I've been on this forum awhile, trolling mostlyin the 7.3 area.

My name is Rob, and I'm a Retired Army,and a Commercial truck driver. I know my way around an engine somewhat but I am not a mechanic.

I picked up an 02 F250. It's a 7.3 PowerStroke (obviously).

It's got 160k on the odometer, but starts and runs beautifully. I had my mechanic check it over about a year ago and she is starting to develop a rear main seal leak. I drive a truck over the road so she sits for weeks at a time. I have had this truck for about 4 years and the only 4 upgrades that i have done is

1) Banks Cold Air intake the complete kit ( box and filter)

and

2) An Earl's 43400A - Earl's Temp-A-Cure Wide Oil Coolers + Fan, this is a 34 row extra transmission cooler mounted in conjunction with my stock 19 row to help keep the trans temp cool while towing a 33ft V-nose trailer.

3) FOX 2.0 shocks all the way around.

4) Slotted and drilled over size brake rotors.

The truck ran great till last week.

First I noticed the "Check Gage" light came on. I didnt mess with it just parked it.

Today I started it up and the light was OFF so I was driving it to the FORD dealer when a series of things happened with no indication.

The truck died, I lost my brakes and power steering. I came to a stop on the side of the road and popped the hood.

I have alot burnt oil smell and smoke, I notice the coolant res was empty.

I had a gallon of 15w40 and 50/50 coolant in the truck. I put the coolant in first and it was like Mount Saint Helens erupted spewing this rusty colored muck all over ( the new stuff I put in was green) needless to say the res is empty. I checked the oil level and it was fine. And after about an hour I tried to start the truck and she cranks but wont start.

I call the tow guy and he takes me and the truck to a mechanic shop where they notice water coming from the water pump area.

A mechanic mentions something about a vapor lock...

If it helps, I have never changed or personally had the Thermostat changed.

So, What say ye? Any thoughts? Thanks. Rob

 

Welcome to FTE.

Rear main seal leaks are rare. It's usually an oil leak on the top of the motor that runs down the back side and drips like it's a rear main seal leak.

Opening the radiator on a hot engine will make it puke up whatever is in there. Nothing new about that. I once did that on a 64 pick up when I was a kid with the same result.

Burnt oil smell is understandable if you've got a leak. Tell us about the smoke. What color smoke? Where was it coming from?

When the truck died, did any dash lights flash? Do any of them not come on or not go off while cranking now? Do you get any smoke out of the tailpipe while cranking?

Did the truck spit and sputter before it died or just shut off like someone turned the key?

 

F350-6

the smoke seemed to come from the top of the motor and under the hood area, no real specific location. If I remember correctly it was typical grey to dark grey color smelled like burning oil.

when the truck died, it just died, no spit or sputter or jerking or anything. It just shut down just like someone turned off the key.

I do not recall seeing any dash lights but once at the mechanic the "Check Gage" light was on when key turned on.

I did not notice any smoke comming from tail pipe and I just ask my wife who was behind us in my other vehicle while loading onto the tow truk and she does not recall seeing any smoke from the tailpipe.

thanks

 

Shutting off like someone hit the key means an electrical or sensor issue. If it were oil or mechanical, it would have bucked, spit or sputtered a bit first.

Hopefully your mechanic is a good diesel mechanic that knows the 7.3 is not an OBDII compliant engine so a cheap scanner won't pull the engine codes.

And if they tell you you need a new HPOP, find a different mechanic.

 

maybe its time for a new CPS or ICP?


The puking of Antifreeze was my fault, they should filler up and I should be fine right?

 

A new water pump and thermostat for sure, the check gauges means you pegged the coolant temp way up high which its why it turned off, Ford really did great with this feature. As for burning smell hard to say but a good place to start is if your down pipe is drenched in oil.

Oh and welcome to FTE.

 

Z31- Thanks

 

If the engine got that hot, the smoke and smell would likely be from a hot block cookin' the oil leak off.

Oil leak in the valley is like a gabillion times more common than a rear main seal leak - and it displays the same symptoms to the untrained eye.

 

You need to figure out what coolant you had in there and you might need to cleanse your cooling system. The green anti-freeze is not compatible with ELC and if you mix them it turns to jello and will not cool anything. This is not something that you want to put off or overlook.

 

Would it be beneficial to have the system flushed and run the RED coolant that I run in my Peterbilt? Or would doing this do more harm than good? The red coolant is ELC.

 

I figured as much last night reading in other forums. We recently had some O-rings replaced and there was some residual oil left in the valley that was missed during clean up. I suspect that this was what burned off yesterday.

 

It definitely would not hurt, the truck is made to use it, flush it out well. I wasn't sure what color ELC is, I have used color reference before and learned that there is orange and red anti-freeze and that they are not the same. My E-99 is not prepared to handle the ELC due to the sealant in the injector cups being different so green is all I use.

 

The only reason that I knew it was red is because I "Pretrip" my rig everyday before work and see the collor. I also know at truckstops like Loves, TA, Petro and Flying J, you can see another color of ELC on the shelves that is has a Pink cap... not sure of the liquid color maybe it is pink also? At any rate thanks for the advice, Ill be sure to inform the Mechanic to fluch the system completely and add ELC to the unit.

 

FWIW, I've been running Prestone HD ELC for some years now and haven't had any problems.

 

ELC in an 02 is fine. On the early 99 models it's not compatible with the injector cup sealant.