A Story

[7.3IH_Eggrole]

OK, I recently purchased a 1992 w/ 7.3 IDI, and the owner before me pulled the wool over my eyes, they had stoped the engine full of Block Sealer/Stop Leak, then drained it and sold it to me. But I take responsibility for not seeing it. I ran it 5k miles changed the oil and in 100 more miles it was HydroLocking. We took the glow plugs out and turned the motor over and water came like a rocket out of No.4 Cylinder. We tore the top end down and had the head for the side Hydrolocking MagnaFluxed and Milled .004, put new gaskets on everything too Service manual specs., went 300 mile about one week and it was HydroLocking again. Took all glow plugs out water on No.4 Cylinder. Couldnt work on it that day but a couple days later we took it apart and had water on all even cylinders , 5 and 7. Sent both heads off, MagnaFluxed and Pressure Tested, no cracks however both were warped and needed to be milled .003. I have been around IH diesels 6.9 and 7.3's since I was born and this is the first time we have ever had this trouble, all the rest have been tough. This one is, plenty of power and it sounds great, and a friend of the family worked for the local IH Heavy Truck & Construction for 20 years and says that this engine runs like a champ, even when it is dumping water on a cylinder/cylinders, he has been assisting me from the beginning. We are now pulling the engine to have it sent for cleaning and pressure testing. And if need be bored and sleeved, then rebuilt. Unless purchasing a new engine becomes a cheaper opition.

I have one question... how did water move from No.4 Cylinder to the rest w/o running it for two days? We have a few ideas but are looking for any others.
Eddie

 

[sle2115]

Cavitation, holes in the cylinder walls.

 

[7.3IH_Eggrole]

Yeah, I'm hoping thats what it is, Ill know once the block comes back.

 

[Agnem]

You also know that milling the heads is not recommended, not that that is your real problem at this point. What I can't figure is how the head was milled, driven 300 miles, and then needed to be milled again. Something seems very suspicious to me there.

 

[riphip]

You'll be very fortunate if you didn't bend any of the rods trying to compress all that liquid.
Good luck with it,
Rick

 

[sle2115]

You also know that milling the heads is not recommended, not that that is your real problem at this point. What I can't figure is how the head was milled, driven 300 miles, and then needed to be milled again. Something seems very suspicious to me there.

IF it was overheated one good time, that might be all it took! Have seen pretty substantial damage from a single overheating, especially if someone threw some cold water in it while hot!

 

[Diesel JD]

The milling .003" shouildn't be an issue, its the one that was milled twice that would have me concerned. You might want to check them for minimum acceptable thickness as per AERA specs. The main issue is going to be a cavitation pinhole as the other guys have stated. 7.3s almost never crack blocks, and you've already ruled out cracked heads. Juts be sure to have all the holes sleeved, not just the cavitated one or two. Otherwise, you might be doing this again in a few thousand more miles. It won't be cheap to sleeve, but a full rebuild if you're doing the work or have access to someone who will do it cheap will be in the 1-2K dollar range. A shortblock probably starts at 1500 dollars and up.

 

[7.3IH_Eggrole]

You might want to check them for minimum acceptable thickness as per AERA specs... .

Both Ford and IH say that anything up to .010 is acceptable, my IH man never did anything over .008 before replacing the heads when he worked for IH. That was company policy. I was hoping that my head was cracked, but no such luck, so I am sending it off to check for Cavitations/Cracks or Hydrolysis (sp?). Thanks everyone for the suggestions and support

 

[icanfixall]

If you bent some rods non turbo rods are cheap. Ford or International has them. Sometimes you can find a set on Ebay too. I know how you feel about getting ripped off. I bought a complete 7.3 motor for $77.50 and asked why the guy pulled it. He said it had "high miles on it". Boy-o-boy did it. It also had thrown the rod in cylinder number 5. It broke level with the crank and never came off of it. I found where he did some body and fender work on the oil pan where it made a small 3/8 inch cut. I was able to save everything but the rod so I made out ok for 77.00... My current 7.3 has cavitated again for the second time so I'm building a sleeved 7.3 with a ported set of new offshore heads. Time for some hp and torque.... :Sly

 

[7.3IH_Eggrole]

My current 7.3 has cavitated again for the second time so I'm building a sleeved 7.3 with a ported set of new offshore heads. Time for some hp and torque.... :Sly

yessssssirrrrrr, i hear that, sorry about the other though, i sympothize. I just keep dumping more money into this thing.

 

[Greenhornet1986]

I'm going to try to drive out to Grimesland next week when I'm off work to find that one phone # I gave you that didnt work Ed. Also, I'll buy a CBT tommorow and look around in there some, and give you a call if I find anything.

 

[Doc]

This may not be relevant, but he's my two cents.

Originally, the truck overheated due to cavitation and warped the heads. The temp fix worked until the internal crankcase pressure blew out the stopleak. You fixed the worst of the two heads which built up the internal crankcase pressure again forcing water into all the cavitated cylinders and passed the head gasket on the other warped head.

Oh, IMO the yahoos that sold you the truck should be drawn and quartered then hung up by their remaining parts as an example to others. I hate crooks.

 

[7.3IH_Eggrole]

Oh, IMO the yahoos that sold you the truck should be drawn and quartered then hung up by their remaining parts as an example to others. I hate crooks.

Thanks DOC, I agree there is no telling what happened, its been a dern nightmare.




Hey Chad- I appreciate it man, anything is good, I think I have located an engine for $2300 the special price, gonna go hear it run sometime next week i guess, and the special price complete Jasper is 4527 w/ 200K War. on Parts & Labor. Later Bud, thanks again

 

[7.3IH_Eggrole]

I just wanted everyone to know that I ended up putting in a remanufactured engine from Jasper. Cost was $6966.30, but core charge and skid was $1500, so $5466.30 in the end. Thanks for all of the support.

 

[Diesel JD]

Glad you got it fixed. Cavitation is not cheap and in a lot of cases the reman is a good solution.