Hey guys, I'm new to the IDI crowd, and trying to learn as much as I can. I'm used to powerstrokes..

Anyway, I reciently bought my 85 f250 4x4 from a family friend. Her dad bought the truck brand new, and it was his pride and joy. He put a banks turbo kit and a gear vendors overdrive, along with many other gadgets and gizmos. He sold it to his daughter in 2000, and she has driven it less that 500 miles a year since then. Odometer reads 64,000 so it am assuming it is 164,000.

Due to it sitting for so long, and me driving 500 miles a week, it's needless to say it is leaking oil pretty bad. It looks like most of the oil is coming from the oil pan, on the passenger side of the engine. It was 4 qts low after I topped it off less than 2 weeks ago. I do trim work in multi-million dollar homes, and oil leaks are forbidden. I am wanting to pull the motor, and clean up and reseal it. But am unsure just how far I should go with it. Can I just do gaskets and assume I can put another 100,000+ miles? Or do I need to blow it completely apart, and machine it, bearings and rings? The lady kept up with oil changes, and would go out at least once a month and start it, and run it for a while to keep things moving. I do not see any noticeable blue smoke.

 

Re-silicone the oil pan and valve covers. That is 80% of the leaks on these, the other 20% being main seals. If you pull it do headstuds.

An IDI that doesnt leak oil? I suppose its possible, but never seen one. My brand new engine has a weep from the back somewhere i cant find, pretty irritating, but it doesent leave the puddles it used to.

 

A quick solution get one of those shallow metal oil drip pans
https://www.amazon.com/Plews-75-755-Galvanized-Drip-Pan/dp/B000HJBF3K/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_263_lp_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1& refRID=9QJ3QRX94NTZ913FTGG6

some small chain and hooks
the oil absorbent mat. You made 2 pans
neatly hang the pan under the engine keep a pad in the pan perodicly change the pad. I have heard that they do something similar in AK on any truck that works the pipeline

 

As far as mileage the IDI easily goes 400K, not uncommon to go far beyond that.

 

I would first off take it to a car wash. Use engine cleaner (or cans of foamy or gel engine brite) to get all the grease deposits well soaked, give it a few minutes(while washing the back half of the truck) and then use high pressure soap to get as much as you can off; rinse it and see what you get.

Depending on the depth of some deposits, you might have to do it twice. Either way, once you have it clean, you can see what 'current' oil leaks are coming from, and not just old deposits or weep spots.

Losing 4 quarts in a few hundred miles to leaks would be... well, a huge leak. It might also be burning it; this is why you want to clean everything and see how much you are actually losing and from where.


Assuming you pull the motor to re-seal the oil pan, that would be a good time to look everything over on the under side. You should be able to wiggle the connecting rods, looking for excessive play, look at the bottom half of each cylinder etc.

Seal wise, if you are that far into it, replace the front and rear main seals at the same time. The rear is /easy/, the front requires removing some accessories and taking the water pump bolts off... though you might look into a puller tool to pull the seal with the plate in place. That would be the easiest option, as removing the harmonic balancer will give you clearance.

Valve covers need replacement, and you also want to look at the valley pan - if you are getting oil down it, it could be coming from the IP gear cover, or the front of the valley pan.
If it's only near the back, the CDR tube might be the failure point.

 

I was thinking while I had it out, I would do head studs. Another big reason to pull it, is to clean the frame rails, because they are caked with grease.

I redid the injector return lines after buying it, and did not see any oil on top. Really, the top of the motor is pretty clean. When I crawl under it, the engine cradle is covered and dripping oil everywhere, and the whole passenger side of the pan is wet, with fresh oil. I need to get over and get my dad's pressure washer workimg, cause the carwash's are not power pull enough to clean the underside of it.



The road in front of a $5M house...

The underside of the engine

Top of the engine is not very oily..


And one of the truck

 

See... What you need to do is install a small sprayer/mister on a switch. That way, when you are at a 5M house, you can just coat the asphalt with a thin layer of oil. Now, instead of dark spots, you have a nice even dark layer. Drive back and forth so you cover the entire driveway, and then charge the owner for "Asphalt Renewal services"!
Hey, with a good coating of nice black oil, it *would* look new!

 

Or send a bill to the state for resealing their roads

 

You mean pic # 2 is not normal for an IDI

 

You'll never get a rusty K-member on our trucks.

 

That's a pretty truck. It would be cool using that as a work truck as opposed to the Super Duty/Cummins/Duramax that are a dime a dozen.

 

They'd probably seize and crush your truck and give you a Porsche for your trouble in that neighborhood, here in rural Texas..well let's just say I bill the county quarterly

How far should you go?

I say as deep as your pocket book allows

 

Thanks! I sold my 6.0 superduty a few months ago, and bought this to replace it. It now has lumber rack, campershell, and a bed Full of tools


I am thinking for now, I will pull it, clean it, reseal it, stud it, and drive it.