My 2001 F350 was at the point last spring that even in the upper 40s, I had to plug it in to get it to start. So yesterday I checked the glow plug relay and the resistance on the glow plugs. Relay is good, all 8 glow plugs are out of spec. I picked up 8 new glow plugs and started removing the necessary tubes, and this and that's to facilitate the removal of the rocker covers. I noticed a very small amount of oil in the intake tube, and the intercooler tubes. (Also a really unusual odor coming from the intercooler tube) Once I had everything out of there way, I discovered about ½" of oil in the valley under the turbo. I have not really looked to see where the oil is coming from since I wanted to get the glow plugs in first. I thought I would post it on the forum to see if anyone else has had this problem and could point me in the right direction. I have only pulled 1 glow plug so far, and when I got it out, the whole end was dripping oil. I don't know if this is normal. The truck runs great with plenty of power. Seems that there are 3 potential oil problems here. Hope someone can point me in the right direction!

 

Generally the oil in the intake is normal because of the ccv (crank case vent) that vents into the intake tube (pre turbo), the smell also sounds like a normal thing.

The oil on you glow plug tip would be normal if you didnt use an air nozzle to gently(think face splattered with oil) blow oil out from the recess the glow plug sets in, so again shouldnt be any worry with that.

Oil under turbo could be anything in the valley leaking, hpop line fittings, rail plugs, hpop, turbo pedestal o rings or the ebpv actuator. Easiest to clean things up and then check it after its up and running again, trying to follow where it is coming from.

Replacing your glow plugs (hopefully oem) sounds like a good logical start to helping solve your situation. Hopefully that is the main culprit and it will be starting well again in cold temps.

Keep us updated. Around here we enjoy helping out the best we can

 

Looks like E has you taken care of. I'll just agree that everything sounds normal to me. Even the pool in the valley. Doesn't mean it's supposed to be there but normal all the same.

 

LOL i think we all have a little oil in the valley from seeping from somewhere! Everything else sounds normal though, if you are not replacing the GP's with OEM , Buru you will not be happy that you will have to do it again!

 

An old mechanic told me to wash out the valley once in a while, you will never have an oil leak in the valley again! (if your leaks are small, you will just wash them away and they won't be noticed.)

As all 7.3 owners know, leaks can come from many places. But can also be fixed. If you use your truck and park in other people's driveways or you have a nice driveway or garage, fix it!

Eswift's post is spot on.

 

Thanks for the quick replies guys! I know 7.3s tend to leak oil from different places, but I have never seen this much oil in the valley of either of my 7.3s. Had a gas engine catch fire years ago due to an oil leak, and had no interest in a repeat of that adventure. At least I now have peace of mind given the replies from you guys. I'll clean things up and watch for where the leaks are and fix them. It's supposed to be in the 90s and high humidity here today, so might not get everything done until things cool off a bit. And yes, I did get OEM glow plugs. Only want to have to do this once!
Thanks for the help!

 

Since you're already there try getting a look at the valley drain hole. May have plugged with gunk or whatever. Could very well be a minor leak that has just been able to accumulate over time.

 

Oil leak update:
So I got all the air tubes removed and got a better look at things. The oil was pretty deep in the valley, so I used my brake bleeder to suck the oil out. Then I spread floor dry in the valley to soak up the remaining oil (after securely covering any open tubes, fittings, etc.). The next day I crawled up under the hood to search for oil leaks. Of course the electrical plug for the ICP and everything around it was full of oil. I thought great! easy fix! Then I shined my light under the turbo and could definitely see that there was oil leaking between the block and the turbo pedestal, and between the pedestal and the turbo. Too much oil to just say the heck with it given that several parts have already been removed, and the time required to put them back on and take them off again because the o rings continued to deteriorate a few months from now. So I decided to pull the turbo and do it right. Things moved along very quickly and I thought that I would have the turbo sitting on the bench within an hour. Then came the V clamps! What a headache! It took me close to 4 hours to get the up and down pipe clamps to release!
I vacuumed up the floor dry and scraped up as much remaining gunk as I could. I found that the drain hole at the back was thoroughly plugged so I cleaned that out. Then I gave the valley a good dose of engine degreaser and pressure washed it.
Then the Amazon driver came down the driveway with my o ring kit. Perfect timing! At 69 years old, the spirit was willing but the body told me that waiting until tomorrow would be a much better idea.
While sitting having morning coffee this morning, I had YouTube on and since I had been watching 7.3 oil leak videos, another turbo o ring video popped up. Now I find myself in a quandary. This video pretty much says any o rings other than Motorcraft are pretty much guaranteed to leak. I bought the Dormant kit. He also shows installing the o rings with silicone. I have never used silicone where o rings are the seal on anything. Seems kind of like the guys that wrap an o ring sealed sensor or sending unit in Teflon thinking it will provide a better seal.
​​​​​​​So that is my latest question to ask everyone. #1) what is your experience with aftermarket o rings, especially the Dorman rings? #2) what are your opinions on using silicone to help seal the new o rings?

 

DO NOT USE RTV SILICONE! I always use a thin coating of silicone grease: ie plumber's faucet lube or brake caliper pin grease, NAPA Sil-Glide. Just enough to make it glisten, no blobs! It needs to be able to adapt to changing temperatures, expansions of the fitting due to the same without being cemented in place by a bunch of cured RTV. Plus, if you use RTV in excess, like most people who use that stuff improperly do, it will create enough hydraulic pressure when you tighten everything down to force the o-ring into places it wasn't meant to go, cutting the o-ring and then you just created new leak all over again.
Clean everything up down to new metal, o-ring grooves, ect. Then put the o-ring with the thin coating of silicone grease in it's groove and install the component. If you do it right, you won't have a leak there for years.
40 years experience as an auto repair technician here.

 

See my post above about how you shouldn't use RTV. Being 65 myself, I fully understand the mañana factor.
I've used Dorman in the past for things and have lived to regret it. Not all sealing components are created equal, and while the rubber o-rings sitting side by side may appear to be the same, they are made from different chemical compounds that enable them to withstand different environments. Oil based environments have different stresses on the chemical makeup of o-rings than, for instance, ones that are made for aqueous environments, such as the cooling system. The two do not mix well and one chemical compound does not work for every environment. Recommend getting the right ones for the job from a vendor who can be trusted. There's several here on this website. Spend a little extra this year and next, you won't regret that decision.

 

Exactly what I was thinking. I'm sure that I know the answer, but this is the sealant that was recommended:

Permatex 82194 Ultra Grey Rigid High-Torque RTV Silicone Gasket Maker

Unless this is some sort of special sealant, it's still RTV to my way of thinking.

 

I've had the Mahle brand o rings in mine for over 2 years now and good so far. I've had good luck with all the Mahle stuff I've used so far actually. As for Dorman, I will be hand delivering ice water to folks in hell before any of my money goes down on that over priced garbage. If I can't find it else where I'll figure out how to make it myself.

 

the general thinking is to get his kit from diesel o rings. it has the Vition rings which are better than OEM.. I am removing turbo to put in new wheel and removing pedestal to check for suspected (god i hope it that) oil leak on the plunger and will be using this. just replaced o rings last time so new bolts to help keep it together.

https://www.dieselorings.com/1999-20...kit-gtp38.html