New problem ! Head gasket ? *** !

[homelessduck]

I went to start the truck today to troubleshoot the trans issue .. It started to crank over then hit a wall , as if it was hydrolocked . It wouldn't budge . I tried to turn it by hand , felt where it was stuck .. held pressure on that spot and it made a sound like it finally relieved pressure in the cylinder and it turned some more .. Hit another wall , same thing . No oil in coolant / coolant in oil . When I spin it clockwise it pressurizes the radiator , is this normal ? If I crank ut by hand, build pressure in rad , and leave it, it holds pressure .

*** ?

 

[typ4]

You have a headgasket or head issue, or cavitation if its a 7.3

 

[homelessduck]

It's a 7.3 . Thanks for the good news , haha .

What to do , what to do ...

 

[hesutton]

Pull the glow plugs or the injectors out and see which cylinders are wet. Then, it's pull the engine time. Going through that same process right now. It never hydrolocked or even came close, but it was pressurizing the cooling system. Headgasket failure with studs! The block was warpped and studs or not, my gasket was going to fail.

Best of luck to you, and let us know what you find.

Heath

 

[hesutton]

Another thought........ has the truck been outside....... like during some rainy weather recently? If so, maybe it's "just" water that got into the intake and not a bad gasket/head/cavitation.

I hope that's all it is.

Heath

 

[homelessduck]

Nope , wasn't left in the rain . I ran it a few times without coolant to check for leaks , added coolant and brought it up to operating temp .. Upper hose was HARD (pressurized ) , turned truck off to check on tach .. Assuming the engine temp rose just enough to pop the t-stat because I slightly squeezed the upper hose and it started pouring coolant into the engine , like the stat had just opened .. Didn't restart it until the next morning which is when I found it hydrolocked .

Engine was bought from a guy that said it blew the head gasket near #2 cylinder and started leaking outside of the engine . I pulled the heads, NO signs of coolant leak IN the engine so I reassembled . Just pulled #2 plug and it was soaked . Now I'm not sure if I want to replace that head .. then find out it has block worm or warped deck . Grr ...

 

[homelessduck]

Soo... I tried to fire it again , figured I might as well . It fired up this time . It still smokes but its not timed and the IP was turned up when I got it , hard to tell if its from that or burning coolant . I'm confused .. If it had enough coolant in the cylinder to lock it up , where did it go ?


Would a basic pressure test of the cooling system narrow things down for me ? I've honestly never had to deal with this before . I would be renting the kind that replaces the rad cap . The one thing I don't like about them is that you might have a hose leak , etc and won't get an accurate result .

 

[Kevin 007]

That should narrow things down indeed. may be hard to distinguish between gasket, head or cavitation. But it should tell you something. Not sure how much pressure to put on it...13lbs i think. but im sure someone else will know.

Good luck!!

 

[homelessduck]

The coolant made its way into the oil . I pulled the dip stick and it is now covered in thick milk . So , if I replaced the head .. can I flush the engine and pan or do I have to pull the pan back off to get it clean ? I would rather flush it , oil and filter change and drive it for a hundred miles or so then do another oil change, if that is acceptable . The pan actually sealed well and I really don't want to go through that again

 

[gunz]

You have a headgasket or head issue, or cavitation if its a 7.3

The 6.9 doesnt have cavitation issues?

 

[nightal]

Sorry to here of your bad luck, how many miles are on the engine? I just gave my grandson my 88 f250 7.3, 11400 miles on it.I bought this truck new, it was my go to the lake truck, duck hunting, fishing, I did pull one of my heaver boats a few times but not far, it is a 5 speed. it has never seen the yellow line on the tach. it just started up, after sitting for 5 years, had treatment in the fuel, replaced 3 glow plugs, put in the manual GP button. this cavitation issue is something I didn't know about until I started to read the diesel forums. I just changed the antifreeze every 4-5 yrs. used either green prestone on zerex, now I am concerned that it may be a problem. what is the advice from you guys? is there a way to check to see if there is a problem? he has not changed or added an to it. it does not run hot, it never did, the gauge is running at the same place it always had,no leaks in any lines, the are all original, the fuel gauge is stuck at above full, i filled it up before parking it. the back tank and gauge is working fine, the tach is jumping around he says, he has been running diesel kleen it the tanks, he is going to change the fuel filter next week he says. its got a little rust over the rear fenders, bottom of the tail gate, inside is almost new, some wear on the drives seat, not bad I kept the covered with a furniture pad most of the time. he want to sink some money into it, he is 21 and back from the 82nd airborne,he was in Iraq for a yr. now he is home, going to collage.

 

[johneich]

The 6.9 doesnt have cavitation issues?

Thats right, 6.9 does not have cavitation issues, cavitation came about when the 6.9 was bored out to 7.3 it made the cylinder walls thinner and subject to cavitation.

 

[homelessduck]

Sorry to here of your bad luck, how many miles are on the engine? I just gave my grandson my 88 f250 7.3, 11400 miles on it.I bought this truck new, it was my go to the lake truck, duck hunting, fishing, I did pull one of my heaver boats a few times but not far, it is a 5 speed. it has never seen the yellow line on the tach. it just started up, after sitting for 5 years, had treatment in the fuel, replaced 3 glow plugs, put in the manual GP button. this cavitation issue is something I didn't know about until I started to read the diesel forums. I just changed the antifreeze every 4-5 yrs. used either green prestone on zerex, now I am concerned that it may be a problem. what is the advice from you guys? is there a way to check to see if there is a problem? he has not changed or added an to it. it does not run hot, it never did, the gauge is running at the same place it always had,no leaks in any lines, the are all original, the fuel gauge is stuck at above full, i filled it up before parking it. the back tank and gauge is working fine, the tach is jumping around he says, he has been running diesel kleen it the tanks, he is going to change the fuel filter next week he says. its got a little rust over the rear fenders, bottom of the tail gate, inside is almost new, some wear on the drives seat, not bad I kept the covered with a furniture pad most of the time. he want to sink some money into it, he is 21 and back from the 82nd airborne,he was in Iraq for a yr. now he is home, going to collage.

I doubt you have anything to worry about with that low of mileage . However, you should definitely start checking the SCA and add the additive accordingly .

Do you guys think I can get the gunk out of the pan and engine with a flush? I was thinking about draining it, pouring a gallon in it and wait until it is completely in the pan, then drain it, new filter and fresh oil.. After about 100 miles to another oil change. Does this sound ok, or should I pull the pan, oil cooler,etc. to flush them out?

I'm currently looking for either a complete 6.9,complete 7.3, or just a head for the 7.3.. Also browsing craigs for whole trucks so that I can actually here it run before buying it. At this point I would rather toss another head on it. They don't interchange ( Left and right ) do they? I believe my issues are on the driver side, luckily. I might actually be able to change it without yanking the engine AGAIN. The reason I am asking whether or not they interchange is because I might actually have a good passenger side head.

Thanks guys.

 

[bike-maker]

What I've seen done before; drain the oil, then pour a couple gallons of diesel through the engine, refill with oil, and run it.

 

[hesutton]

My big concern is your rod and main bearings. If they are wet, they may be damaged and need replacement. It would really suck to get the motor running again, just to have a bearing failure a few hundred miles later.

Heath