Does any particular type or brand or color orings make a better seal and last longer in our turbos and pedestals?

Yellow?

Viton is supposed to be good, but it's the fuel in our system that went to ULSD and eats everything, not the oil, right?

So is there a PROVEN better product? I understand we have 'preferred vendors'

IE the fluoro...version of orings for the fuel bowls are better. I have those. What about the turbo and pedestal orings?

Thanks!

 

I'm all for learning all I can about O rings as I think that there is nothing too special about the ones in our trucks and that they are one of those things that we get raked over the coals on in pricing. Fortunately they're cheap even when marked up 500% but it still gets my goat. So...what is a 'flouro' O ring? How does it compare with a 'Viton' O ring? According to this site Viton is DuPont's brand name for their 'flouro' O rings. Is this wrong? Here is a little about it.
Viton O-rings - Fluorocarbon V75 FKM - The O-ring Store

And then here is springerpop's list of them and where they can be obtained for $.30/ea but have to be bought 25 at a time.
Powerstroke O-Ring Chart

I got them from my local seal distributor/manufacturer for $5.00 for the four of them.

 

Made me look it up...LOL.

Fluorosilicone. Read about it here: Ford 7.3 Diesel Fluorosilcone Drain Valve O-rings

 

I didn't know if there was an oversized oring that is better, higher temp (viton, right?), or something else that would be more forgiving and longer lasting?

The sealing is done by the squashed oring, not the aluminum/steel mating surfaces, right?

Maybe a squared oring (gasket) would work better?

I am not an oring expert, but for a couple of dollars each, we should be getting some pretty stout seals

 

OK, Fluorosilicone sounds good, good to colder temps than Viton. The fuel bowl rebuild kit I got has a 'Viton' sticker on the bag. And with Viton being good to -20 it leaves me wondering about those days and areas where they get to -30 or even lower. Something like that brought the space shuttle Challenger down.

Yes, the O ring fills a void and gets squashed into it to seal it. The base of your pedestal contacts the top of the block on the bottom and the bottom of your turbo up top. I would expect that the void and O ring size are calibrated and a little too big or too small could be an issue. There are some square O rings, I believe that one or two on the injectors are square.

 

Any other opinions on this? Are the OEM orings the best?

 

I use Viton when I can get it. I get my O-rings from Bob (dieselorings.com) and Clay (riffraffdiesel.com).


I used this kit for re-install: Turbo Re-Install Kit GTP38 for Ford 7.3L (99-03) - GZ-14-009


Two years later and no problems with it.

 

Thank goodness our oring's are not a Criticality 1 component like the ones on the Challenger SRB. They knew they should have waited until the afternoon, or until it warmed to 54 degrees. When the oring failed on launch the Challenger should have blown up right there on the pad, but aluminum oxides filled the void until shear winds tore it back open halfway into it's 73 second flight. The sky was so clear and blue that day half of Florida could watch the launch. The only positive thing that happened from NASA's and Morton Thiokol's greed was the SRB's after that were the safest thing on the shuttle.....very sad!

 

Hey Now.
Viton is floro is florosilocone.
Fluorocarbon is fishing line.
As for O-rings, its Silicon, Buna-N, Viton, EPDM, and Kalrez.
Their is also a Chemrez, but In think it's the same a Kalrez.
Epdm is also known a EPM.
So whats the best choice, Kalrez.
O-rings come is std sizes, once you. know the size, you can find your o-rings.
FYI expect to pay about 10x as much for Kalrez! So do you still need the best?
Then pony up boys!

 

I would think in the turbo pedestal heat is the biggest issue, so which one stands up to the heat the best?
I did mine a year ago and used Viton from Bob. I replaced all the o-rings in the top end at the same time. It has been over a year now since I have seen a drop of oil or diesel under my truck, it's a great feeling!

 

You are on the right track but off just a bit. Viton is DuPont's brand of fluorocarbon. Fluorosilicone is a different material, which has lower temp ratings, both on the upper end and the lower end. It looks like fluorosilicone O rings are blue while Viton are primarily black or brown.
Here is a link to a vendor of a wide variety of O rings and descriptions of what they are good for.
AS568 Standard Size O-Rings
And here is springerpop's page on O ring sizes and places to buy them.
Powerstroke O-Ring Chart
But I agree with you that, for the most part, O rings are O rings and if you know your size and have a local vendor you can get them for a fraction of the price of what 'Powerstroke' vendors sell them for.
The heat there was my thought exactly but the O rings that came out of mine were brown and my O ring vendor said that that indicated that they were Viton. I replaced them with Viton and have no problems either. Those O rings see oil temps, not exhaust discharge temps so they don't get as hot as you might think.

 

Viton is 440F, and Kalrez is 620F.
You can check their chemical resistance on Cole Parmers site.
Strange, it does not have any information on Viton and motor oil.
They might get cooked after shutdown, but 440F is pretty hot.
That's a great chart!