Howdy,
I have a 2001 powerstroke turbo diesel and i think i lost a head gasket. I am told the 7.3 does not have head gasket problems but I have combustion gasses in the coolant resiviour and while driving the resiviour over filled and blew past the cap. the truck did not overheat but i smelled diesel fuel and when i got home i found the coolant all over the engine. I am just wondering if anyone knows if there is somthing else I should be looking at before I remove the heads. Any suggestions will be appraicated. Thanks, Carl.

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Thank You

 

You're right about it being rare. Do you have any mods? A bad gasket shouldn't cause you to smell diesel fuel. There is one coolant port that goes thru the head to the heater core that's really close to the number one cylinder and one on the opposite side by the number eight cylinder. I have seen that go bad. Good luck.

 

Howdy,
Thanks for responding, I have no mods, 220,000 stock miles. I think the diesle fuel I was smelling is most likley just the coolant on the engine and the comustion in the coolant. is the coolant passage from the heater core serviceable without removing the head? Should I install oem gaskets or are there better aftermarket gaskets? thank you.

 

Nope, not serviceable. You could go with the Ford ones or go with the Felpro ones. I know the Felpros are around 50 bucks each from my local parts store. You'll have to get new head bolts. I found they're cheapest from Ford. I paid $2.50 each but I get a discount. You need 18 bolts per side and good ol Ford only sells them in sets of 10. When you reassemble the heads, there are some bolts that need to be put in the holes BEFORE you get the heads in place. Just pay attention to the torque specs and patterns. First is 65 ft/lbs, second is 85 ft/lbs starting from the center, working your way out counter-clockwise. The last is 105 ft/lbs, start at the bottom front of the engine and go straight back. Then, go to the front of the next row and do the same.Continue until they're all at 105. I like to go over them one more time. You also need to replace your injector o-rings. Go with the ones made by Alliant. You can get them from Ebay or your local diesel supplier. But first, make sure it is your head gasket. From what you've said, it may be. Just make sure. Do a compression test on it first. Does it run any different?

 

Howdy, thank you for the advice, i will do a compression check, i have also been told to check the, Injector cup?, i will need to research this. thanks for the advice.

 

Could be an injector cup or a cracked head as well.

 

Howdy,
Thanks for the help I still have to do the compression check, I will let you know how it goes.