Techmerc’s Fix it Blog

Well all, I’ve been busy and haven’t been able to get to post on my blog much. I lost my regular job and have been busy scrounging for money and employment. After helping my mother remodel her bathroom part-time for the past month or two, I have accepted a job offer and am awaiting the rubber stamp brigade to hit my paperwork. With a new job on the horizon I decided it was time to get serious with the 1999 Powerstroke diesel I have. It’s time to rebuild it. Now keep in mind, this isn’t a small block V8 gas engine. This is an engine used in commercial truck chassis. My particular Powerstroke is the 7.3L model, meaning it’s true identity is……International T444E. That’s right, Ford’s diesels are made by International. This thing is big and heavy, and runs different compared to the gas engines that so many are use to working on.

Now I’ve had this vehicle for a while, but have been tied up in a title battle with it, and learning as well. After getting a laptop based code scanner, and using an infrared thermometer, I figured out that the engine had problems with the passenger side cylinder bank, and specifically number 5 cylinder. So after getting a compression gauge that would fit my engine (the cheap ones won’t do it, they fit the pre-Powerstroke ford diesels), I got even more depressed. Cylinder 5 has no compression at all, and cylinder 7 has pressure that is below spec. Time to tear it down.

In preparation for the tear down, I had to purchase the necessary equipment and prep my site. Buying the equipment was easy. But my site prep was a little more difficult. I’m using my back patio as the work area, but had to make sure my engine crane that I purchased could be pulled back and rotated out of position for engine removal. It would clear the truck body, but the truck had to be parked at the edge of the patio. This means I now had no surface to roll the forward casters of the crane on, just the dirt. This wasn’t going to work, so time to make a pad of some sort. I decided that a good pad made of asphalt would work and would be easy enough to put down, and easier to dig back up when I wanted to repair the yard. I just went down to my nearest home improvement box store and bought 5 bags of what is called “cold patch”. This stuff is asphalt in a bag and is used to patch roads and driveways. Just pour it out, tamp it down, and let it set up, it will harden. So after digging out the square of space I wanted for a pad, I then poured in, smoothed out, and tamped down the asphalt into the newly dug up section of yard next to my patio. I finished this last night, then decided to setup the rest of my work area.

Having done a compression test I had to put the truck back together enough to move it. After that I then pulled the truck up into position and parked it. Now I also planned for a little more comfortable of a work site than previous endeavors. This meant I wanted to help control the West Texas wind this winter. So up with the shelter it was. A tarp stretched from the overhang of the house and tensioned to the headache rack with bungees made a nice shelter. Especially a tarp big enough to be draped down one side of the truck as a wind block. Next it was time to start tear down.

I had some help from a friend this night and I decided to start my tear down with some help. First, off with the hood. Next the bumper, then we took grill. After that came the marker lamp assemblies, headlamp bezels, then the header piece that the headlights were mounted to. Headlights were left on this piece to preserve headlamp aiming. Along with a trim piece here and there we left the tear down at that point to return to on the next visit. Stay tuned for progress.

Finishing site prep, getting ready for teardown

After site prep, we started teardown

Joes All Purpose Hand Cleaner 15 oz. squeeze tube Best Stuff in the world, and it smells great.

Advanced Tool Design Model ATD-7485 2 Ton Folding Mobile Engine Crane

Stanley 92-824 Black Chrome and Laser Etched Socket Set, 69-Piece

Tags: Automotive //