All the old 7.3s I’ve seen ran pretty well even with high miles, even the ones that were used to pull heavy trailers. That’s much better than say, the gm 6.5 diesels, which were far worse than even the so called problematic ford 6.0’s. The duramax line is an Isuzu design and much better made than the old 6.5s
I look at the prices of new rigs today and don’t know how people can afford them, but they must because they keep selling. I like the fact that I don’t have to deal with things like diesel exhaust juice and such and I figure newer motors are only going to be that much more complicated. I’d like to address some body / paint issues this summer so the truck doesn’t rust out from underneath the motor so I can keep it long enough to see those high miles. Worst case I decide to sell it, I’d like to think an educated buyer knows what’s been done and I can recoup some of the cost for the work.
I think you’ll tend to hear more bad than good about any motor. I know the 6.0 has a bad rap with some obvious problems and I can’t deny they’re happening, or have happened. I think every engine is going to have something that’s problematic. Hopefully it’s not devastating. As obscure as this lifter failure seemed to be, I’m finding more and more instances of it, and a few videos where people are posting concerns with “ticking” in the motor and thinking it’s something else. Sadly, I know what it is and where it’s going to lead them.
Day 4:
Things had to slow a little bit. Waiting on parts from the machine shop (Klipies) and the local Ford dealer (West Herr). Guess the weather is giving them some shipping challenges, Ford that is. Stopped at Klipsies and dropped off the crank and checked on the heads. Some minor cracks, I believe (4) in total and they seemed OK with is as they’ve seen it before. General consensus from the 6.0 guru’s is that it’s not uncommon and nothing to worry about. Not much more we could do without the crank.
Cam was supposed to be delivered today but apparently someone tripped and dropped it (at the supplier’s end) and another will be in tomorrow. Should have the heads back in the morning. Picked up the crank this afternoon and the adapter plate was re-installed, crank checked and checked for runout. Looks good. Also picked up the new main and rod bearings.
We hope to have some substantial re-assembly done by end of day tomorrow.
[Was planning to prep and paint the block today but had some equipment failures so I put the paint to use. Wanted to have a little pleasure with this. Steam cleaned the entire intake and painted high temp black. Should add about 9-10 more HP.
Yea I agree 100% When I came across my truck I knew it didnt make the most power out of the dmax family but with the lack of emissions equipment on it kind of made it a no brainer. I seen that with the fords the box just rusts from the inside out and you need to stop it before it starts really.
I’m starting to see the incurable inside out rear fender rot. Only thing I can do is seal it up as best as possible and add fender flares.
Next purchase: fiberglass fenders
At this point I can only afford cardboard.
so glad I can remove my vw motor in 10 minutes…
I can too…once I remove the cab and spend about another 2 hours pulling accessory items to get to the motor mounts.
Day 5: (Friday)
As previous, not a great deal to report. I had some things to take care of and didn’t get to the shop until after 12:00. By the time I ran to pick up a few parts that didn’t make the delivery truck and picked up the heads, there wasn’t much time to do much. The replacement cam arrived (to replace the one that didn’t make it out the first time) and unfortunately, I had to deem it unusable. Many of the lobes were pitted and it just wasn’t worth the gamble. Called the local dealer and the only one that had a new cam was Emerling Ford in Springville so they just happened to be headed our way and dropped it off about an hour after we called ($545.00 new).
We got a little time at the end of the day and managed to get the cam and crank installed along with all the main and rod bearings, and got the bed plate sealed in place. Hoping to maybe hit it hard tomorrow (Sunday) when the shop is quiet with no interruptions.
Gaskets, oil, power steering fluid, coolant, glow plugs, manifold bolts, new updated push rods, water pump, power steering pump, etc., etc., etc.
Used cam we decided was not usable. You could feel pitting easily on numerous lobes. Just not worth the gamble.
Rancho RS9000
Made a quick order with Summit racing for a new set of shocks. Original Rancho’s owed me nothing and were pretty well beat.
you should see how we pull those motors on or e series vans … cant unbolt that cab … straight out the front
Cam most likely could have been salvaged. I gave klispies a Z cam that was rusted and pitted. It came back great, I hope you get a refund on yours.
It’s definitely going back. I wasn’t about to play games at this point. It’s the last thing we took out of the motor. I don’t plan on ever seeing it again.
Nice progress. I like ur attitude - do it once do it right
Ugh this is a good thread I actually am enjoying reading this.
Thanks for reading…and enjoying my misfortune. Just kidding. Not alot of progress today. Forgot to order one gasket and keeping with my do it right or not all all theme, had to wait a little bit to get my hands on it. Torqued the bed plate bolts to spec. along with the rod bolts. Got the oil pickup plate installed as well as the oil pan and bolted the cam into place. That’s about it. Got it back on the stand so we could flip it in preparation to get the block back in the truck so I can start re-installing the heads, rocker boxes, fucking lifters, rocker arms, push rods, glow plugs, etc. Really hoping to spank the shit out of it tomorrow.
How much is a southern bed?
Depends on which cousin / sister is sleeping in it. Why do you ask?
One…its been a while…
Two…You had mentioned yours was starting to rust out…seems like a lot of work to have a rot box bed so I was just wondering if you looked into the cost of one to have essentially a “new” truck
Oh right. Well…with my recent expenditures let’s just say it was dropped down the magnetic “things to do board”,
Southern beds are difficult to find up here. Some dudes want upwards of $3000 for good beds! Almost every truck up here has a rotted bed so supplies are short.
If anyone has a hook up for southern beds, doors, etc let me know. I need stuff.
Alternatively, you could linex the entire truck