Trailered home a 1989 F350 dump truck that looks great on the outside, but the 7.3 IDI is something else

[crazydane]

I have been looking for a dump truck to use around my property mostly to haul around dirt, and the occasional run to the quarry for gravel. I came across a listing for a 1989 F350 dump truck with a "blown head gasket". Took my trailer and drove the 2 hours to check it out. Dump bed was in excellent shape, and the bed was actually raised about 50% and had been holding for over a week since he listed the truck. Frame was virtually rust free and the cab was in excellent shape as well.

Seller said he had a mechanic look at it back in October and purged water out of cylinders 5 and 7 and was able to start it and run it for a couple of minutes and then shut it down. Anyway, I offered $2k and he accepted, so I hauled it back home.

Here she is back home still on the trailer:

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Rolled her off the trailer and gave her a good power wash and pushed her into the shop. She looks a look better now:

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It has a ZF5 transmission and a 4:11 rear.

Engine looks rough:

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Drained coolant and it looked like this:

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Looks yellow, but when I poured it out, it had the usual green tint to it.

I then drained the oil, the first couple of quarts appeared to be coolant/water. In total, I got about 9 gallons of oil/water mix out of the oil pan. Not a misprint! It was pretty much all the way to the top of the dipstick!

 

[crazydane]

First 5 gallons of oil/water drained:

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Another 1.5 gallons:

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Still draining into a 3rd pan:

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I'm going to pull the engine and assess its condition, but I'm thinking just putting in new head gaskets isn't going to do the trick.

I'll know more once I get the engine out and pulled the heads. I'm thinking I won't like what I'll find.

What do you guys think? Is this engine salvageable, given the 9 gallons of oil/water mix that was run for a couple of minutes back in October and then sat until now?

 

[Nero]

The air filter grommet is known for letting water pool into the intake, caused by a faulty cowl to hood seal. There's a chance the engine is fine. Put fresh fluids in er and see what she does?

I'd try to run it to get any rust off out of the holes, then do a leak down/compression test to check the engine health.
Unless you just want to overhaul it.

 

[crazydane]

That would be awesome if that's all it is. I'll get the engine cleaned up once the weather gets a little nicer. Been a deep freeze for the last week or so here in Virginia. Given how oily everything is, I do want to redo all the gaskets/seals and pull the engine, but it would be nice to know that it runs at least halfway decent first.

Odometer reads 62k miles, but I'm pretty sure its 162k or maybe even 262k! Looking at the title, it stated 26k back in December 2014 when he purchased it. Seller used it in his construction business but retired last year.

Is it possible to convert this to 4x4 given the PTO driven hydraulic pump for the dump bed? If not, I'm assuming I can at least put a locker in the 4.11 rear end? I have some steep hills on my property and need to haul up dirt from the lower fields with this truck, at least that's my plan.

Door sticker:

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Interior:

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For a 35 year old work truck, it looks pretty damn good I think.

 

[crazydane]

The air filter grommet is known for letting water pool into the intake, caused by a faulty cowl to hood seal. There's a chance the engine is fine. Put fresh fluids in er and see what she does?

Looks like the hood was replaced at some point. So am I missing a seal of some sort here:

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This is what it looked like when I first got it home:

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Wing nut was very rusty.

Thanks!

 

[rreegg]

Got a cowl seal for an 88 from bronco graveyard that fit well. Folks also have talked about making one from garage door seal and the like.
Seems like a lot of water to leak from the intake imo but agree it’s worth trying for a start

 

[Nero]

You are in fact missing the cowl seal. It screws to the cowl panel itself.

So what's your plan? Gonna try and run it or are you yarding it out?

Edit, saw your post about trying to run it first. Let us know how it goes!




Also, replacement cowl seals exist.

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[IDIBRONCO]

Looks yellow, but when I poured it out, it had the usual green tint to it.

Some different brands of antifreeze Look like that. Prestone is one of them.

I then drained the oil, the first couple of quarts appeared to be coolant/water. In total, I got about 9 gallons of oil/water mix out of the oil pan. Not a misprint! It was pretty much all the way to the top of the dipstick!

Is this engine salvageable, given the 9 gallons of oil/water mix that was run for a couple of minutes back in October and then sat until now?

Yes, most likely the engine is savable. Since you drained the coolant, you already know the answer. Was the coolant level low? How low? For there to be that much coolant in the oil, the cooling system would have to be extremely low on coolant. Either that or someone just kept adding more coolant and didn't think twice about where it was going.

 

[crazydane]

Coolant level was low (didn't cover the top of the fins inside the radiator). I pulled out the settled liquid below the grey mix and was able to suck out about 1200 cc: (weird how coolant is green when cross section is small, but turns yellow when the cross section is larger)

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Btw, the black oil you see above was left in the pan from the last time I used it. Everything I drained out today was either coolant or the grey mix.

So even though there may have been water in the crankcase, there was definitely also coolant. So best case scenario would be blown head gasket(s), right?

And worst case scenario would be pin holes in the cylinder walls due to cavitation damage. That said, I understand that blocks suffering from this would likely be scrapped by now and therefore not likely in this particular engine? Or? And I could use SCA/DCA going forward, correct? I suspect the previous owner didn't do that and just used straight Prestone or similar.

I also read bolts could be stretched on these Ford IDI engines? When I do pull the heads, should I replace the head bolts as a precautionary measure?

So at this point, knowing there is coolant in the oil, no sense putting fresh oil in it and start it up right, just go ahead and pull the engine and pop the heads, right?

Or should I put fresh oil in it, pull all the injectors, and do a leak down/compression test on each cylinder first?

 

[IDIBRONCO]

And worst case scenario would be pin holes in the cylinder walls due to cavitation damage.

That probably isn't very likely. I'm not saying that it can't happen, but it would be EXTREMELY rare for an engine to have pin holes in two cylinders. Since it was two adjacent cylinders, I'd be looking at a head or head gasket.

I understand that blocks suffering from this would likely be scrapped by now and therefore not likely in this particular engine?

Not necessarily. These blocks can be fixed by having a sleeve installed in a cylinder with a pin hole.

When I do pull the heads, should I replace the head bolts as a precautionary measure?

Not a bad idea. It would also be a good time to install head studs if you're thinking about a turbo in the future.

Or should I put fresh oil in it, pull all the injectors, and do a leak down/compression test on each cylinder first?

If you're going to be doing anything other than a compression test or trying to start the engine, then I wouldn't bother with fresh oil at this point. You don't need oil to do a leak down test or to pull the heads. Since bad things can be brought to light when you pull the heads on an unknown engine, I feel that oil may be a waste of money at this point. Not that I'm saying that there's something horribly wrong, but that's the worst case scenario. If you're going to do a compression test, then I would put fresh oil and a new filter in/on the engine to have lubrication when you're rolling the engine over with the starter.
If it was me, I'd be pulling the engine out to make it easier to pull the heads. You can do a leak down test on an engine stand or even with it sitting on the floor.

 

[Reggie f250]

The seals could be bad on the oil cooler. Is there any oil in the radiator?

 

[ihc1470]

Was talking to my machinist the other day about a 7.3 and he told me that cylinders 6 and 8 were the usual ones to develop pin holes if that helps you any in checking out things.

 

[crazydane]

@IDIBRONCO Good deal on it likely not being pin holes due to cavitation damage being that it was cylinders 5 and 7 that had coolant in them according to the seller's mechanic.

@ihc1470 thanks for that tidbit cylinders 6 and 8 being most likely to develop pin holes. That further reduces the chance of that being the issue.

@Reggie f250 I didn't notice any oil in the radiator or the coolant when I drained it.

So all indications seem to be a blown head gasket between #5 and #7 it would seem, which is a relief, but of course I won't know for sure until I pop the heads.

I'll won't bother filling it with fresh oil and just pull the engine. Any recommendations on a decent leak down tester? Is the Harbor Freight one ok and does it have the correct adaptor for this engine? It comes with M10, M12, M14 and M18 adapters.

 

[Rdnck84_03]

You will also need the diesel adapter set that goes with the compression tester. I haven't actually checked out the HF set I have to see if it has the correct adapter for this engine. On these engines I believe you pull the compression test through the glow plug hole.

James

 

[IDIBRONCO]

On these engines I believe you pull the compression test through the glow plug hole.

I haven't done a compression test on one of these, but that's where I did the leak down tests at. I'm pretty sure that's where you do the compression tests as well.