Recently I found a pretty good deal on a old 1994 f250 with a 7.3 in it. i talked to the guy and he says he found oil in the antifreeze and has had it parked ever since. I talked to some people down at the shop and they said it could be the oil cooler. Any thoughts on this? What are the chances of it bieng a cracked block or cracked heads? also what are some things to look for when buying a diesel? What are some other things that could cause this?

 

is this a DI or IDI. DI=powerstroke. anyway pertaining to your question it doesnt really matter. most probable guess would be the oil cooler. never seen a head problem, and the only headgaskets i have seen fail were from a tuned engine running hard. i would really bet you need a oil cooler. price around, but IH dealer should have for maybe around 2 bills.

 

thanks. this is a DI motor late model 94. the body has some dents here and there but overall its pretty nice. and for 1000$ i think its a steal. anythings that model and year had problems with that i should look for? also its a automatic any thoughts on that? i am thinking about slowly modding it starting with a chip and stacks. can the automatic hold up to the increased torque or is that one of the first things i should look into beefing up?

 

to tell you the truth if this is just a 7.3 turbo and not a powerstroke i would pass on it, there is hardly any aftermarket support for these trucks. I would wait to try and find maybe a 96-03 7.3 i know they are more expensive but you will enjoy the truck alot more, but yes for a 1000 bucks its probably a good deal but it might have an bad oil cooler or blown head gaskets and that is gonna cost some money to fix

 

Yeah this is the powerstroke model. also napa sells a oil cooler gasket set will that fix the problem or would i need to get the whole assembly?

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also when international put a turbo and DI on the 7.3 isnt that when they started calling it the powerstroke? or was there a period that there was just a turbo on it? wasnt it natraully aspirated when it was Indirect injection?

 

well then it should be worth it, it depends if the gasket is leakin then yeah just replace the gasket but it is probably most likely the internal part of the cooler leaking and should be replaced

 

ok thanks for the help. right now he is busy with his business and will be for the next few weeks so i havent been able to get over and take a really good look at it but ill let you guys know. and back to my other question is there anything specific i should look for when buying a diesel. and is there any specific problems these early model powerstrokes had?

 

I would start with the transmission if you are going to do anything over stock. The other thing I'd look at is the high pressure oil pump. I'm looking into upgrades for mine, pending if I keep the truck or not....

 

Most of those I've seen like that it was the oil cooler. And usually the cooler had to be replaced. Around here, they went for around $400. I don't know if they got it from a dealer or just a parts store. They suck to change so be prepared if you're going to have someone else do it for you. Good luck.

 

ok thanks for all the information. is there a way to pressure test them with the usual home garage tools? or should i just go trial and error style and replace it then see if that fixes the problem?