7.3 IDI Turbo Knock -> Engine Pull and Rebuild

MICHAEL MICHAUD

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Well it ran fine in my driveway atall rpm. Took it out for a spin. Smoked alot from under the hood. I figured it was just brake fluid from bleeding the clutch. Pretty sure my oil pan is leaking or power steering fluid was too full and it just went everywhere. It seems too thin to be oil.... which makes me worry that my coolant and oul are mixing and my oil is just too new to be able to tell. I have no idea but i cant even bear to look at i tonignt

I cant catch a single break with this truck.

Power sterring works fine but even though i replaced the gear box and tie rod end there is still a ton of dead play in the wheel and my turning radius is purely garbage. Not sure if its the truck or me being s baby but this truck doesnt turn for crap!

Brakes also garbage. No wonder i got a decent eal on this truck. Now im over 8k in and still have a POS. I just need to get this thing back home to ma with all my **** and Iill be golden for a while.

Any tips on how to get a tighter turning radius and increase brake power would be appreciated.
 

79jasper

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Brakes: adjust the rears a lot tighter. You can feel it in the star wheel. Go right, then back off a few. Or just swap hydroboost. (You'll still need to adjust the rears)
Steering: look at the tie rods. What box did you go with?

If the power steering was over filled, those things will always burp the excess fluid.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
 

MICHAEL MICHAUD

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Brakes: adjust the rears a lot tighter. You can feel it in the star wheel. Go right, then back off a few. Or just swap hydroboost. (You'll still need to adjust the rears)
Steering: look at the tie rods. What box did you go with?

If the power steering was over filled, those things will always burp the excess fluid.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk


I bought a moog tie rod end that goes to the box. I bought an AC Delco box.you can see when the wheel is turned all the way that the travel is not very far. It only turns a few measly degrees. Lots of dead space. If i want to take a right I have to prepare about a half mile ahead of time haha.

I think maybe I should just replace the center link and the tie rod.... FML. Ill adjust these brakes today and report back.
 
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MICHAEL MICHAUD

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Found out my leak was the lower rad hose but i adjusted the clamp and hit it with a socket wrench and she stopped.

My oil pressure sensor works great above idle but at idle it bounces all over the place. No more leaks. Turck runs great. Busted a little drift in some dirt during a turn around. Im happy

Now i have to

Finish installing EGT
Adjust brakes
Change oil.
Hook up trailer and beat it up
Diagnose and order new steering components
Install my bluetooth radio
Seal the Shifter boot to the floor, the truck is like a sauna with the windows open.
Drain and replace trans and t case fluids. Shell be ready for the trip home

Not sure if this list will ever end.
 

saburai

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Keep up the good work! I don't know about other folks experience but the difference between a two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive of this vintage is that the turning radius on the four-wheel drive is like a super tanker...
 

MICHAEL MICHAUD

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Keep up the good work! I don't know about other folks experience but the difference between a two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive of this vintage is that the turning radius on the four-wheel drive is like a super tanker...

Thanks for the reply saburai, Now im wondering if its just normal because mine is 4wd. What about the dead **** though is thst normal?
 

MICHAEL MICHAUD

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My oil pressure gauge bounces around at idle (sometimes it doesnt but mostly when I look it does) but even a tiny increase in RPM causes it to stabilize normally. So im wondering if my oil pressure gauge is doing this because I used a fram filter rather than a motorcraft. Also i have noticed a tiny oil leak its probably coming from the oil pan on the drivers side near the front curved part of the pan but I havent exactly pinpointed it yet. Probably will have to pull the fan and the harmonic balancer..... HECK!! Is the filter causing the low pressure at idle. Is it the Leak? Can I clean the area real good and reseal it with some ultra grey? I swear this truck will not just go back together without a fight. I cant even imagine having to pull this pan. I just want to make sure everything will stay lubricated at idle.

Took her out for a drive today with the trailer behind me and got it nice and hot and ran her through about 6 or 7 0-60 pulls. No performance issues. Just these little issues and leaks and are killing me.

Tomorrow I am going to time the IP and finish the EGT gauge. Maybe getting the timing perfect will fix the pressure?

Oh also, two days ago my fan clutch started slapping my fan shroud and it eventually came to a stop with the engine running this all happened in a matter of 10 seconds. after starting. This made me very sad. Since then I adjusted the fan shroud and the fan is working normally and even today when i was pushing the motor hard I didnt have any cooling issues. Should I replace the clutch or just leave it?
 
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IDIBRONCO

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Is it the Leak?
One of my favorite sayings is "remember that these engines have 8 internal oil leaks (piston cooling jets)." If these won't cause low oil pressure at idle, than neither will a small external oil leak. By oil pressure gauge I assume that you mean the factory one. These aren't much better than an idiot light. It could be something as simple as pulling the wire off and putting it back on. Maybe you need another sending unit or even the gauge itself could be bad. In short, no, the small oil leak probably isn't causing the gauge to flutter at an idle. I'd recommend a good quality aftermarket gauge to see what your oil pressure (and other engine vitals) is really doing.
 

snicklas

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Best thing I can suggest, get a real oil pressure gauge on there an see what the actual oil pressure is. You could have low oil pressure causing the gauge to fluctuate, or it could be, and more than likely, is electrical. That gauge is supposed to move to the middle of the gauge range at ~7 psi. If it is below that it could move. But the gauge in my 88 is just barely into the normal range...... but is an electrical issue, not oil pressure.

I had a 2000 P71 Crown Vic. At idle, especially if there was additional electrical load (like the lights on, or the A/C, sitting in gear, at a stop, the oil pressure gauge would bang of both ends of the gauge. It would move so fast you couldn't see the needle move. It would actually make a noise at both ends of the range. Just touch the pedal, or bump it into neutral, and it would go right back to the middle of the gauge. I put an additional ground from the block to the battery. All my electrical started to work better, the lights were brighter, and the oil pressure gauge behaved.

Check your pressure, if the "real" gauge stays solid and the factory one flops around, then you know where the issue is. The other thing to think about, use your ears, if it sounds ok, it more than likely is. The lifters not chattering, then they have oil pressure. For as long as my P71 did that, it should have blown up long before I traded it in....
 

MICHAEL MICHAUD

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thanks for the replies guys. yeah my gauge bounces from max to zero and sometimes it just functions normally at idle. Ill have to verify with an actual pressure gauge rather than a good or bad one.

Good news is my rear tank and front tank work. My front tank can be full and still read zero though, typical truck...

Anyone ever sealed a leak by just putting sealant over the affected area rather than a full remove and reseal. I think I could do it by cleaning the area real good and removing all oil and while the engine is off and all the oil is in the sump just seal it up.

Any input on the fan clutch?
 

YJMike92

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Anyone ever sealed a leak by just putting sealant over the affected area rather than a full remove and reseal. I think I could do it by cleaning the area real good and removing all oil and while the engine is off and all the oil is in the sump just seal it up.
I don't think that will work.
As far as the fan clutch, I'm not sure I understand what's going on. Is there any play in the fan blade up, down or sideways?
 

MICHAEL MICHAUD

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I don't think that will work.
As far as the fan clutch, I'm not sure I understand what's going on. Is there any play in the fan blade up, down or sideways?

I dont know why but when i started the engine even though when i spun the fan by hand it hit the shroud on intial start up after shroud installation. It scraped a few times and started slowing down while i got out of the truck to see what was happening until the fan stopped moving I quickly shut the truck off and adjusted the shroud.
 
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