Tell me about it Curt. And I can't start tearing into mine for awhile yet. It's keeping me awake at night! I just wish I knew of a for-sure good diesel man in the area, I'd be happy to pay him for a good diagnosis so I know I'm not barking up the wrong tree. Oh well!

 

It's been over a month since I started this thread. Just wanted to update y'all. I've concluded it is for sure the injector cups. I have all the parts on order, and will be attempting the fix soon. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

Got'er done! g Parts, tool rental, and labor all right at $1000. More things came up than I could handle, but I found a local diesel mechanic to do the work. Fantastic to have nice clean coolant and no huge clouds of white smoke at start up. BTW, the local dealer quoted me 21.5 hours required for a total of $2,997.83!!! I asked why so many hours, was he going to pull the heads? His answer was he'd have to pull them if one of the cups broke!! So I feel quite sure he would have charged me the full three grand even though the odds of having to pull the heads were pretty slim in my mind. Is it any wonder they're called Stealerships????

Sure feels good knowing a dependable, affordable diesel mechanic is nearby.

Anyway, thanks to everybody who contributed to my education on this matter. Much appreciated!

 

You mean you got somebody to do it for a grand? Does he travel? Oh... too late... never mind.

Congratulations! I know how you feel.

 

I am having same issue with my 2000 7.3. the brown goop. I am going to lean more towards trans fluid but how would i stop the leaking from trans cooler into the radiator? is it a hose or am I lokking at a whole new radiator? sorry to just jump in but this has been an issue im fighting with.

 

With a 2000 7.3L, it depends.

Over half of them didn't come from the factory with an Oil to Water transmission cooler in the radiator. They just had one separate (smallish) Oil to Air transmission cooler. If this is the case with your 2000, then there really isn't any conceivable way that your coolant and transmission fluid could ever mix. So your brown goop would be from another source.

However, if your 2000 at some point in it's lifetime had the Ford transmission cooling upgrade TSB service performed, where the original production radiator was replaced with a later production radiator with a built in Oil to Water transmission cooler, or, if your 2000 model was a later build (after February 6, 2000), then it is possible for the Oil to Water transmission cooler tube inside the radiator to leak... perhaps at the fittings inside the lower radiator tank.

In that case, it is conceivable that the fluids could get mixed. While not possible with an OTA cooler, it is possible with an OTW cooler. The OTW cooler is typically a single tube with fins on the inside of the radiator tank. The transmission fluid flows through the tube, the engine coolant flows around the tube and fins, sinking the heat out of them that was transferred by the transmission fluid. I've seen some miniaturized stacked plate coolers, with one or two rows, used as OTW coolers, but the principle of transfer is the same.

If the OTW cooler leaks, the simplest solution is to change the entire radiator. I have seen people remove the bottom tank from their original radiator to install or replace an OTW cooler, but that is a lot of work, with some risk that the radiator itself will leak if the tank seam isn't recrimped just right.

 

Ok so you are right about the tranny cooler in the 2000 7.3l. I am almost certain it is diesel in the coolant and from everything i can find that means i have a cracked injector cup. My question, however stupid and inexperienced it may sound, is will this cause severe damage to my engine if not fixed IMMEDIATELY? as this is my daily driver i can not simply park it until i have time to fix. I am pretty worried that I am looking at a major fix here. Thank you for the info.

 

Fuel will swell any orings or rubber in the cooling system.

Sent from my leash using IB AutoGroup

 

If a cup completely fails while running, coolant can gush into the cylinder - causing an instant hydrolock. This is rare, but I know of one instance where it happened. One in all the threads here means the odds are in your favor, but the fuel damages the seals in your coolant system... and the coolant goes where you don't want it to when you shut the engine off: When a warm truck is shut off, there is pressure in the coolant system, and it spreads to whatever lets it in - like your fuel line (bad juju for the 'jectors).