7.3 head gasket

[bird hunter]

The past few weeks I've been having some strange *******/wheezing sound that lasts for just a second or so randomly during warmup, but not every time. Also at the same time I've noticed just a few drops of coolant where the block/head meet on the driver side, but not every time. Other than these 2 things the engine runs fine, no oil in coolant, coolant in oil, sweet/white exhaust, and factory gauges read normal (and I know they suck).

I guess I'd just like to know how common 7.3 head gasket issues are and what are the usual symptoms? I think I read the 6.9 is more prone to head gasket issues. Just don't know if I should worry about that sound and drops of coolant?

Thanks for any help,
BH

 

[JPdrvinmylfawy]

i would pressure test the collant system cold see what happens. That should tell you what you wanna know.

 

[whenry912]

When I bought mine from the PO it was leaking coolant from the head gasket, started slow, then got worse. Didn't show up when I pressure tested the coolant system, but when I pulled the head, it was there. Then I was stupid and only did one side, 500 miles later, the other side blew between cyliders 2 and 4. So yes, my head gaskets went with 190k on the motor...


1991 F250 7.3 4x4 E4OD 194k miles

 

[riotwarrior]

i would pressure test the collant system cold see what happens. That should tell you what you wanna know.

OR What you don't want to know and need to know!