Whats this?

[plowboy444]

Hi all,
I thought I would finally stop lurking and post a question for you all.

So, I just picked up an 89' 7.3 IDI motor off of CL with the hopes of swapping it into my 90' F250, as my current 7.3 is in need of some TLC.
After closer inspection, I noticed these holes that appear to have corroded through the intake manifold by the glow plugs.

So I was wondering what is this from, and how serious is it?

Thanks.

 

[Cincinnati Guy]

Is it an actual hole, or just piled up dirt making it look like a hole. Try cleaning the spot up a bit. If it is a hole I dunno what could of caused it. I could sell you one rather cheap if you went that route.

 

[icanfixall]

That apears to be casting flaws in the web areas... Not going to be an issue at all. Look at the back of the intake manifold. See the 3/8 inch hex in the valley pan... Thats the valley pan drain. any fluid that drips into the pan will drain out that hole. That drain also hold down the pan at the back. Any fluid going thru this hole drips off the passenger side of the bellhousing onto the starter. Its a terrible way to drain anything too. You can try it out just to see how it flows....

 

[mabc926]

Take a small wire brush and clean it up, it's just a drain that leads into the valley pan, if you look really close and clean everything up you'll see that you have one by every glow plug.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Nope, they are factory drains, if anything you may want to clean them up nice so they actually work like they should in case an injector return cap decides to let go and flood the respective glowplug valley with raw fuel.

 

[plowboy444]

You're right, there is one by every plug, thanks for explaining things! Just the general corrosion made it look like they weren't supposed to be there.

 

[94turboidi]

On a side note I wish my glowplug wire looked like that. Mine is just the bullet connector and no ceramic around it anymore.

 

[Cincinnati Guy]

On a side note I wish my glowplug wire looked like that. Mine is just the bullet connector and no ceramic around it anymore.

You can replace the ends with new bullet connectors.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

You can replace the ends with new bullet connectors.

Yeah, but to do it right it's sorta tricky - the factory connectors have a spring clip around their end to make sure the connector don't expand and lose contact with the plug as the plug heats up, most bullet connectors you buy at hardware and parts stores do not have that clip - so you either buy connectors that do have the clip (never seem them, tho I'm sure they do exist), or transfer the factory clips to the new connectors (which involves drilling two 1/16" holes into the sides of the connectors.

Also, that insulation on the factory connectors is not ceramic, just very thick white plastic of some sort.

 

[oldmisterbill]

That apears to be casting flaws in the web areas... Not going to be an issue at all. Look at the back of the intake manifold. See the 3/8 inch hex in the valley pan... Thats the valley pan drain. any fluid that drips into the pan will drain out that hole. That drain also hold down the pan at the back. Any fluid going thru this hole drips off the passenger side of the bellhousing onto the starter. Its a terrible way to drain anything too. You can try it out just to see how it flows....

Gary -- Question. When oil drains from the valley -does it sometimes look like its coming from the rear of the pass side head gasket? Comments welome.

Thanks Mr Bill.

 

[Agnem]

Yeah, but to do it right it's sorta tricky - the factory connectors have a spring clip around their end to make sure the connector don't expand and lose contact with the plug as the plug heats up, most bullet connectors you buy at hardware and parts stores do not have that clip - so you either buy connectors that do have the clip (never seem them, tho I'm sure they do exist), or transfer the factory clips to the new connectors (which involves drilling two 1/16" holes into the sides of the connectors.

Also, that insulation on the factory connectors is not ceramic, just very thick white plastic of some sort.

Replacement pig tails are available from Ford, but you don't want to know what they cost.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Gary -- Question. When oil drains from the valley -does it sometimes look like its coming from the rear of the pass side head gasket? Comments welome.

I'd say yes, most definitely so, at least to me it looks that way.

Replacement pig tails are available from Ford, but you don't want to know what they cost.

Oh, I can imagine. I'll stick with my modded connectors, while it did cost me an index finger (still numb at the tip, been a week now, lol) I believe that's the lesser price to pay compared to what the dealership will bend me over for...