DAMN!!! We have had a pretty nasty cold snap the last few days, -40 celcius in the wind. Well, it seems my high mileage 7.3 didn't like the cold weather today.

After a 10 minute idle to warm up, I went out to my truck and heard a pop, pop, pop, or more like a very pronounced poof, poof, poof coming from the air filter.

Was also idling rough. Sounds to me like I either burnt or dropped a valve.

I guess close to 300,000 km (about 186,000 mi) isn't bad. I got the truck with almost 250,000 km on it and am convinced the guy before me drove it like he stole it.

Regardless, not feeling to good about this at the moment.

 

Sounds to me that a lifter was simply overpumping due to the extreme cold (and thick) oil. More commonly known as wet stacking.
Go drive it if possible and let it warm up quicker, that might be all the fix you need.

 

Hmmm, a better fix might be to change to synthetic oil. Like Mobil 1 Delvac 5-40 or something equivelent.

 

Yup, that's what I use and the temp gauge was warm, going to give another shot to see if it repeats, but so far, my worry level is high.

 

Ok, I see why you are worried. Keep us posted.

 

FINALLY found a shop I can use that I can fit my truck into. I tell ya, when you have a lifted rig and it's ccccoooooold outsite, working on it in the driveway isn't an option. Anyway, I am getting the truck to the shop to strart teardown this weekend. So far I have all the parts to replace the heads.

One question though, and this may be a dumb one, do the 7.3's use exhaust manifold gaskets? I went to Ford and they didn't have a listing AT ALL for the 7.3's 99 and up. I found that odd.

Also, who else has done a head replacement on thier rig? Just curious what some of your stumbling blocks may have been. Haven't looked yet, but has anyone documented this and posted it in a tech section anywhere?

Cheers!
KALSC

 

There are no gaskets on between the manifold and the head.

 

It's a pretty tough job if you don't remove the cab. Cab removal is a LOT easier than it looks.

 

I have the engine out of the 1995 PSD, and i am going to reassemble it with manifold gaskets. Get new bolts from Ford as well. The gaskets can be found at Napa, part MS-16314

 

Well, it's been months and after some code pulling and other farting around, I am pulling the engine and dropping in a low mileage 2001 7.3

It'll be a good time to swap out the torque converter for a kickass one. Anbody have any feedback on the 5-clutch units?

Cheers!
:-)