2001 7.3

[erniesshop]

I'm in the process of moving , and yesterday I notice oil in my radiator resevoir ?
What should I look for ? The truck still runs fine....No water in oil , Temps fine.
I appreciate any help.

[jonnywilliams]

Bad news. You either have a blown head gasket or possibly the injector cups erroded. Put a pressure gauge on the tube coming out of the tank. And see what kind of pressure you build. If its well over 15 PSI you got issues with the head gasket. These high compression diesels blow into the coolant. And not coolant into the cylinder like on a gasser. So you dont usually get the tell tale white smoke or rough idle. Thats why you get more pressure into the coolant system.

[erniesshop]

Thanks for the reply !

After further checks , I think a o-ring broke on an Injector.....Turned out to be fuel......Hard to see at 5 am and below 0 !

[englewoodcowboy]

I hate to say it but unless you have replaced your injector cups, the cold weather you are in is what primarily causes them to fail over time and I have to agree that your cups could be leaking. There is no other part o the system that brings oil or fuel in close contact with the coolant like it does at the injectors.

[Phoppe]

Oh help me plz. I just bought a f250 with 7.3 power stroke. I get around in gas engines quite well but this is my first diesel. I also have this very same problem. Not sure if fuel or oil. Sounds like pressure test would be a good place to start? What else should I look at?

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[timmyboy76]

i'd bet the head gaskets are fine. If fuel in degas bottle, its a cracked cup/s..(injector). If oil in degas, time to rebuild the oil cooler.

[Phoppe]

Ok the guy I got the trk from said he paid 300 to replace the cooler. I mention the price cause I dont know range for that part. I smelled the pressure cap and it didnt smell like fuel. I wont cant swear i'm accurate. What tests can I do?


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[BSkopnik]

I'm just in process of swapping out my oil cooler to replace the gaskets an o-rings. I bought a new oil cooler just on case and I paid 324 taxes in. That's from the local stealership.

But like Timmy said if its oil in the degas bottle it'll be the oil cooler.

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[Phoppe]

What is best way to tell if oil or fuel this would eliminate various possibilities on both sides. Currently both oil and water levels are low. Guess that is one reason i'm leaning toward oil other than smell. And no i'm not driving this like this its how I got it. Guess from what the two of you are saying should top up water and oil run it till warm or?

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[BSkopnik]

Have you had any puddles under truck? If you look under your front end can you see if the cooler is leaking around the gasket on the front mount? Oil cooler is on driver side of engine. Cooler tube is held in place by two mounts. Rear mount holds the oil filter. Front mount is almost below the power steering res. When I noticed mine was leaking my oil and coolant would run low. Front end underneath just coated in oil. Would occasionally see coolantyoil on ground. That when I noticed previous owner RTV'd the crap out of the front cooler mount.


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