I know no one can give me the right answer, I would appreciate some advice.

I have a 2001 Ford F350 7.3 Turbo Superduty diesel truck. I purchased it to pull my ’95 TrailsWest bumper pull horse trailer. i have had it 6 years.

About a year ago, the engine was replaced in the truck at 205,000 miles, due to “Runaway Diesel syndrome”, this cost right at $10k. the “new” engine was at 80,000 miles. I have had some other repairs to the truck since then that have seemed minor, but last week as I was driving back from the barn, not pulling the trailer, thank goodness, the truck gave an ominous “thunk” and white smoke poured out from the engine compartment and out the back. I had to nurse it up a hill to get to a safe place to pull over. It lost power entirely and died right as I reached a pull-out.

The high-pressure oil hose had given out, and it had lost most of its oil before I could safely pull over. The mechanic said he needed to replace that hose before he could know if the engine had sustained permanent damage – Parts and labor, $800. He put the hose in, started up the truck which ran for 3-5 seconds, before the hose blew again, stripping out the threads to the high pressure oil pump. He let me know that he pump would be another $1400. Again, this now needs to be done before we can tell if the engine has sustained any damage. (He did say that the short time it ran, it sounded ok – for what that’s worth).

This brings me to my question. Do I cut my losses and part this truck out, or do I cross my fingers, fix it and sell it? I no longer want it, and don’t have any faith in it as a towing vehicle. I would sell it with full disclosure. Is it worth it to try to fix? If through some miracle the engine is not damaged, could I get any kind of price for a truck with this history- to make it worth it? Or is this all sunk cost, and I should ask the mechanic how to go about selling it for parts? Or is parting it out worth the time and headache?

Of course as you can tell I am not a mechanic, nor inclined to be one . Writing this whole thing out makes me think I should just pay my mechanic what I owe him and have it towed to the scrapyard! Advice kindly sought!

 

A blown HPOP hose is a very minor repair, but your guy is making it major.

The thunk was likely the hose burst, and the smoke was oil spewing on the hot manifolds. Your guy is hitting you hard for parts/labor - those hoses are quick-disconnects (they pop right out in seconds) and I can buy upgraded hoses for $200 for the pair. Once a hose is replaced, that HPOP ain't gunna make enough pressure to pop it again, particularly in the driveway. I think your guy is doing something under there from inexperience/lack of knowledge, and it's making the situation worse as you go.

A T500 HPOP from Riffraff diesel is around $500, and it's a couple of hours to swap it out. So... if he's doing a big markup on the pump, and hitting you for 4-6 hours repair, I can see that $1400 - but that would again prompt me to get the truck on the hook and take it to another guy.

 

The motor will be fine. The injectors stop working because of no oil, before engine occurs. I know the hard way. Anyways fix the hose/HPOP and use it. I'm thinking the mechanic did not fully seat the fitting in the HPOP causing it to blow out. You might want to question him on that.

 

To add a little background, in case you're not familiar with how differently these engines work, the engine's lubricating oil is also used _hydraulically_ to run the injectors. When a line like this blows, you lose hydraulic pressure, the injectors no longer fire, and the engine stalls. This could even happen with a gradual leak, say, oil being pushed out the dipstick fitting on the oil pan. The GOOD thing is, in any such case, the injectors are starved of oil and the engine stalls long before the oil gets so low as to cause internal damage.

So if the mechanic thinks there could be internal damage from loss of oil, I would question how familiar he is with these engines. Which calls into question the work that he's done so far. +1 above; time to take it elsewhere. And to your initial question, it's DEFinitely NOT time to part it out.

 

Between two different mechanics at the shop and me, there could be a little bit of a game of "Telephone" going on about the prices of things - I will definitely get those numbers straight before having the work done. I need to get on the phone with some other shops, to sanity check the numbers.

You all have been very helpful, and I have learned quite a bit - mostly that it is not time to give up on my truck yet!

Thank you for your thoughtful replies. I very much appreciate it.

 

What the heck is " runaway diesel syndrome" ?

A Detroit diesel can runaway but I can't think of how one of ours could runaway. Maybe a bad seal in the turbo feeding engine oil to the engine?

Sounds like the local shops have been taking you for a ride.

 

Having the fitting on the HPOP bust loose and taking the threads with it is not uncommon. Especially if someone put a wrench to it because they did not know it's a quick release line. Agreed with above, new HPOP and hoses and most likely you're on down the road.

Mechanic could listen while cranking (without starting) to gauge general health of rotating assembly and cylinders. If it spins evenly it's good, varying speeds indicates low compression in one or more cylinders.

Seems like you're being quoted retail, and that can be a shock to the many DIY folks here. Not unfair prices, just retail.

For the runaway I agree, blown turbo seal might do it. Not something the 7.3 is known for. Some fun videos on Ewetube on runaway diesels.

 

I was wondering the same thing. Never heard of that with one of our motors.

 

Fwiw, I bought my current 7.3 from somebody who had the same thing happen.

It was sitting out back at the dealer waiting for the wrecker to come take it to the junk yard. Dealer was quoting them ridiculous prices to fix and had talked them into a new truck instead. I put a new HPOP in it right there in the dealers lot and drove it home. That was over 100k miles ago.

 

FWIW I had a 7.3 idi run away a few years ago, It was in an E350, motor was a reman long block 2 weeks old when it came back in with a skip. 3 of us pulled the doghouse and were cracking injector lines to try to find this skip and all of a sudden the engine took off. We pulled the keys, didn't shut off so we ran. Sounded like it was at 7000 rpm, black smoke so thick you couldn't see. Ran like that for 5 min till it died. What we found was it still had 2 gallons too much oil when drained, but the dipstick showed 2 qts low. Ended up when the tech put the oil pan on, he used too much ford grey and it hung over the pan and wiped the dipstick so it showed 2 qts low every time. It took out the heads, we replaced them and it lived. First time I ever saw an engine run on its own oil.

 

Runaway is common enough on the old Mercedes diesels some guys keep a phone book handy to block the intake. Phone books ain't good for much more than that anyway.

Guys with old naturally aspirated 240's with automatics also keep a pair of binoculars on the passenger seat, I'll let you guess what for.

 

Part it out, only if the rocker panels are in good shape. I could use a good set

 

Do not part it out.
The mechanic you are using does not know 7.3's.
I suspect he installed the new hoses without understanding the connectors and damaged them, thus causing them to let go again (stripped threads).

 

Part it out... I'll come pick up the entire truck from you to save the head ache. Give me the name of your mechanic and I'll go buy him a beer.

Seriously, you have some great advice here. This guy has scared you and crossed his knowledge between diesels. Test your truck in front of him... Jump your starter and listen to the motor turn over. If it turns over with out a change is velocity, your motor is good.

Thank him for his time, move your truck to a new shop, or move it home and we'll help you with the HPOP swap.

 

Kneetoe, where are you located? Perhaps someone on FTE can point you in the right direction of a reputable diesel shop.

The prices you are seeing are dealer/high retail prices. I just bought 2 HPOP lines from RiffRaff diesel and the removal tool for under $200. The lines can be swapped in under an hour from what I understand.

As for the HPOP, a new one should be around $500 depending on the source and swapping it out is a bit more involved but nothing a shade tree mechanic could not tackle.

If you don't have the time or resources to wrench on your own truck, I would highly recommend either negotiating a lower price with your mechanic or taking the truck someplace else. The truck/engine should be OK because it will shut itself off when the oil level is too low. These 7.3 engines are workhorses and can take a lot of punishment.