Brought the truck (1992 f350 7.3 idi) into the mechanic to repair a power steering line and return lines on the injectors. Mentioned to him I saw some minor amounts of antifreeze on the passenger side truck axle and on the starter. He fixes the return and calls to let me know that it needs a head gasket on the passenger side. I always attribute antifreeze in the oil with a headgasket, is this possible? Also how bad is this job to do, money is tight but so is time? Sorry if this sounds stupid but could cavitation cause this? thanks fellas.

 

Cavtation won't cause your leak. Cavitation is a pinhole that will leak coolant into the cylinder.
If you're seeing the leak, then the head gasket may have let go and is leaking out.
Smell the exhaust, does it smell sweet? If it's white and smells sweet, then you're burning coolant.
Yes, coolant in the oil can indicate a head gasket failure...but it's fairly common for the head gasket to let go at the rear of the heads. The rear cylinders, #7 and #8, get hot and is where the head gaskets will let go. That's where mine let go.
Head gasket job is going to run you somewhere in the high $300 range for parts. A head gasket set will include the head gaskets, valve cover gaskets, and any other necessary seals. You'll need to buy another injector install kit because your o-rings that you just paid to have installed will not seal up a second time. You could buy Viton o-rings seperately, there are threads here on the forum with the correct size. You'll also need to buy a valley pan, which is the intake manifold gasket.
Readers digest version of head gasket replacement:
Drain coolant, disconnect batteries, disconnect exhaust, pull Injection pump and Injectors, pull glow plugs, pull off valve covers, pull of intake manifold, pull off valley pan, pull rockers, pull pushrods (keep in order, they need to be put EXACTLY in the same hole), loosen head bolts in reverse order or torque sequence, may need to pull exhaust manifold (definetly makes it easier to pull head out of the truck with minimal firewall clearance!!), pull the head off with 2 strong arms or a cherry picker engine hoist, clean deck surface with acetone, put new head gasket in place, place head on engine VERY CAREFULLY not to move or drag on gasket!, install head bolts, tighten in proper torque sequence, install pushrods, install rockers, install NEW valley pan, install intake manifold, install valve covers, install Motorcraft/Beru glow plugs, install injectors, install new return lines or re-install yours but with new o-rings, install injection pump, fill with coolant 50/50 distilled water and low-silicate antifreeze with proper amount of SCA's, connect batteries, and start it up...hoping it all works.
I can say that it is stupid to only replace one head gasket while you have the engine half apart...

 

Could it be the heater hose on the passenger side of the block? Mine was leaking there...

 

Not normally cavitation.... head gasket maybe.....a known problem. If there are no other symptoms at this time.. smoke, rough running........You could torque up the head bolts to spec or just leave it and address the problem later monitoring the coolant level regularly.

We understand money is tight and doing a head job at the shop is very expensive.....

As long as there is NO adverse smoke or engine operation at this time then hopefully the AF leak is only external. Do some searching for head gasket replacement and familiarize your self with the job so you understand what has to be done.

 

Thanks for the detailed breakdown on the fix. Sounds like alot of manhours but nothing to not doable.

I would not hessitate if it was a gasser but given the higher pressures the diesel runs at it was alittle concerning tome to take the repair on and it is really outside the realm of a professional. I have read not to resurface the heads on a 7.3 is this correct?? if i need to buy replacement heads this project goes into another price range.

 

look down behind the alternator and you'll see the goosneck that holds the thermostat.if that gasket is leaking,then coolant could drip down there.not sure if it would drip far back enough to get on the starter though? never had one leak,so i dunno.
id still look.not to call your mechanic dishonest or anything.but sure never hurts to check things yourself either,know what i mean.

 

I have that same issue I just found out, I shined my flashlight up on the headgasket where I can see and of course there is green beeding up on the outside. It's a known issue on these trucks

Truck could have been like that for the past 50k, ran great and doesn't smoke. I was going to throw some bars leak in there like alot of IDI owners do but I'm not a fan of the stuff. I'd rather just fix it the right way.

I'd say just run it until you can change it yourself with some ARP studs and be done with it. The stock bolts are too short and there's too few of them. Just gather the parts over a period of time. I don't think it would be that hard of a job, just time consuming but I still haven't done it myself.

Just Watch for smoke, water/oil cross contamination, etc.

 

Kind of annoyed I will have to redo the work I just paid for so I think i will wait and gather the parts as suggested. Any recommendation on a good descriptive repair manual? Should I just find a factory manual? Thanks

 

I did my head gaskets last winter. I got by just fine with common sense, a Chilton repair manual for the 65-86 F-Series trucks, and some advice from this forum.

 

Thanks fellas. Picking her up today and will start gathering the parts and reading up before I dive in. Hoping to finish the job over one hellish weekend.

 

You probably saw that around the glow plugs, down in the intake web.

And I will tell you it is most likely not from the head gasket.

My bet is it is actually leaking out of the intake to head connection, aka the valley pan gasket.

There is no coolant in the intake, but the valley pan does block off several coolant passages in the heads where the intake bolts down againt them.

It is also fairly common for the IDI's to leak there, as the engine heats or cools between operating temp and ambient temp.

If it was mine, if the leak is very small, run it, just keep an eye on the coolant level.
If the leak is more than very small, I would pull the intake bolts one at a time, put a drop of oil on the bolt and retorque it with say 5 ft lbs more torque.

Metal head, metal valley pan gasket, metal intake with little more than an embossed ridge to help it seal.

 

I just wanted to thank one of Dave's older posts! I didn't have a coolant leak, I had a massive oil leak from here!
I've been working my F450 like a dog lately. I haven't had time to stop and fix it but I was loosing oil at the rate of about a quart of day!
My starter was soaked! I looked and looked and looked and I couldn't for the life of me find the source of the leak. All I could do was keep the oil in her as I worked her, so I didn't burn her up! Then she started to burn oil too!

To make matters worse, the original N/A IP that came with the truck and the injectors I replaced were also starting to fail.
The old F450 was bellowing out white smoke due to failing IP, one stuck injector, so also knocking and leaking and burning oil on top of it all. She looked like a real junker going down the road for a couple months, let me tell ya haha........Well, once the IP/injectors started to go, I didn't run it much longer. Just finished up a couple jobs. I knew she was about to leave me stranded, cus I had to advance the timing just to keep her running for a couple days!

I ripped the top off. The valley pan looked great, so I re-used it. I coated it with ultra black RTV, both sides, installed a set of reman injectors, and for now, an old backup N/A IP. This truck will finally get a turbo IP. I just could never justify buying one, since it ran so well. Good decision too, because that decision was made back in 2012 when I got the truck! Sure, N/A IP doesn't have the power the turbo IP's have, but with 5.13's it always did just fine, plus with a 16' bed and hauling so much at once, what's the hurry anyway? haha

So what I discovered was, the valley pan had leaked at the rear two cylinders on the pass side. So what's that, 5 & 7 I guess.
That caused the oil to leak right down over the rear of the engine, making it look like a rear main upon first look, but so high, it coated the starter. Meaning it had to be coming from the valley pan drain. Top of trans of course coated in oil. So I knew it had to be from up here. Plus I could oil pooling at the glow plugs.
After a while, the leak must have gained more of a gap, and started to go inside the intake too, explaining why the exhaust also showed signs of burning oil; black smoke.

Now she's bone dry. Not so much as a drip in sight. As a precaution, I went over to inspect the bolts of my F250's intake, sure enough many of them well below 24 ft lbs! I snugged up the accessible ones with the torque wrench, got a feel for the tightness using a wrench, and snugged up the other loose ones by feel to match, closely. Hopefully preventing the job on this truck anytime soon.

Dave's right. After years of heat cycles, the intake bolts sure do loosen up. Check them boys! Save yourself a lot of expense of oil, making a mess wherever you go, and possibly a job you'd rather not have to do.

I have such high confidence in ultra black RTV, and the condition of the valley pan, I could just tell, it would have been wasteful buying a new valley pan.........But that's a choice you'll have to make, should she ever leak there. It is a lot of work. You don't really want to have to do it twice haha. But mine looked great, and I didn't think a new one would have been a bit better anyway.


Oh, side note; I guess the reason is why the 7.3's wont leak coolant from here, is due to having plugs in the heads. I saw those. It doesn't just count on the valley pan to make the seal, like it did the 6.9's..............but I can assure you, we can still leak and burn oil like crazy from here! haha