Hey guys. New to this site this is my first post. So I just got myself a 1990 7.3 non Turbo. When I bought it it ran and idled fine. Started driving it down the road and I made it 15 miles before she was Steamin hot. It started dropping cylinders and quit running. Got it off the road and let her cool down. Fired back up after a long crank and got it to a parking lot. It was full on fluids before I left and it had lost allmost all oil on the stick and quite a bit of antifreeze. Topped off the radiator started it and it was belching air. What could this be? allways loses cylinders before it stops running.I was gung hoe pulled the heads off to replace the gaskets and I don't think it was them. Also found a thermostat that was stuck shut. Any comments/ help is greatly appreciated!

 

Radiator needing replaced, a bad hose, water pump would be a good start. What happened to all the oil that was in it?

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I take it the over heating went away after you changed the thermostat?

 

Thermostat will cause all of the above ... it will burn the oil off the cylinder walls and cause loss of oil ... and yes it can be extreme at times ... these engines have oil cooling sprayers at the bottom of the stroke that helps to cool and lube the piston .. hence the loss of oil as well ( this is only one possibility ) also the Valve guides could be worn and the rings as welll ... .or all the above to one degree or another all working in unisin causing the over all issue ....

the overheating was your thermostat ... with out question.... while your in there make sure you use NEW HEAD BOLTS ... the old ones are NOT RE USABLE - under any circumstances, dont listen to anyone who will attempt to tell ya other wise . you wqill end up doing this again real soon . The factory bolts are a torque to yield - or torque to stretch bolt and are not strong enough to reuse ...

When using the new headbolts you wont need the washers under the bolts and just use a light amount of light oil ( i used Powersteering fluid ) light fluid makes for less chance of hydraulicing a hole and cracking the block .... had this happen in a porche ... ...... never good ..

 

Wish I would asked before... I. Priced out new head bolts and it scared my high school budget, so I used the originals. Also the oil was found...in the coolant. Tried getting the. Oil cooler assembly apart and I cracked the housing. Will the international bus ends fit or do I got to give ford 500 bucks?