7.3 reliability
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Jul 2020
Posts: 977
Likes: 458
I took possession of my 2020 F250 7.3 in February of the same year. I average about 50K miles per year and the odometer clocks in as of today at 133K. While I am not a hotshotter I do pull about 6-10K lbs about 40% of the time. To date my truck has seen zero downtime or been in the shop for anything other than required maintenance.
Having said that I developed the long crank problem at about 50K miles and continues to this day when the engine is hot. Everytime I have taken it to the shop to be repaired the long crank magically goes away. So I just live with it. It doesnt happen on every crank but 60% of the time.
Its a company truck and they like to turn our trucks over every 150K miles or so. Luckily the Ford ordering portal will not be open until November (or so Ive been told by our fleet manager) so I continue to rack up the miles on this one. And that is fine by me. It seems QC is not up to par on newer SD's from being an avid reader of this forum. I have several upgrades that I put on this truck that I paid for and will gladly drive it until its time is up.
I can't say enough good things about it. It has been one of the most trouble free vehicles that I have ever driven. Some of that is probably due to the fact that I take care of vehicles I drive, whether I paid for them or not. I do not take them to quick change oil change places. I use only Mobil 1 synthetic fluids and filters. I strongly follow the maintenance schedule in the owners manual.
Ill get the long crank issue addressed in time. And that time maybe when the fuel pump decides to take a dump on me and get to watch it placed on a Jerr-Dan tow truck to finally get repaired.
Having said that I developed the long crank problem at about 50K miles and continues to this day when the engine is hot. Everytime I have taken it to the shop to be repaired the long crank magically goes away. So I just live with it. It doesnt happen on every crank but 60% of the time.
Its a company truck and they like to turn our trucks over every 150K miles or so. Luckily the Ford ordering portal will not be open until November (or so Ive been told by our fleet manager) so I continue to rack up the miles on this one. And that is fine by me. It seems QC is not up to par on newer SD's from being an avid reader of this forum. I have several upgrades that I put on this truck that I paid for and will gladly drive it until its time is up.
I can't say enough good things about it. It has been one of the most trouble free vehicles that I have ever driven. Some of that is probably due to the fact that I take care of vehicles I drive, whether I paid for them or not. I do not take them to quick change oil change places. I use only Mobil 1 synthetic fluids and filters. I strongly follow the maintenance schedule in the owners manual.
Ill get the long crank issue addressed in time. And that time maybe when the fuel pump decides to take a dump on me and get to watch it placed on a Jerr-Dan tow truck to finally get repaired.
We really like the 6.2 and had a couple 6.7s they were good to but we try to keep the diesel in the owner operator area for obvious reasons.
I did get one 7.3 earlier this spring and was just wondering how the higher mileage ones were doing by now before maybe picking up more of them.
Lead Driver
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 7,952
Likes: 2,658
From: The Great State of Texas
I have yet to read about any real issues with the 7.3L. What I mean by that is numerous posts about issues.
You'll read about an issue here and there...but nothing that would indicate a true issue. Anything mechanical can fail.
It interesting that some people will read about an issue and then immediately assume all 7.3L must have this issue.
1. Lifter failure in early RV applications. I can find like 3 examples online. Still hard to determine any reliable failure rate by that.
2. Spark plug/coil wires in early 2020 units. DEFINITELY an issue. 'Infant failures' with a brand new product being released. This issue was resolved in early 2020 by a redesigned coil wires.
3. I've read about a couple front main seal leaks...like two. Again, hard to determine failure rate.
By all accounts the 7.3L engine seems to be very robust.
You'll read about an issue here and there...but nothing that would indicate a true issue. Anything mechanical can fail.
It interesting that some people will read about an issue and then immediately assume all 7.3L must have this issue.
1. Lifter failure in early RV applications. I can find like 3 examples online. Still hard to determine any reliable failure rate by that.
2. Spark plug/coil wires in early 2020 units. DEFINITELY an issue. 'Infant failures' with a brand new product being released. This issue was resolved in early 2020 by a redesigned coil wires.
3. I've read about a couple front main seal leaks...like two. Again, hard to determine failure rate.
By all accounts the 7.3L engine seems to be very robust.
muson - lifter failure
grumblin - lifter failure
Pamcakes - lifter failure
Robin - Reported engine blew up. Most likely lifter failure
Dig4it - lifter failure. Also reported 8 trucks were at the shop for the same failure
springhook - lifter failure
Also my cousin is a Ford tech and mostly works on Super Duty's and has reported last Christmas he's replaced several engines and lifters/cams for lifter failures. He's been a Ford mechanic since 1994 and has never seen this many lifter failures in his career of combined Ford engines. Also 10 speed transmission problems continue to be a issue with the 7.3 as well which is completely unnaceptable.
Cargo Master
Joined: Jul 2021
Posts: 2,969
Likes: 2,407
From: Ridgway, CO
There's a thread in the 7.3 section with reported lifter failures. Here's a quick list of some who reported failures.
muson - lifter failure
grumblin - lifter failure
Pamcakes - lifter failure
Robin - Reported engine blew up. Most likely lifter failure
Dig4it - lifter failure. Also reported 8 trucks were at the shop for the same failure
springhook - lifter failure
Also my cousin is a Ford tech and mostly works on Super Duty's and has reported last Christmas he's replaced several engines and lifters/cams for lifter failures. He's been a Ford mechanic since 1994 and has never seen this many lifter failures in his career of combined Ford engines. Also 10 speed transmission problems continue to be a issue with the 7.3 as well which is completely unnaceptable.
muson - lifter failure
grumblin - lifter failure
Pamcakes - lifter failure
Robin - Reported engine blew up. Most likely lifter failure
Dig4it - lifter failure. Also reported 8 trucks were at the shop for the same failure
springhook - lifter failure
Also my cousin is a Ford tech and mostly works on Super Duty's and has reported last Christmas he's replaced several engines and lifters/cams for lifter failures. He's been a Ford mechanic since 1994 and has never seen this many lifter failures in his career of combined Ford engines. Also 10 speed transmission problems continue to be a issue with the 7.3 as well which is completely unnaceptable.
Sorry but I call BS on both stories... This forum would be flooded with posts if there was a real problem with the tens of thousands of trucks Ford has sold with this combo. You found 6.... Bet I can find 6 blown up diesels in the same time period.
Lead Driver
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 7,952
Likes: 2,658
From: The Great State of Texas
You must know my electrician... He was asking about my 7.3 truck, said his brother bought one, had trans issues, called the local dealer, (small town under 50k) and they told him to take it somewhere else because they have 70 trucks waiting for similar repairs. They don't have 70 vehicles anywhere on their property...
Sorry but I call BS on both stories... This forum would be flooded with posts if there was a real problem with the tens of thousands of trucks Ford has sold with this combo. You found 6.... Bet I can find 6 blown up diesels in the same time period.
Sorry but I call BS on both stories... This forum would be flooded with posts if there was a real problem with the tens of thousands of trucks Ford has sold with this combo. You found 6.... Bet I can find 6 blown up diesels in the same time period.
Lead Driver
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 7,952
Likes: 2,658
From: The Great State of Texas
Lead Driver
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 8,671
Likes: 4,766
From: Itinerant
There's a thread in the 7.3 section with reported lifter failures. Here's a quick list of some who reported failures.
muson - lifter failure
grumblin - lifter failure
Pamcakes - lifter failure
Robin - Reported engine blew up. Most likely lifter failure
Dig4it - lifter failure. Also reported 8 trucks were at the shop for the same failure
springhook - lifter failure
Also my cousin is a Ford tech and mostly works on Super Duty's and has reported last Christmas he's replaced several engines and lifters/cams for lifter failures. He's been a Ford mechanic since 1994 and has never seen this many lifter failures in his career of combined Ford engines. Also 10 speed transmission problems continue to be a issue with the 7.3 as well which is completely unnaceptable.
muson - lifter failure
grumblin - lifter failure
Pamcakes - lifter failure
Robin - Reported engine blew up. Most likely lifter failure
Dig4it - lifter failure. Also reported 8 trucks were at the shop for the same failure
springhook - lifter failure
Also my cousin is a Ford tech and mostly works on Super Duty's and has reported last Christmas he's replaced several engines and lifters/cams for lifter failures. He's been a Ford mechanic since 1994 and has never seen this many lifter failures in his career of combined Ford engines. Also 10 speed transmission problems continue to be a issue with the 7.3 as well which is completely unnaceptable.
Earlier engine design with bad run of parts or rvs with the 7.3 and bad run of parts??? Other than Pamcakes925 it seems if you get past 5k miles you might be in good shape or don't have an rv with the 7.3 engine.
Munson1578 in a '21' motorhome @2,600 miles....in fairness it wasn't stated as lifter failure but "Two dealers have attempted to fix it and I was just told the engine has no compression and it's termed a "catastrophic failure" of the engine." Could be almost anything, he got a new long block sent out. Has come back so problem solved I guess and under warranty.
grumblin '20' 7.3 had a failure at 428 miles " Apparently dropped a couple of lifters. Ford sent a complete engine assembly in 4 days. No tear-down. Basically had to beat any info out of the diesel tech."
Strange a diesel tech working on a gas motor. Plus had other issues with truck assembly/ transmission. Just a bad Monday/Friday assembly line truck.
Pamcakes925 had atleast 76,000 miles before complete failure..."Never heard exactly what the cause, other than #2 cylinder lost compression."
Robindombroski with a '21' motorhome at 1,776 miles "the engine blew up while we were driving on the interstate. Really blew up......loud noise, smoke/oil spewing out, collected what appears to be piston parts from the oil that sprayed out, hole in the oil pan." I guess we'll never know the cause since they haven't been back since 8/25/21.
Dig4it with a 2022 RV with a 2021 ford chassis and Godzilla engine failed as well at 6800miles. Catastrophic failure, hole in side engine. No update, hasn't been back since Oct 21.
Springhook..."I have the dubious distinction of becoming a member of the "Godzilla Catastrophic Failure" club. 2021 E450 in a motorhome chassis with 4000 miles. . Original owner purchased it new in Florida and drove it to Arkansas. I purchased it and drove it to Texas. I noticed it idling rough but didn't think much about it. It drove great. When I got it home, I took it in for safety inspection in order to get it registered. In my county, an OBD scan is required. Inspection station said OBD port is dead. So, off to Ford dealer. Ford service scanner worked fine. Technician said safety inspector probably had out of date scanner as '20 and '21 Fords needed updated programs. OK. At the same time, I mentioned rough idle. Since scanner was already attached, technician ran scan and discovered multiple misfires across all 8 cylinders. That was February 2, 2022. Fuel and spark were ruled out. Today, service manager informed me that compression is all over the place. Factory is recommending new heads. Service manager is shooting for a new engine. Not sure if short or long block. Meantime, my Carfax indicated that the MH (built in Indiana) was brought to a Ford dealer in Indiana. So I called dealer and records show MH was brought in for rough idle but ticket shows "no trouble found". So, there you have it." AND "Got my Godzilla RV back yesterday after 3 full months in Ford shop. Turns out it was sticking lifters/valves #2,6,7,& 8.They replaced both heads and all lifters. Runs great now."
Only time will tell if these were just a run of early bad parts or truely a design flaw. It's been a couple years now and there are plenty of 7.3 gas engines out and about.
I had the leaking crank seal which was replaced with a different part # crank seal just guessing there was a run of bad seals and there are probably 7.3 engines with this leak that don't realize it, either because they don't drive alot of miles and hasn't started yet or just don't crawl under the truck and look but would assume somebody would notice it because there was oil residue on misc items under the truck from going down highway.
Cargo Master
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 2,220
Likes: 1,423
From: CA
Also my cousin is a Ford tech and mostly works on Super Duty's and has reported last Christmas he's replaced several engines and lifters/cams for lifter failures. He's been a Ford mechanic since 1994 and has never seen this many lifter failures in his career of combined Ford engines. Also 10 speed transmission problems continue to be a issue with the 7.3 as well which is completely unnaceptable.
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Lead Driver
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 7,952
Likes: 2,658
From: The Great State of Texas
I was going to stay out of this and let you and RidgwaySD bicker it out. I didn't remember all the lifter issues so went back and searched which brought up 3 threads that mentioned "lifter failures". Which in final diagnosis was determined to be lifter issues while others an engine failure assumed to be lifter caused.
Earlier engine design with bad run of parts or rvs with the 7.3 and bad run of parts??? Other than Pamcakes925 it seems if you get past 5k miles you might be in good shape or don't have an rv with the 7.3 engine.
Munson1578 in a '21' motorhome @2,600 miles....in fairness it wasn't stated as lifter failure but "Two dealers have attempted to fix it and I was just told the engine has no compression and it's termed a "catastrophic failure" of the engine." Could be almost anything, he got a new long block sent out. Has come back so problem solved I guess and under warranty.
grumblin '20' 7.3 had a failure at 428 miles " Apparently dropped a couple of lifters. Ford sent a complete engine assembly in 4 days. No tear-down. Basically had to beat any info out of the diesel tech."
Strange a diesel tech working on a gas motor. Plus had other issues with truck assembly/ transmission. Just a bad Monday/Friday assembly line truck.
Pamcakes925 had atleast 76,000 miles before complete failure..."Never heard exactly what the cause, other than #2 cylinder lost compression."
Robindombroski with a '21' motorhome at 1,776 miles "the engine blew up while we were driving on the interstate. Really blew up......loud noise, smoke/oil spewing out, collected what appears to be piston parts from the oil that sprayed out, hole in the oil pan." I guess we'll never know the cause since they haven't been back since 8/25/21.
Dig4it with a 2022 RV with a 2021 ford chassis and Godzilla engine failed as well at 6800miles. Catastrophic failure, hole in side engine. No update, hasn't been back since Oct 21.
Springhook..."I have the dubious distinction of becoming a member of the "Godzilla Catastrophic Failure" club. 2021 E450 in a motorhome chassis with 4000 miles. . Original owner purchased it new in Florida and drove it to Arkansas. I purchased it and drove it to Texas. I noticed it idling rough but didn't think much about it. It drove great. When I got it home, I took it in for safety inspection in order to get it registered. In my county, an OBD scan is required. Inspection station said OBD port is dead. So, off to Ford dealer. Ford service scanner worked fine. Technician said safety inspector probably had out of date scanner as '20 and '21 Fords needed updated programs. OK. At the same time, I mentioned rough idle. Since scanner was already attached, technician ran scan and discovered multiple misfires across all 8 cylinders. That was February 2, 2022. Fuel and spark were ruled out. Today, service manager informed me that compression is all over the place. Factory is recommending new heads. Service manager is shooting for a new engine. Not sure if short or long block. Meantime, my Carfax indicated that the MH (built in Indiana) was brought to a Ford dealer in Indiana. So I called dealer and records show MH was brought in for rough idle but ticket shows "no trouble found". So, there you have it." AND "Got my Godzilla RV back yesterday after 3 full months in Ford shop. Turns out it was sticking lifters/valves #2,6,7,& 8.They replaced both heads and all lifters. Runs great now."
Only time will tell if these were just a run of early bad parts or truely a design flaw. It's been a couple years now and there are plenty of 7.3 gas engines out and about.
I had the leaking crank seal which was replaced with a different part # crank seal just guessing there was a run of bad seals and there are probably 7.3 engines with this leak that don't realize it, either because they don't drive alot of miles and hasn't started yet or just don't crawl under the truck and look but would assume somebody would notice it because there was oil residue on misc items under the truck from going down highway.
Earlier engine design with bad run of parts or rvs with the 7.3 and bad run of parts??? Other than Pamcakes925 it seems if you get past 5k miles you might be in good shape or don't have an rv with the 7.3 engine.
Munson1578 in a '21' motorhome @2,600 miles....in fairness it wasn't stated as lifter failure but "Two dealers have attempted to fix it and I was just told the engine has no compression and it's termed a "catastrophic failure" of the engine." Could be almost anything, he got a new long block sent out. Has come back so problem solved I guess and under warranty.
grumblin '20' 7.3 had a failure at 428 miles " Apparently dropped a couple of lifters. Ford sent a complete engine assembly in 4 days. No tear-down. Basically had to beat any info out of the diesel tech."
Strange a diesel tech working on a gas motor. Plus had other issues with truck assembly/ transmission. Just a bad Monday/Friday assembly line truck.
Pamcakes925 had atleast 76,000 miles before complete failure..."Never heard exactly what the cause, other than #2 cylinder lost compression."
Robindombroski with a '21' motorhome at 1,776 miles "the engine blew up while we were driving on the interstate. Really blew up......loud noise, smoke/oil spewing out, collected what appears to be piston parts from the oil that sprayed out, hole in the oil pan." I guess we'll never know the cause since they haven't been back since 8/25/21.
Dig4it with a 2022 RV with a 2021 ford chassis and Godzilla engine failed as well at 6800miles. Catastrophic failure, hole in side engine. No update, hasn't been back since Oct 21.
Springhook..."I have the dubious distinction of becoming a member of the "Godzilla Catastrophic Failure" club. 2021 E450 in a motorhome chassis with 4000 miles. . Original owner purchased it new in Florida and drove it to Arkansas. I purchased it and drove it to Texas. I noticed it idling rough but didn't think much about it. It drove great. When I got it home, I took it in for safety inspection in order to get it registered. In my county, an OBD scan is required. Inspection station said OBD port is dead. So, off to Ford dealer. Ford service scanner worked fine. Technician said safety inspector probably had out of date scanner as '20 and '21 Fords needed updated programs. OK. At the same time, I mentioned rough idle. Since scanner was already attached, technician ran scan and discovered multiple misfires across all 8 cylinders. That was February 2, 2022. Fuel and spark were ruled out. Today, service manager informed me that compression is all over the place. Factory is recommending new heads. Service manager is shooting for a new engine. Not sure if short or long block. Meantime, my Carfax indicated that the MH (built in Indiana) was brought to a Ford dealer in Indiana. So I called dealer and records show MH was brought in for rough idle but ticket shows "no trouble found". So, there you have it." AND "Got my Godzilla RV back yesterday after 3 full months in Ford shop. Turns out it was sticking lifters/valves #2,6,7,& 8.They replaced both heads and all lifters. Runs great now."
Only time will tell if these were just a run of early bad parts or truely a design flaw. It's been a couple years now and there are plenty of 7.3 gas engines out and about.
I had the leaking crank seal which was replaced with a different part # crank seal just guessing there was a run of bad seals and there are probably 7.3 engines with this leak that don't realize it, either because they don't drive alot of miles and hasn't started yet or just don't crawl under the truck and look but would assume somebody would notice it because there was oil residue on misc items under the truck from going down highway.
It's always been diesel techs who work on the Super Duty gas trucks since the vast majority of Super Duty's are diesels. I want to say my cousin has replaced engines on low mileage trucks and lifter/cams on higher mile trucks if it's caught early enough, so it's impossible to quantify at what point you're out of the woods. Not sure if the variable oil pump is to blame here.
I will say with the launch of the 6.2 back in 2011 and now the 7.3, the 6.2 is without a doubt the gold standard.
Lead Driver
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 7,952
Likes: 2,658
From: The Great State of Texas
Recently Ford has dropped the ball on their internal quality and their suppliers quality.
More Turbo
Joined: Feb 2022
Posts: 556
Likes: 402
From: Texas
Most of what I can dig up is 7.3L in an RV platform. Would love to know why this is. Doesn't seem catastrophic, but definitely more 7.3L issues in the RVs.
RV Issues:
Munson1578 - lifter failure
Robindombroski - Reported engine blew up. Most likely lifter failure
Dig4it - lifter failure
springhook - lifter failure
F-250/F-350 Issues:
grumblin - lifter failure (2020 7.3L)
Pamcakes - lifter failure (Year ?. Assume 2020 due to 76,000 miles)
Of all the 7.3L motors on this forum and across the other Ford truck forums I'd say this engine is on track to being a very reliable motor.
A bit early to say for sure (2020+ only).
There are very little rumblings of issues as a whole....definitely more "I love this motor" posts. But as we know most people (especially the types that drive these trucks) are not going to search out an internet forum to sing praises about how much they love their 7.3L.
'Feelings' of "the 7.3L motors are unreliable" due to my cousin saying so seems to be suspect at best.
If you want to get the 'feeling' that certain motors have issues search the following:
* Search HEMI Valve Train Issues (5.7L and 6.4L)
* Search Coyote 5.0L VCT Solenoid / Phasor Issues, Oil Consumption Issues
* Search 3.5L EcoBoost VCT Solenoid / Phasor Issues
* Search General Motors AFM / DFM fuel management
My personal experience with the Ford 5.0L and 3.5L EcoBoost are positive...but reading the "internets" I wouldn't want to touch them.
My point is per "the internet" every engine is in imminent danger of blowing up the next time you drive it.
I stand by my conclusion that so far the 7.3L is on track to being a very reliable and well respected motor.
RV Issues:
Munson1578 - lifter failure
Robindombroski - Reported engine blew up. Most likely lifter failure
Dig4it - lifter failure
springhook - lifter failure
F-250/F-350 Issues:
grumblin - lifter failure (2020 7.3L)
Pamcakes - lifter failure (Year ?. Assume 2020 due to 76,000 miles)
Of all the 7.3L motors on this forum and across the other Ford truck forums I'd say this engine is on track to being a very reliable motor.
A bit early to say for sure (2020+ only).
There are very little rumblings of issues as a whole....definitely more "I love this motor" posts. But as we know most people (especially the types that drive these trucks) are not going to search out an internet forum to sing praises about how much they love their 7.3L.
'Feelings' of "the 7.3L motors are unreliable" due to my cousin saying so seems to be suspect at best.
If you want to get the 'feeling' that certain motors have issues search the following:
* Search HEMI Valve Train Issues (5.7L and 6.4L)
* Search Coyote 5.0L VCT Solenoid / Phasor Issues, Oil Consumption Issues
* Search 3.5L EcoBoost VCT Solenoid / Phasor Issues
* Search General Motors AFM / DFM fuel management
My personal experience with the Ford 5.0L and 3.5L EcoBoost are positive...but reading the "internets" I wouldn't want to touch them.
My point is per "the internet" every engine is in imminent danger of blowing up the next time you drive it.
I stand by my conclusion that so far the 7.3L is on track to being a very reliable and well respected motor.
Cargo Master
Joined: Nov 2020
Posts: 2,073
Likes: 1,027
From: Michigan
Case in point the 2.7 EcoBoost engine that Ford jumped the gun on a new supplier for valves and probably didn't qualify the supplier properly. Now F150 and Bronco owners are paying the price.
Recently Ford has dropped the ball on their internal quality and their suppliers quality.
Recently Ford has dropped the ball on their internal quality and their suppliers quality.
Lead Driver
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 7,952
Likes: 2,658
From: The Great State of Texas
There's no feelings about it. He's been a Ford tech since 1994 and he's repaired more 7.3 gas engines due to lifter failures than all the Ford engines he's worked on to date and it's clear Fords been suffering from Quality problems and no feelings there either.
Lead Driver
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 7,952
Likes: 2,658
From: The Great State of Texas
The Ford 300 is about as reliable as an anvil.
