When is it time to retire an engine?

I have an 84 E350 that came with an 460. In 2005 I acquired an 89 for it's 7.3. It was a private sale, I have no history on it. It was a work truck and I believe the engine was original. I have put over 150K miles on that engine.

It has been leaking same oil. Not enough to notice usage but enough that I park over a pan. I was cleaning it while it was running, and got bubbles on the passenger side rear where the intake meets the head, and on the drivers side at the rear inside corner of the head gasket.

The van was to be plan C for the Hot Rod Power Tour. Plan A was to be a 55 Ford wagon that I am building - that was also plan A for 2016. Maybe next year. Plan B was to be the 65 Mustang convertible that did 2014, 15 & 16. But that has a 35 year old 351W that rattles when I bump the throttle from idle.

So is plan C also dead? Should I not drive it farther than AAA is willing to flat bed it home?

Um... I'm not sure what you mean with regards to bubbles...

If needed, a head gasket replacement would do it. On a van, though, that seems a bit harder than on a truck...

As far as oil leaks go, well, that's typical - Ford spec rust-preventative right there!
I'd only worry about the oil if your usage gets into the quart-per-100 miles range. A few drips, well, it'll be fine.

Macrobb said:

Um... I'm not sure what you mean with regards to bubbles...

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If I spray cleaner on the gasket edge it blows bubbles. Gases are escaping.

Have you tried just tightening everything up, making sure nothing is loose?

Macrobb said:

Have you tried just tightening everything up, making sure nothing is loose?

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Does that ever work with a head?

raydav said:

Does that ever work with a head?

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its worth a shot.

I have a old hotrodder buddy that likes to swing by from time to time.

used to be a old ford tech back in the early 90's
he tells me that hes seen these trucks come in to the shop with some really nasty coolant.
but they kept running and running.

id love to hit that power tour soon as I get my 42 Poncho done.

IDIoit said:

its worth a shot.

I have a old hotrodder buddy that likes to swing by from time to time.

used to be a old ford tech back in the early 90's
he tells me that hes seen these trucks come in to the shop with some really nasty coolant.
but they kept running and running.

id love to hit that power tour soon as I get my 42 Poncho done.

Click to expand...

I need to top off the water overflow bottle every few weeks, but I don't see any oil in the radiator. But there were the two injectors that looked like a half inch of the tip had been dipped in oil.

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=YUhqcHFEXzBkZkx1Z0tOMDhTLU9laHRsbGlJZkdB

Power Tour: The last two years about 2000 of us did the 1200 miles and another 8000 did part or just showed up at the daily venues. KC, MO to KY this year.

Your description, "got bubbles on the passenger side rear where the intake meets the head..." reads as if the intake manifold is making bubbles. Did you mean the HG on that side? Head bolts can be re-torqued from time to time, it is a requirement on some engines. It certainly will not make anything worse. The early 6.9 engines had a bad history of HG failure, changing them should solve your issues.

give it a 1 pint jar of Bar's leaks and call it good. you have an intake manifold leak not a head gasket leak. I've driven towtrucks for years with adding a 1pint jar a year and they done just fine. for those who freak out over the idea, these damn trucks run a 8 gallon coolling system. A 1 pint jar won't bring the damn cooling system to it's knees. I've driven a truck running on 7 cylinders from TX to CA in two days and crammed a quart jar of bar's leaks and it still got me home. I had a plane to catch and if I missed it, the penalties was going to be severe. yes, I lost a motor in the run, but it proves, even with major abuse thrown at it, these motors will get the job done.

Id say when it starts to drop cylinders, knock, or use more oil then you want to put in it... Then it'd be time to call it. If it just needs head gaskets.. replace head gaskets and keep on moving. How much pressure comes out of the oil fill while the engine is running (blow by)?

head gaskets are interesting in chassis but it can be done without lifting the body up. I can't remember which headbolts and pushrods need to he held partway out anymore but we did them under warranty for oil leaks back in the early 90s . saw a lot of 7.3 idi cubevans , grew some pretty strong forearms and some nasty lumbar pains. I wish I could remember all the shortcuts. too many concussions and % by volume beverages to pull that from the grey matter.

I have no complaint with performance. It weighs 9K# and does what I need it to do. It does not use enough oil to concern me. However:

Both head gaskets have small leaks. The valley cover seems to have given up trying to keep oil inside the engine. Rather it dumps it so that the rear air turbulence sprays it over the rear of the van including a cargo box on the roof.

When I first installed the 7.3, it was able to produce so much black soot that I once could not see the big rig behind me. Adding the turbo eliminated most of the soot.

But then there is the blow by. Right now the crankcase vent is 3/4" ID that after the CDR and a Mann oil separator dumps under the center of the van. There is enough grey smoke coming out of that tube to be considered antisocial.

The engine is so tight I doubt I could even get the valve covers off. The body is so tied down with plumbing and electrical that it would be easier to pull the engine than raise the body.

I have decided that this fall it gets a new engine. And if I can't get a new block this one is getting eight sleeves.

Any build suggestions?

wow 9000lbs, you have a lot of goodies stuffed in there . I sure like the dually fenders.

I found a different headgasket was avaialble from Ford for the 7.3idi turbo motor, when I did head gaskets on dad's 1990 F350 withthe aftermarket ATS turbo I used those head gaskets. it might cost you another $200 on top of the standard 7.3 gasket set but it will probably save soem work down the road. since you are going to pull it out anyhow .............................

Sadly there are no "new heads or blocks" for these idi engines. A few years back an offshore manufacture was casting new heads. I purchased 4 sets of them. Used all but one set so far. They were much better heads than the oem heads because they had thicker deck surfaces.. They were much heavier to lift too. A new block sure would be great to find.

Seems like y'all have answered it all. I did enjoy the read. Especially the one about the leak being ford rust preventative. Haha.
As far as the head goes, pull if needed, get it surfaced and put back on. Get you a few thousand more miles to go.
I had an 89 4x4 7.3 5 speed crew cab. Sold it like an idiot!! Best truck ever. Got this new one now and trying to get it up to par. Love listening to you guys and the stories y'all have tho.