I had a major oil leak on my 7.3L that I figured out this weekend and thought I'd pass along some info. I was losing 2-3 quarts on a 3 hour trip. It was coming off the back of the engine on the drivers side and getting all over everything...truck, camper, driveway. It was becoming a mess and I couldn't easily pinpoint where it was coming from.

I assumed it was from when I swapped out to a BB turbo a little while back and figured the pedestal O-rings were leaking. I took the turbo and pedestal off and didn't see any signs of leakage. I noticed there were signs of minor leakage coming from where my high pressure crossover hose connected to the rail.

I didn't see any oil puddling in the intake area and it didn't look like there could have been enough oil coming from that plug to cause the mess I was getting. I took out the fitting and a good sized stream of oil came out of the hole.

There was just enough of a lip under the hole to divert the entire stream straight to the back of the engine and down the head. I guess when the engine was at high rpm, there was a lot of pressue in the rail that was blowing oil past the tattered O-ring. But the stream was geting caught by the lip underneath and routed off of the engine and not puddling anywhere.

So if you're having a leak and have installed one of these high pressure hoses, check your fittings. I am quite sure I caused my situation by overtightening the connections, but that's just how I am.


I left my hose off and put the factory plug back in. One less thing to worry about going down the road.

 

I checked mine the other day and found it to be loose. I would suggest everyone to check these. Seems after they heat cycle the o-rings shrink and they become loose.

 

Was your crossover a hose? or the newer stainless steel crossover line?

 

Mine was a hose, but it wouldn't have mattered if it was the steel line. I overtightened the fitting and split the o-ring. The hose itself was still in good shape.

Hmmm. Maybe tighter isn't always better.