I just bought a 1996 power stroke and driving down the freeway the temperature gauge stayed below the first dash. Then the engine temp light came on and the truck began stalling. Thinking it may have blown a head gasket, I pulled off the side of the median and the truck powered itself down in the process. It is now still smoking on the side of the highway. It is an automatic. Haven't checked the oil yet but it was steaming off antifreeze and was everywhere. I did notice a small oil leak before purchasing the pick up but nothing major or unfixable. Any suggestions on the problem?

 

Not any help here but my temp gauge in my '96 stroker has never worked in the 8 years I have owned it

 

Head gasket is unlikely, with that volume of coolant loss. Gotta determine the source of the coolant leak. Could just be your radiator cracked or a hose blew out and you hemmorhaged all or most of your coolant.

 

I see it's been a few hours, any progress? Maybe re-fill with coolant and see what happens.

When the motor looses enough oil, it won't fire the injectors and it'll shut down. It's near impossible to damage one of these motors by just running out of oil because of this 'feature'. I wouldn't worry too much about loss of oil as a cause/problem of overheating.

 

The heater was also not working and there is some coolant in my valve covers. There is no sigh of coolent making it's way to the heater core either is it possible the thremostat is not opening for some reason. Thanks for the help guys.

 

Don't worry about the thermostat, the oil, the head gasket, or anything else until you find the LEAK.

 

IN or ON?
IN is big trouble, ON is a leak.

 

My vote is a stuck thermostat. Flush it and put in a new thermostat, then try it again.

 

IN the valve cover thats why I'm saying I have a bigger problem than a thermostat possibly cracked head most likely or a head gasket. Maybe even a trashed motor any thoughts.

 

My guess is blown head gasket but I don't know, good luck.

 

Pull the valve cover, refill the system with water(don't waste cash on coolant) and pressurize the system and see where it's coming from

 

Did you find anything out?

 

The block is cracked sorry it took so long to get back thanks for the help though if anybody is looking for 7.3 parts let me know.