The 7.3-liter Electricity Stroke is the measuring stick for each individual other Ford diesel, at minimum in phrases of trustworthiness. It really is so legendarily tricky that even Duramax and Cummins motorists tip their Hooey hats toward them, typically even though offering the backhanded compliment that they are too underpowered to split nearly anything. That may be genuine, but a look inside this considered 700,000-mile engine ought to be ample evidence for any person who doubts its challenging-attained rep.
It can be vital to observe that there is certainly some debate over the accurate mileage of this engine. It was pulled from a truck whose odometer exhibited 699,341 miles, and when discrepancies on the CarFax confirmed the truck hopping from 68,372 miles to nearly 686,000 miles in just two months, the clearest symptoms issue toward it becoming a legitimately large-mile lump. You may see why in time, but let’s get this present on the street.
Eric, the guy at the rear of the I Do Autos YouTube channel, tends to make a residing by parting out junkyard cars and trucks and trucks, so he is absent by way of the teardown approach lots of instances ahead of. Starting up with the extras and elements that are mounted atop the motor, he receives trapped on the turbo for a moment but at some point breaks it unfastened. It appears to be like to be a factory-model Garrett charger that was changed about 2004 according to a date tag, lending even more credence to the strategy that this truck racked up plenty of miles in a hurry.
Unsurprisingly, the drinking water pump appears to be like tough on the inside, and it was even cracked in the collision that totaled the truck. There are grooves in the housing the place the impeller strike it consistently for miles on conclude. This isn’t particularly unusual and, for what it truly is truly worth, it labored ideal up till the wreck.
Eliminating the valve deal with revealed a clean head with paint markings even now on the valve springs. The injectors proved to be a challenge—Eric broke two in the process—and although they appear to be clean, at the very least 4 of them ended up clearly stamped as remanufactured, so there is not much position in evaluating their ailment without also recognizing the date. The rockers and pushrods are just about immaculate, while, and the valvetrain as a entire appears to be like it can be in fantastic condition. There is certainly carbon buildup, but that’d most likely be there in an engine with considerably less than fifty percent the miles.
Most of the noteworthy discoveries arrived right after at last lifting the 113-pound head off the block with a forklift. Peeking inside of the cylinders confirmed cleanse crosshatchings all through, albeit with visible rings close to the top of each individual. Just one piston is cracked, possibly from the impression thanks to the cylinder’s location on the edge of the block, and just about each primary bearing was worn down to the copper.
Major use on the camshaft suggests that this is probably a 700,000-mile motor as marketed. The very same can be said for the crankshaft, which has pitting on pretty much each individual journal. Keep in head that the truck nonetheless ran with all these difficulties, so even although it truly is not glowing cleanse, it chugged alongside irrespective.
If you’ve bought practically an hour to eliminate, you can watch the entire teardown video. Eric does a good work going for walks by way of it all, and he is trustworthy about the engine’s record currently being questionable at ideal. It was created and pushed for the duration of the 2000s when CarFax documents weren’t generally very well-stored, so that’s just the way it is. However, I’d bet that this electricity plant has seen far more miles than everything I have driven.
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