T444 bit the dust in San Luis Obispo, CA - 1996 International Step Van

frankenbike

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New member here, I was told over at diesel stop that you guys know a thing or two about the 7.3s!

Anyone in Central/Coast CA have a 1996 compatible T444e for sale? Or a driveway/yard I could rent for a week for a flat fee?

OR: Nice step van for sale, Runs Great!

I bought a nice step van to move up to work in Washington State. 1996 International 191,000 miles. Grumman Aluminum body & fiberglass roof. 25' long, real clean and nice looking. Had some coolant mixed with the oil when I bought it, consensus was that it may be the oil cooler, so I replaced that & put new o-rings on and oil stayed clean for several weeks/a couple hundred miles, bought new tires when I was confident that it was fixed.

Pulling off 101 here in SLO, engine temp shot up right away, had to drive around about ten minutes like that to find a place to park the thing. Let it cool off: no coolant in the filler area. Drained the oil: all green/gray. Added a couple gallons of water: all came back out the oil pan drain about 10 seconds later. 1st thought was the oil cooler rings, so I took the oil cooler off and had Dyers Dieselro totally clean it out and press new ones on. Reinstalled it, and same problem. Started it with just oil in there, to jockey it around and it ran alright for a couple minutes to move it, before I shut it off. I might be able to nurse it somewhere with some stop leak or something, but I bet it'd for sure kill the engine completely.

Had it towed over to Dyers, and thats where it is right now. Consensus seems to be that its probably cavitation, so I'm thinking its not worth it to repair, probably cheaper/faster to just drop in a whole new motor. They'll hold onto it for a couple more days but I've got to do something with it pretty soon. Any thoughts on this shop?

I could use some advice or thoughts on how to proceed, should I just dump a bunch of stop leak in there and go for it? I have connections up in WA, and don't start work for a few weeks, so if I had a place to work, I would buy a motor and some tools and try and get it done myself, but I just can't seem to find any T444e's for sale on the west coast anywhere, they're all out in NY or Pennsylvania.
 
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frankenbike

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Injector cups might be easy enough to do. Front cover looks like the motor gets pulled anyways. Is there any way to tell? Just seems like theres got to be a pretty big hole some where to move that much water so quickly. Especially when the engines off. Thanks for the reply.
 

frankenbike

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I mean it's a petty big van, there's some room to work with any ways. Imagine it'll still be a pain! Would those powerstrokes be able to mate right up to the International controllers and everything or would I have to rig it all somehow, and move a harness over? I can bolt it all together pretty easy if the connectors "just" plug in.
 

IDIoit

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all of the PSD's 444's are the same.
everything bolts up
use everything from your engine.

injector cups will be a pita in a van.
even with the special tool.

if the coolant enters the oil pan without it fireing, i would suspect cavitation or a bad head gasket.
 

79jasper

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Basically pull injectors and watch down the holes while pressurizing the cooling system to know if it's cup related.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk
 

frankenbike

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Alright, good to know. If I can't find a buyer for it, I'll be trying to find somewhere to start pulling things apart, but I just can't imagine that much water going through even a really bad head gasket so fast.
 

frankenbike

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Never had any kind of smoke in the exhaust, even on cold starting, which is why I thought the oil cooler in the first place. Even when it dumped everything, I didn't see any smoke.
 

OLDBULL8

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I see you got over to the OB forum. (Bill E). That's what I was wondering if it was computer controlled like a Ford PSD. The Navistar T444 are marked as a T444E for electronic computer control. You might want to switch over from the 7.3 on the TDS to the 94 97 PSD forum or the Van forum for more help. towcat on here is in Santa Clara, up close to San Fran, he may be of help.

EDITNow that I know it's a T444E, on the TDS in General Diesel forum IIRC , there was some talk about the T444E.
 
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frankenbike

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Yeah thanks for the heads up over here, it looks like the one I found from 92 wouldn't be able to just switch over. I'm doing some more research in the archive, I've got a couple days to figure it out.
 

no mufflers

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Yeah thanks for the heads up over here, it looks like the one I found from 92 wouldn't be able to just switch over. I'm doing some more research in the archive, I've got a couple days to figure it out.

a 1992 7.3 would be a IDI, the earliest you can go is 1994 and that would be a PSD
 

asmith

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Hey I live about 15 minutes north of you. I grew up in San Luis, and drive through every day. Where are staying? I don't really have anything to add or help. I dont know much about Powestrokes and I don't have anywhere for you to work Sorry. I do know you took it to the best diesel shop around. they are on the expensive side, but are highly regarded.

if you need anything or have any other questions let me know.
 

frankenbike

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Expensive they are! Don't doubt they're worth it, but, wow. I put it on craigslist and the vultures started in pretty hard, so now I'm trying to find a storage lot to park for six months until I can come back with a helper and tools to swap the motor for something used.

Appreciate the advice from the rest of you guys as well!
 

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