'Never gonna get it back out' is a strong word to use. It is a GIANT PITA but I attached a usb endoscope to a magnetic grabber tool and over the course of 3 days with cramped palms and a significant expansion of my curse word vocab.... I was able to retrieve it.
I used a .40 cal. Gun brush on a string rather than the hemostats. That was so you can get the nut all the way off to clean it well. Held the o ring in place with a tiny dab of black, oil resistant RTV and then also RTV on the threads and under the nut. No leaks. I was dreading this job and actually had it all done in about an hour
As a precaution, once you take the tube out you can stick a .45 calibur bore cleaning brush with thr wire attached. That way if you do accident drop it you can fish it out. Great idea with the vaseline though. If that gasket gets soaked it will engorge aaaand you'll be doing the same fix 6 months later
I've watched pretty much all the videos on UA-cam for this problem. Had to tackle it myself today. Not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. Thank you for making this.
Use a .40 cal barrel brush, it won’t mar the dipstick inlet and use carb cleaner to clean the surfaces before installing the oring. The oring will swell from the oil and that is why it leaks for a bit.
Great information Zack! I made a video about this job four years ago when there was almost no videos out there to help people save their money by doing this themselves. I wasn't able to get a clear video of myself when handling the dipstick tube boss, but you did a great job! I linked your video on my page. Hopefully, you are ok with that. Thanks for helping other people save money.
I'll be tackling this in the near future. I may do things a bit different that exactly what you did but I like to see your approach. I will probably take the same idea of the hemostats.
Zack...watched your video and did the repair just as described...took less than 45 minutes form start to finish and not even a sign of a drip once complete...WONDERFUL!!!...I saved about $1100...the most trouble I had was finding a forceps (clamp) in stock...went to every place in Fort Worth and finally wound up at (you guessed it) Harbor Freight...$3.99 later and done... Thanks again Zack
Awesome Dan! what's funny is that the "bacon flipper" forceps I used were purchased at Harbor Freight. you probably have the identical ones that I do. I'm really glad this helped you out!
thanks for this, I dont think due to not having a space to work on the truck I can do this job, I am going to take it to Stevens Diesel on Monday, will be interesting how much they 'charge' to fix this, because if they hit me with, 'we have to drop the pan, "I will be out of there like a scolded cat.
i rarely leave comments. i love you man. so specific and methodical. I appreciate the time you took to make this educational video clip! I just purchased two f250s with the 7.3 and they are both leaking oil! drippity drop hunny get out the mop! haha gonna cat litter the drive way soon if i dont figure this out. anywho, thanks again, I really cant express to you enough how perfectly you articulated the situation and severity of this project. peace be with you brother. if you respond to this comment i might come back and ask you some questions, or exchange emails perhaps?
Give you a lot of credit. You would have dropped anything into that tank you'd be screwed. Mines not leaking but I know it's just a matter of time. Think I'll buy the $300 adapter from Strictly Diesel and keep onboard....just in case.
Excellent save. I wonder how many of these trucks are out there with RTV silicone schmeared all over that area? Mustie1 saved a Ford trucks transmission with a few dollars worth of o-rings as well. Makes you wonder why they are relied on so heavily in critical areas.
man those injectors are loud, it needs some archoil stiction additive and schaeffers oil-it will purr like a kitten. million mile motor! you did a really good job performing that scary o ring replacement with a camera in the way haha we would always use hemostats plus a second item through it like a very long radiator hose hook as a emergency back up. it could have been your vaseline had some sand or trash in it causing the leak and once it got hot enough to melt and squeeze it out the leak stopped.i hope you changed the oil after as i guarantee there was debris on the inside of that along with whatever fell in from the outside. check out power stroke help on here, that guy is pretty darn good.
The injectors are loud for sure and I've never thought about an additive quieting them down (my first diesel, cut me a little slack will ya lol) I will certainly investigate your suggestions because I'd love for it to not be quite a noisy in that realm. With that O-ring I was terrified! I've been wrenching on things my whole life (to include F-14 Tomcat engines) and I've never done a job so scary in the "this'll be expensive if you muff this up" category. Headed over to Power Stroke Help now!
The reason the dealer charges that much because in some cases the o ring swells and wrecks the flange so you have to replace the flange. Where that where you have to pull oil pan and to pull the pan gota pull the engine. Your lucky you just needed an o-ring
Awesome video!! Have the same leak about 10 miles ago! Ordered that $300 part just a little bit ago but am going to attempt this first and if I can possibly return the other one and get my 300 back! Thanks for making this video! Life saver man!!!
Hey Ryan, you are just the person I made this video for lol. if all else fails that $300 part will still be chump change compared to the alternative. I hope my video helps, let me know how it goes. ~Z
Thanks the hemostats work great I'm uploading a video now of what I had to do to modify it because my adapter was too bent for the original o-ring to seal it.
I just watched your vid and think you absolutely nailed it! I'm pinning this comment with the link to your video in hopes that it can help some other folks. Great thinking!! ~Zua-cam.com/video/X6jJCMdfGOk/v-deo.html
Great video man a bit tighter when you install but and you would have been good to go wouldn’t have had any leakage also a bit of silicone on the but helps good vid though
Zack, I have one of those 2 foot long magnets that is used to hold your tools to the wall for finding nuts and washers that drop in my grass when working on my car. I just wave it over the grass and they jump onto my magnet bar. 8^)
I once worked for an automotive seal company. I asked our Chemist which oil to use. He told me it did not matter much which brand of oil I use but do not mix them. He said all have an additive package that worked pretty well but if you mix them, some mixtures would ruin the seals. I wonder if that is what is happening to those o'rings...or if it is just poor quality o'rings.
That's a really interesting take on this, I've never heard it put that way. I'm a pretty dyed in the wool Valvoline guy so I'm personally not likely to mix brands. Although there's no telling what previous owners have done, I bought the truck with 200k miles on it. Thanks for the suggestion!
tip for next time you work on an engine, degrease & clean first, makes the whole job easier. (I grew up in a mechanic & panel beating shop, our home was attached). bet you breathed a big sigh of relief when you got that nut on! I did & I was only watching!
I do still have the truck, the leak has slowly returned and I am presently trying to figure out a best course of action since I'm pretty sure the flange on the inside of the oil pan is misshapen and replacing the o-ring again probably won't cut it. Might be spending 300 bucks on the thing I linked in the description. Still better than a multi-thousand dollar trip to the stealership!
i don't understand why you didn't get rid of that truck years ago.....anybody who manufactures a truck engine and who is unable to fabricate a reliable dipstick setup should be fled away from at the highest possible speed and earliest available opportunity....that dipstick alone by itself has probably caused you $5000 worth of worry and several score of sleepless nights....i'd dump that piece of trash and buy a real truck with a functioning reliable dipstick, any outfit that can't make a dipstick function sure can't make anything else that you can rely on
Yeah, me too. I'm not sure if it was detectable in the video but I was shaking like a leaf with nerves while holding it. By far the most frightening "if you mess this up its gonna be expensive" fix I've ever done. Thanks a bunch for watching!
'Never gonna get it back out' is a strong word to use. It is a GIANT PITA but I attached a usb endoscope to a magnetic grabber tool and over the course of 3 days with cramped palms and a significant expansion of my curse word vocab.... I was able to retrieve it.
It's fine if it falls into the gap it won't get sucked up or block anything
Great Job. That to me is the correct way to do that even for the Dealership.
I saw the recommendation to use a 40 cal bore brush stuffed into the adapter to keep it from falling into the pan. Seems like a pretty slick idea.
Worked like a charm. Completed the job in 30 minutes. No leaks.
I used a .40 cal. Gun brush on a string rather than the hemostats. That was so you can get the nut all the way off to clean it well. Held the o ring in place with a tiny dab of black, oil resistant RTV and then also RTV on the threads and under the nut. No leaks. I was dreading this job and actually had it all done in about an hour
As a precaution, once you take the tube out you can stick a .45 calibur bore cleaning brush with thr wire attached. That way if you do accident drop it you can fish it out. Great idea with the vaseline though. If that gasket gets soaked it will engorge aaaand you'll be doing the same fix 6 months later
My 99 7.3 just started marking its spot everywhere I go. I need to make this repair. Great simple video. Thanks.
Has anyone noticed that Zack is just about the coolest dude on the planet?
You're too kind Joe lol
I've watched pretty much all the videos on UA-cam for this problem. Had to tackle it myself today. Not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. Thank you for making this.
Absolutely, Dave! I hope that mine combined with the others were helpful.
Use a .40 cal barrel brush, it won’t mar the dipstick inlet and use carb cleaner to clean the surfaces before installing the oring. The oring will swell from the oil and that is why it leaks for a bit.
Thanks for the suggestion Brien, I think that would definitely be the better way.
Awesome video - very well explained and excellent graphics!!
Channel locks were on the large nut backwards 🥵
It’s always more difficult than it looks! Thanks for giving me the inspiration to give it a shot.
Great information Zack! I made a video about this job four years ago when there was almost no videos out there to help people save their money by doing this themselves. I wasn't able to get a clear video of myself when handling the dipstick tube boss, but you did a great job! I linked your video on my page. Hopefully, you are ok with that. Thanks for helping other people save money.
I'll be tackling this in the near future. I may do things a bit different that exactly what you did but I like to see your approach. I will probably take the same idea of the hemostats.
I have since had to fix it another time and used a bore brush. I think I prefer the bore brush since it can’t click loose if you whack it just wrong.
Why hasn't anyone welded the boss to the pan? Why didn't Ford do this from the factory? 😢
Thanks Zack for the tip because I am a firm believer in "You Never Know" !
True story!
Zack...watched your video and did the repair just as described...took less than 45 minutes form start to finish and not even a sign of a drip once complete...WONDERFUL!!!...I saved about $1100...the most trouble I had was finding a forceps (clamp) in stock...went to every place in Fort Worth and finally wound up at (you guessed it) Harbor Freight...$3.99 later and done...
Thanks again Zack
Awesome Dan! what's funny is that the "bacon flipper" forceps I used were purchased at Harbor Freight. you probably have the identical ones that I do. I'm really glad this helped you out!
Great video
thanks for this, I dont think due to not having a space to work on the truck I can do this job, I am going to take it to Stevens Diesel on Monday, will be interesting how much they 'charge' to fix this, because if they hit me with, 'we have to drop the pan, "I will be out of there like a scolded cat.
i rarely leave comments. i love you man. so specific and methodical. I appreciate the time you took to make this educational video clip! I just purchased two f250s with the 7.3 and they are both leaking oil! drippity drop hunny get out the mop! haha gonna cat litter the drive way soon if i dont figure this out. anywho, thanks again, I really cant express to you enough how perfectly you articulated the situation and severity of this project. peace be with you brother. if you respond to this comment i might come back and ask you some questions, or exchange emails perhaps?
Thanks a bunch for the kind words! by all means give me a shout. zackofalltradesdiy@gmail.com
Hemostats save (truck) lives!we have some for crafts so now we need to get some for the emergency repair kit.
Daniel Baca and to flip bacon!
All true! Magnificent multi-faceted tool.
I found an after market part it was 300 bucks but it eliminates an problems
i just bought that too
David Cool can you send the link to that after market part? Thanks
@@JoseRodriguez-yp2ss I got mine from diesel power products
Give you a lot of credit. You would have dropped anything into that tank you'd be screwed. Mines not leaking but I know it's just a matter of time. Think I'll buy the $300 adapter from Strictly Diesel and keep onboard....just in case.
The strictly diesel is an awesome purchase. And you do drop the inner part into the pan. Just make sure you take the o ring out before doing so.
Excellent save. I wonder how many of these trucks are out there with RTV silicone schmeared all over that area? Mustie1 saved a Ford trucks transmission with a few dollars worth of o-rings as well. Makes you wonder why they are relied on so heavily in critical areas.
yeah, it struck me how utterly unnecessary that whole configuration seemed to be just for a hole for the dipstick.
man those injectors are loud, it needs some archoil stiction additive and schaeffers oil-it will purr like a kitten. million mile motor! you did a really good job performing that scary o ring replacement with a camera in the way haha we would always use hemostats plus a second item through it like a very long radiator hose hook as a emergency back up. it could have been your vaseline had some sand or trash in it causing the leak and once it got hot enough to melt and squeeze it out the leak stopped.i hope you changed the oil after as i guarantee there was debris on the inside of that along with whatever fell in from the outside. check out power stroke help on here, that guy is pretty darn good.
The injectors are loud for sure and I've never thought about an additive quieting them down (my first diesel, cut me a little slack will ya lol) I will certainly investigate your suggestions because I'd love for it to not be quite a noisy in that realm.
With that O-ring I was terrified! I've been wrenching on things my whole life (to include F-14 Tomcat engines) and I've never done a job so scary in the "this'll be expensive if you muff this up" category. Headed over to Power Stroke Help now!
The reason the dealer charges that much because in some cases the o ring swells and wrecks the flange so you have to replace the flange. Where that where you have to pull oil pan and to pull the pan gota pull the engine. Your lucky you just needed an o-ring
I can see that causing a real problem, I agree I was fortunate for sure.
Nice job Zack , love ya style
Awesome video!! Have the same leak about 10 miles ago! Ordered that $300 part just a little bit ago but am going to attempt this first and if I can possibly return the other one and get my 300 back!
Thanks for making this video! Life saver man!!!
Hey Ryan, you are just the person I made this video for lol. if all else fails that $300 part will still be chump change compared to the alternative. I hope my video helps, let me know how it goes. ~Z
Thanks the hemostats work great I'm uploading a video now of what I had to do to modify it because my adapter was too bent for the original o-ring to seal it.
I just watched your vid and think you absolutely nailed it! I'm pinning this comment with the link to your video in hopes that it can help some other folks. Great thinking!! ~Zua-cam.com/video/X6jJCMdfGOk/v-deo.html
Great video man a bit tighter when you install but and you would have been good to go wouldn’t have had any leakage also a bit of silicone on the but helps good vid though
Zack, I have one of those 2 foot long magnets that is used to hold your tools to the wall for finding nuts and washers that drop in my grass when working on my car. I just wave it over the grass and they jump onto my magnet bar. 8^)
Yeah I'm adding that to the list fir sure.
and excellent video work!
Well I'll be damned. Thank you!
I dont like these kinds of jobs. But theres a huge money saver!
Yeah, this one sucked. BIG money saver though, could have gone the other way and become a BIG money spender.
Cool, but those surgery pliers are extremely scary!!!
I once worked for an automotive seal company. I asked our Chemist which oil to use. He told me it did not matter much which brand of oil I use but do not mix them. He said all have an additive package that worked pretty well but if you mix them, some mixtures would ruin the seals. I wonder if that is what is happening to those o'rings...or if it is just poor quality o'rings.
That's a really interesting take on this, I've never heard it put that way. I'm a pretty dyed in the wool Valvoline guy so I'm personally not likely to mix brands. Although there's no telling what previous owners have done, I bought the truck with 200k miles on it. Thanks for the suggestion!
Hi Zack, did you do the repair while lying down under the truck? Or did you have it on a lift?
Thankyou.
Ok buddy. I'm going to take this. Job on I don't have the cash. To get it fixed so it's all on me but hemostats is a real good idea. Wish me luck
My threads were vibrated away from the engine. Had no threads left. Ended up ordering a new part from dorman.
Nice job!
Thanks Frank!
tip for next time you work on an engine, degrease & clean first, makes the whole job easier. (I grew up in a mechanic & panel beating shop, our home was attached).
bet you breathed a big sigh of relief when you got that nut on! I did & I was only watching!
Yeah, thats a solid suggestion, its a much nicer job when its not so grimey. I sure did breathe a big sigh when that huge nut finally caught a thread.
i took mine to the local ford dealer for repair ,it cost me $4500 ,2 months ago
HOLY SHIT!!!!
good job
So 3 years later, do you still have the truck and is the leak still fixed?
I do still have the truck, the leak has slowly returned and I am presently trying to figure out a best course of action since I'm pretty sure the flange on the inside of the oil pan is misshapen and replacing the o-ring again probably won't cut it. Might be spending 300 bucks on the thing I linked in the description. Still better than a multi-thousand dollar trip to the stealership!
i don't understand why you didn't get rid of that truck years ago.....anybody who manufactures a truck engine and who is unable to fabricate a reliable dipstick setup should be fled away from at the highest possible speed and earliest available opportunity....that dipstick alone by itself has probably caused you $5000 worth of worry and several score of sleepless nights....i'd dump that piece of trash and buy a real truck with a functioning reliable dipstick, any outfit that can't make a dipstick function sure can't make anything else that you can rely on
You're a gentleman and scholar sir. Thank you for the video. Here we go... yikes
I misread the title. I thought it was "How to Fix a Dip Stick"... I figured you were going to have video footage from work.
That might have to be a series, I dont think it would fit in one video.
I kept waiting for the thingy to drop into the pan. Good fix.
Yeah, me too. I'm not sure if it was detectable in the video but I was shaking like a leaf with nerves while holding it. By far the most frightening "if you mess this up its gonna be expensive" fix I've ever done. Thanks a bunch for watching!
1994.5 to 2003.5
had to pay mechanics 600 bucks for this exact thing
Engineers are a-holes.
lol