When I start my 7.3 it normally takes a few seconds for the oil pressure gauge to go to normal and the engine is pretty loud on startup. Once the oil pressure gauge is at normal the engine quiets down. Is this normal for these trucks? The time it takes for it to start pumping that oil scares me, unless that's just how a diesel is supposed to run when you first start it.

 

the second i start cranking i have oil pressure. you need to replace that crap stock gauge for a mechanical full sweep gauge. Then you know what is really going on. if you clean the connection on the engine you might get better results. All it has to do is register some pressure, like 7lbs and it says normal. Kind of scary. get a good mechanical! but also from what you are saying, you might just need to do a good oil flush, could be gummed up or low on oil. your engine will be noisier when its dry, like after an oil change, then when the oil floods the gallery it smooths out.

 

replace a 1qt of oil with a bottle of lucas oil stabilizer. I run it in everything and it makes the oil tacky and keeps a good film on the internals. I started believing in it when i noticed it took forever for my drain bucket to clean itself out when i left it upsidedown over my oil barrel.

 

that stuff foams up and destroys stuff man. it causes the oil to lose its anti foaming ability and all it is, is a viscosity enhancer. Its crap, BUT thats just my opinion, and the entirety of BITOG, bob is the oil guy website has a great writeup on it with testing procedures.

 

First off i use it at around 10%. second ALL diesel oil will foam especially at higher rpms and I'm talking over 4500. It also has the ability to make the oil tacky and keep the parts coated and at operating temp it not as "foamy" as you would think. We run our pulling tractors at 3500 rpm with very little warm up time and I've heard this about lucas before so at the end of a ran i pulled the stick, didnt see a bubble on it just hot oil because the egts im told are in the neighborhood of 1600 at night i shoot 6in of flame out a 3ft pipe that motor is screaming. Oil foaming is only a problem over 4500 then most guys go to dry sump oil pans. What I'm really trying to say is I've seen how it performs in the conditions i use it in and couldnt be happier. thats my 2cents and I'm sure everyone here agrees that we are all intitled to draw our own concultions when it comes to our own vehicles and what works for some my not for others. I'm not saying I'm right and your wrong I'm just saying it works for me.

 

Calm down bro, im not attacking your stance on this fine product. You can do whatever you want, but lets be real in the statement about diesel oil foaming at 4500 rpm.....not really something We need to worry about is it. As for the foaming and getting a lot of air bubbles, i will admit that there is room for error in that test since the speeds he may have been turning were above what we would see. Either way, for engine protection i use motul MOs2 anti friction additive which is a large dose of moly for the crankcase. Will the lucas protect a motor, maybe. Will it thicken oil and help a worn engine, sure. Is it necessary to add an additive to todays oils, i dont believe a viscosity enhancer is needed, again just my 2c

 

Mine has always been very loud and clattery on cold starts after sitting for a long time. Normal.

 

I drive the truck daily and while it is somewhat cold here it seems to do it every time (even when I go to start it after sitting no more than an hour or so), and it does actually feel like it isn't getting oil circulated through the engine for a couple of seconds, just based upon the loud clattery sound of the engine. Of course this is worse in the mornings when the motor is cold though. You'd think it should have the pressure almost instantly, just because the oil pump should already have been pumping while turning over...

 

It is not uncommon for the timing advance on a very cold engine to induce a loud rattle like a power stroke...... Are you using any fuel additive every fill........
Use of a lower viscosity of oil is allowed in colder months.
6.9-7.3 Engine oil requirements.

32F to 100F+........30wt

0F to 100F+..........15W-40

32F to way below freezing ........10W-30

With the new oils...... 0W-40 is a good choice too in extreme cold

 

I just bought this truck from the original owner and he told me he used a fuel additive with every fill-up. When I got the truck it would stall a lot, this problem was fixed by filling the fuel filter with diesel kleen. I will probably use diesel kleen or another similar additive with every fill-up. I have 15w-40 in this truck now but I don't know what the previous owner used. The truck was sitting for about three years before I acquired it. It has been about 40 degrees Fahrenheit in the mornings when I start it, last week it was maybe 30 degrees Fahrenheit and did the same thing with being loud and not immediately sensing oil pressure. It was 75 degrees when I went to start it this afternoon and the oil pressure and loudness seemed to go away.

Thanks for all the input guys, I am new to these things and am planning on keeping this truck, I want this engine to last as long as possible.

 

If it was that cold, perfectly normal to be very loud and rattly, it's the cold timing advance working.

Don't rely to much on the factory dash gauges, their garbage....

 

Thanks, that will help me sleep better at night. In the case of this truck, I hope to keep the motor in as good shape as the rest of it.

 

I would certainly do fuel filter replacements regularly possibly every 2-3000 miles for the first 10,000 miles to ensure the stale fuel in the tanks and any possible bio matter is removed. If you get a filter light then filter is plugged so keep one in the truck ready to go. Always fill the new filter with clean filtered diesel or better yet fuel conditioner just before installation. Saves the starter from long fuel priming times.......

 

you guys wanna hear loud, ill video mine at startup. I bet you dont have anything to worry about. But running the moly additive or something similar will always protect it no matter.

 

haha i could probably run 30 wt year around here lol. aside from a week or two this year we have been mostly above 32. probably even run some 20/50 racing lol