Especially to all "new" owners of 7.3 PSD that you bought used (like I did 2 years ago). Seemingly a tight engine, had a reputable shop (I thought) check it out and the manager, an ex-Ford service manager, told me it was the tightest 7.3 engine he had seen. I put 40K on the truck pulling my 5th wheel RV, hauling my Kubota tractor around to different job sites and every day driving with NO OFFROADING at all. My problems were innocous at first, hard start / no start when temps were below 20 degrees. Mechanic said I had bad fuel so I changed to the high volume station 5 miles away and left it plugged in when temps were below 35 degrees which helped. The oil consumption seemed to be abnormal to me but being a "new" owner I was told that "Diesels are supposed to use oil" and the owners manual stated that some oil use was normal (didn't say how much). The hard start problem got worse last spring when the temps got below 40 degrees. Then the blue smoke started, just a little at first but then to the point where it began running rough and I would have to keep the RPM's at 2K or above to keep the whole truck from shaking. Three Ford dealers later after replacing injector "o" rings, turbo, two injectors, glow plug relay, fuel injector harness, fuel pump module, and other parts that I don't remember ($2K out of pocket on top of warranty work) I am now told that my engine was "dusted". It was a shock to see it laying in pieces on the dealers shop floor but even more of a shock when the mechanic showed me the puddles of sand (looked like congealed oil about the size of a quarter) in the intake tubes on the wrong side of the air filter. Now, at 78K miles I am paying to have a new engine put in and that really stings. I understand that the previous abuse was not Fords fault although I would have expected them to catch some of this stuff when they had if for 3 weeks over a year ago trying to remedy the cold start. I didn't know what a dusted engine was a month ago and now I own one, #7 was chewed up badly and #3 had a few small scratches on it. If you have any symptoms like I had I would advise pulling the intakes and really giving them a good look, it may save you some grief later on. Most importantly find a good mechanic who has experience with this particular engine, from my experience I can tell you that there are not many who know what they are doing.

Best of luck,
Steve

 

My condolances Steve. Ford has the crappiest air intake filter housing I have ever seen on any vehicle. Now that you know about the problem there are ways of avoiding this preventable desease. The Tymer intake system is one of many very popular (and excellent) ways of keeping your intake system white glove clean. I rigged up a Napa 6637 air filter on my truck. Absolutely no dust ever gets through.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=277571

 

Sorry to hear abou your truck. When inspecting the intake for damage, what would a person look for as signs that there is a problem?

 

If your truck is still under warranty, then why have you paid $2K out of pocket plus paying for a new engine?

I'm just trying to understand what's going on here. You said the engine was fine when you bought it, right? Over a period of 40K miles, you were running into problems and Ford couldn't fix or identify the problems for you, plus they charged you for some repairs. Did any of those repairs actually fix the problem you had at the time? What was your maintenance like? Do you have reciepts of oil changes, filter changes, etc.? Did Ford blame you for bad maintenance?

I'm asking you all of this because if your truck is still under warranty, or even if it's just out of warranty, you have all these previous repairs that obviously didn't work. You have wasted an enormous amount of your time and money, and on top of that, Ford is going to make you pay for a new engine. This just doesn't sound right. If I were you, I would be kicking and screaming by now.

 

Iwas told Ford warrantys the engine for 5 years /100,000 regardless of extended warranty or used status and this carries over to any used vehicle purchase.
Is this information correct ???

 

Yeah that's true. 5yr/100,000mi. Comes in handy when you lose an injector and IDM at 97,000!

 

The 2K out of pocket was at the first dealership last year when I first noticed a problem. They said none of it was covered under the warranty, I trusted them... woops! The remainder of work done under warranty was done by different Ford garages because the problem didn't go away and I didn't believe that their mechanics knew what they were doing, turns out I was right about that. Ford won't warranty this because the condition was a pre-existing one when I purchased the truck (not from a Ford dealer). Buyer beware....

 

Hey Steven,
Very sorry to hear about your problems. But I want to thank you for the post. I've been pretty maticulas about my maintenance, but have not been terribly concerned about this particular subject. Running gas burners all my life, I've seen people run without air breathers at all, not me mind you, but still the same I wouldn't have thought about trashing my motor from having a leak in the intake. As a result of your post I will be doing a thurough inspection of my intake system.

WW

 

you need to aurgue with the load and clear like in having a lawyer right them a letter expecially since ford doesn't actually warrenty that engine international does they are ripping both you, and international off because they will charge you for it, then right up a seperate work order, and turn it into IH and get paid from them too. I would also call your state attorney general, and the BBB because this sounds like, and probably is fraud on a grand scale, and whatever you do DONOT pay them a dime, plus you can probably take the first dealer to court and get the money you paid them back as denying a warrenty claim do to "preexisting" condition is illegal unless they can PROVE that something was done to the truck that voids the warrenty

 

Steve ...I am confused ...still a novice here...if they did warranty work before what has changed since ? And now why are they backing off this paticular episode?
I am following this thread
THX
Cphill

 

Heard storys {on this site only} about the Air Filter Box of the 7.3 being a poor design!! So I did a White towel test on mobey (191,500) miles!! I had to scrub the intire thing just to see any "dust" very small amout of oil!! Use a K&N and Put it in right and you will not have any problem!!

 

I've been running an amsoil filter since about 7K. 60K now. Seems to fit good, but I've never scrutinized it closely. I will now.

 

So I understand that if you buy the truck from a dealer other then a Ford dealer the warranty is no good. But from a Ford dealer its alright. Sounds strange to me. I did buy my used truck from a Ford dealer an bought an extended warranty. So hopefully if I have problems I should be covered. I sure hope I am. Can you elaborate here?

 

First thing get a Motorcraft AIS . You got a warranty on the new engine no doubt. Stick with Ford replacement parts. It is an awesome filter, tymar is great but the ais is just as good and cold air.

The AIS is Ford's correction to a bad design. Thank God where not on the Pinto forum.

 

While on the subject of air filters, how is the indicator on the filter box supposed to be read? (96 E350) Does it set some sort of indication that it is time to change the filters? (the van uses two filters side-by-side) I have never seen the indicator move, but then again, I can only see it at idle with the hood open, and obviously, a lot more air is needed at higher RPMs and under load. But there isn't anyway to check the indicator under these conditions that I know of. Or is the indicator virtually useless?