# 2003 7.3 oil leak



## Shin-Diggin (Jun 17, 2005)

I had what I thought was a rear main seal leaking. I removed the dust shield from the fly wheel and found everything to be dry. Started looking higher up and found oil in the intake valley and running down the block. I have looked at the lines near the HPOP both look dry and the plug also (found this is common after a google search,but not my case). There appear to be more oil in the front of the valley then the rear near turbo. I put some dye in the oil and I can see dye now all over but still can't pin point my leak. 

Any help on where to look or what to remove to get a better look would be greatly appreciated.


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## bwguardian (Aug 30, 2005)

Have you checked the turbo pedistal? I know you said it is in the front as well as the back but stop and go driving sloshes what is in the valley around given the small drain hole at the back of the valley. Also, I think there is a high pressure oil line in the front of each head which could be the culpret.


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## bwguardian (Aug 30, 2005)

Oh yeah, the HPOP has some plugs in it that are sealed with o-rings...I will look at a HPOP laying around while over at the shop today and see if there are any on the back.


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## sweptvolume (Apr 1, 2010)

Oil leak around the injector cups? That's pretty common, too, but not so likely to end up in the pan. Hmm...


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## Shin-Diggin (Jun 17, 2005)

I see the turbo pedestal has some o-rings, where is it located on the turbo.I ran my black light around the turbo and there a shade of green dye showing up but nothing major. I check around the intake valley again today and the whole thing is lite up like a christmas tree after trip to la grange and galveston the past weekends. 

I think I should have waited on adding the dye till I was serious about finding the leak. Cause now there just dye every where.


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## Dixiedream (Jan 21, 2010)

Check the O rings around the HPOP mine went out and oil was all over the valley.


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## hoosierplugger (May 24, 2004)

Are you sure it's oil? Fuel bowl o-rings are notrious for leaking and it looks like oil after it sits/puddles in the valley.

Might run your hand around the fuel bowl and see if it comes back wet.

Craig


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## Reloder28 (Apr 10, 2010)

I had the same problem. Oil dripped three spots per day for two or three years. Nothing drastic but drove me crazy. Exactly the same symptoms as you described.One day my 99 7.3L began stumbling at high speed. Very slight but enough to freak me out. I took it to my favorite shop and here is what they found:

There is a sensor on the top driver side of the intake/valve cover area called the Injector Pulse Control sensor. When the guy replaced it the truck continued to stumble under normal operating conditions. It turned out that even the brand new sensor was bad. He put in another and the problem was fixed. After getting it home I noticed my oil leak was gone too. He told me that thing monitors the oil pressure involved in fuel injector delivery in some manner and thus it had begun to leak oil at some point. 

It reminded me of the old 60's-70's Ford oil sending units. They were notorious for this.


The part alone was $145. The total bill was $356.02.


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## Reloder28 (Apr 10, 2010)

I had the same problem. Oil dripped three spots per day for two or three years. Nothing drastic but drove me crazy. Exactly the same symptoms as you described.One day my 99 7.3L began stumbling at high speed. Very slight but enough to freak me out. I took it to my favorite shop and here is what they found:

There is a sensor on the top forward driver side of the head. It screws directly into the head behind the alternator and immediately forward of the factory motor lifting eye. It is called the Injector Pulse Control sensor. When the guy replaced it the truck continued to stumble under normal operating conditions. It turned out that even the brand new sensor was bad. He put in another and the problem was fixed along with the oil leak. He told me that thing monitors the oil pressure involved in injector fuel delivery in some manner and thus it had begun to leak oil at some point. 

It reminded me of the old 60's-70's Ford oil sending units. They were notorious for this.


The part alone was $145. The total bill was $356.02. The bad part never set a computer code.


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## Bottomsup (Jul 12, 2006)

9 times out of 10 its just the fuel filter drain valve. My 2003 excursion had the same problem. Plastic valve cost around 50.00 because you cant buy the funny shaped o-rings for it. It has torx head bolts that hold it on the back of the filter housing. Pain in the arse to get at.


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## j-haynie (Sep 5, 2008)

I'll put my guess in that it is the orange intake hoses at the cyl. heads leaking. If the ICP sensor and HPOP are clean and dry and its oil and not fuel. More than likely the hoses. thay are not bad to change. You can try to tighten all the hose clamps on them and clean it. Just my 2cents


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## floundergigging (Jul 13, 2005)

I second that. If you can't seem to pinpoint the leak and the oil seems like it is spraying from somewhere and your orange boots are wet when you look at them with a mirror then replace the orange silicone boots. Oil will leak into your intake from the crankcase vent hose between your filter and turbo. The oil will travel through the turbo intercooler and into your intake. The silicone will get pourous due to getting oil soaked and put a fine mist all over your valley esp at the boot area. If you clean the area and can't find a leak go out and drive the truck and hammer down on the throttle to really build up some boost. If your valley is wet then that is your problem. This happened to my truck and it drove me crazy trying to figure it out. I bought my replacement boots from DieselSite. Check the stuff the other guys said first then when you run out of options try this. BTW Please let us know what the final fix is. Later, Brian



j-haynie said:


> I'll put my guess in that it is the orange intake hoses at the cyl. heads leaking. If the ICP sensor and HPOP are clean and dry and its oil and not fuel. More than likely the hoses. thay are not bad to change. You can try to tighten all the hose clamps on them and clean it. Just my 2cents


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## Brassnadz (Jun 18, 2007)

bwguardian said:


> Oh yeah, the HPOP has some plugs in it that are sealed with o-rings...I will look at a HPOP laying around while over at the shop today and see if there are any on the back.


Beat me to it. My dads '01 did the same thing. O-ring gave out. Lucky for him it did it in the driveway, and not out in BFE. Warranty covered it, so I dont know what it would cost to fix it, but it didnt take long for the dealer to install the new one. I would think it wouldnt be too hard to do it yourself.


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## Shin-Diggin (Jun 17, 2005)

I thought I typed up a reply/ repair a few month ago on this. 

I never could pin point where the leak was coming from. I could clearly see it wasn't the turbo pedestal so that really left me one other easy guess. I bought the HPOP repair kit from Champion Ford. 3 o-rings for $35.00. That covers the 2 fittings and 1 plug on the pump. 

I could not get the quick disconnect off so I removed both fittings with the lines still on them. Then seperated and reinstalled both fittings with new orings. One of the old orings was torn. Replaced the oring on the one fitting as well. Not really a hard job but both fittings had to be wrenched all the way out and best tool I found was a very short wrench. Standard size wrench was to long/big for the area. I forget the size but I wanna say 18mm. 

Now to the part that brought this old post up on a search. That was two months ago and I havent seen a drop of oil since. Now however as of Monday I am getting a fuel leak and it is building up in the intake valley as well. 

Will update with any info I find out. Any suggestions are always welcomed.


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## bwguardian (Aug 30, 2005)

Shin-Diggin said:


> I thought I typed up a reply/ repair a few month ago on this.
> 
> I never could pin point where the leak was coming from. I could clearly see it wasn't the turbo pedestal so that really left me one other easy guess. I bought the HPOP repair kit from Champion Ford. 3 o-rings for $35.00. That covers the 2 fittings and 1 plug on the pump.
> 
> ...


More than likely it is more freakin o-rings! There are two o-rings on the back of the fuel canister attached to the drain valve. You need a torx screw to get it off. You can simply flip the o-rings for a quick fix. I buy them at Home Depot for about a nickel a piece!:dance: The stealership wants about 20 bucks for them!:cop:

I seem to recall the size of the o-rings being either 1/4", 1/8", 1/4" or 1/8", 1/4", 1/8"...you will be able to tell when you get it out. Be sure and put a little grease on them before you put them back.


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## Shin-Diggin (Jun 17, 2005)

Good news for now. It sounds kinda of strange but I open and closed the drain valve just incase it was sticking or slightly open a bit. Since doing this my diesel fuel leak has stopped. 

I did call the parts department at Champion Ford and they sell the valve and o-rings as a kit for about $40.00 bucks. Sense you have to remove the valve to replace the o-rings and I am pretty good at breaking things I figure if I do have to change the o-rings I am gonna buy a new valve and put it on to.


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## bwguardian (Aug 30, 2005)

Shin-Diggin said:


> Good news for now. It sounds kinda of strange but I open and closed the drain valve just incase it was sticking or slightly open a bit. Since doing this my diesel fuel leak has stopped.
> 
> I did call the parts department at Champion Ford and they sell the valve and o-rings as a kit for about $40.00 bucks. Sense you have to remove the valve to replace the o-rings and I am pretty good at breaking things I figure if I do have to change the o-rings I am gonna buy a new valve and put it on to.


Opening and closing to stop the leak will buy you a little time. You can buy a whole new canister for what you are going to spend on the valve. I don't understand why you would buy the valve...just get the o-rings and install them for less than a dollar. The valve is nothing more that a couple pieces of plastic...the o-rings are what makes the valve seal! If it beaks for some reason, then go from there.


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