K of service, TIA to the Forum for your help, houstonvett

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When firing up the new engine what is the best way to prime up the injectors? I have been looking at the injector replacement threads and have learned a lot from them. Are there any other pitfalls to firing up a new diesel engine that Forum members will share with this newbie to the Forum? TIA.

 

welcome to the site!!!

I'll get back to you when I have a bit more time, but in the mean time read up!!!

 

I have checked around CSIPSD on the site and haven't found too much on what to do to the PowerStrike to get it ready to fire up. Found a few threads in the Cummins section with oil change interverals only. I believe you have to get the oil pressure up to where it will fire the injectors and get the injectors and fuel lines primed before actually firing the engine for the 1st time.

I have read a lot of interesting threads on DBs and it looks like Ford left a lot of HP/Tourque on the table with the 99 to 2003 PowerStrokes with the factory settings. Since the engine will be a total rebuild I have decided to bump up the HP a little over stock.

Since I will be going with a new turbo and want to stick with a Garrett unit, I have learned the Wicked Wheel is a good upgrade to the stock unit. Instead of adding the WW to the stock unit would it be better to get a new Garret GTP-38 unit for a little more bump in the HP department? Will the GTP-38 run with the stock injectors or does the engine need a slightly larger injector? I will be getting new injectors anyway so I can order them with a slight upgrade to them. I have been looking at a Edge Evolution programmer for this setup any Forum members use the Edge Evolution guy in their rides? I don't want to re-invent the wheel thats why I am asking the more knowledgeable members @ this Forum for their input.

 

i'd go with Full Force Diesel for injectors, and the Garret 38r is an awesome turbo and will hold to about 500 or so, if you still want to tow, i'm sure some 238cc hybrids will do great for you, get some custom tuning from, PHP (power hungry performance), Gearhead, DP, TW, its really your choice on tuning there is a lot of choices out there

Welcome to the site and don't hesitate to ask questions!

 

First if you are doing an engine build there are a few upgrades I'd recomend. I'd definitely get main studs and head studs. The head studs aren't cheap but they are a lot cheaper and easier to install now than after you blow a head gasket if you start trying to push the power.

Have the cam checked out. On the engine I built the hardening on the cam was getting worn and with as many miles that the engine has on it it may be in need of new. Your machine shop should be able to tell you if it's good or not.

On the injectors if they have 400K on them I can pretty much gurantee you they are shot and you don't even want to mess with rebuilding them. Just get new Alliant injectors. CSIPSD can recomend a good source for injectors. Just to verify if you take the solenoids off you'll see a little square plate. If you can't fit a .002" feeler gauge under it loosely then they are junk. I'd probably go with some AC injectors and maybe put some bigger nozzles on them.

For start up you pretty much just crank. If you want you can fill the hpo resivoir and the head rails. It's going to take a bit before it fires. But you just have to crank. Have the block heater plugged in after you put the coolant in while you are finishing up the install. That will help it want to fire better. If you watch your oil pressure gauge you'll see the gauge come up and it should fire shortly there after.

When it does first start it will run like crap, so don't be scared. It'll run real rough because of all the air in the oil and fuel systems. If you don't drive it right away and shut it off it will crank a bit to start until you get the air worked out which can take up to 50 miles or so.

If you are getting a new turbo I'd go for the GTP-38R. It'll flow a bit more air than stock and will hold up to some more abuse.