That looks like the valves hit the piston. That wouldnt just be from something dropped in the cylinder though.

 

Caprang has a good point. They replaced the rocker arms on that side, right? Could it have dropped a valve or two?

That circular indentation can only come from a valve, and there is no other way for a valve to hit the piston like that short of a serious timing problem. Such a problem would damage other cylinders as well.

 

Crazy001: The other pistons were in perfect condition and the mechanic who did the head gasket job said that piston #1 was in good condition when the new gaskets went on. This was most likely human error while under the care of the dealership.

I had the pictures looked at by an expert on diesel engines. He's testified in front of Congress and hundreds of other court cases. He determined that a foreign object was in the piston, rattled around and nicked up the center cone before bouncing around, taking out chunks of the piston and eventually getting caught in between the exhaust valves and piston or the top of the valve, thus bending them. The valves then made impressions on the piston and the foreign object was either pulverized into particles or ejected into the exhaust.

Note that there are no nicks where the valves hit the pistons which indicates that the foreign object was eventually out of the piston after the valves got bent.

UPDATE: Insurance company is putting in a re-manufactured engine, direct from Ford. It will have everything except the turbo, alternator, starter, etc. It does come with an oil pan, rocker arms, valve covers...basically a complete long block. They are also giving me a three year, unlimited mileage warranty with the engine and it can be taken to any Ford dealer in case of future problems.

 

That is good news to get you on the road. I take it that you are going after that dealer for lost wages, lodging expenses etc because of this?

 

That's outstanding news, good for you. In the end that will be a much better solution for you then if the dealer had done the repairs. Hope they make you well for lost wages too. I continue to think that Ford should have some real loaners for when these trucks have long term down time. They could keep a few old 7.3s with hitches around just as loaners. Wouldn't cost them much at all.

 

Without a doubt, I was not disagreeing with this. There's only one way something can get into the cylinder like that, and the obvious cause here was removing the head and exposing the cylinders when they did the head gaskets. There's no other way for it to happen short of someone removing a glow plug and throwing something in there.

What a dumb mistake to make. ANY mechanic should know of the damage that this can cause.