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[bluestreak]

15Qts holy smokes Now I don't feel so bad when I have to change my oil.
Just goes to show no matter what your in someone else is into it deeper.

7.3 liter Power Stroke capacities:

Cooling system F-series................31.0L (32.75quarts)
   with dual fuel tanks..................39 gallons
Engine oil ....................................13.2 (14.0quarts)
Manual transmission......................3.2L (3.4quarts)
Automatic ....................................14.8L (15.7quarts)

My modified Power Stroke tranny with a deep sump oil pan holds 24 quarts of ATF fluid.
  
I use to service marine engines years ago.  The biggiest oil change I ever did was a 16 cylinder Caterpillar D349 that held about 50 gallons.  It's the same engine that's used in locomotive train service.
Now thats an oil change!

[VTX-Dan]

If you had taken it to a Ford dealer it would have been replaced for free.  There is a warranty Technical Service Bulletin on the CPS sensor for all 97-2003 Power Strokes with the 7.3 liter engine.  Fortunately I had my CPS sensor replace under warranty years ago before it went out.

Yeah, I considered that.  I got the recall notice in the mail a while back, but never got around to it.  Shame on me.
I didn't want to chance the drive to the dealership after the CPS failed....especially not with this weather.  The nearest Ford dealership I trust is over 30 miles away.  I don't do business with the local (Huntsville) stealership.
The $26 bucks won't make or break me, and it was well worth it to me not to stall on the side of the freeway while trying to get it changed for free.

These are two forums for the Power Strokes that I like and participate in.  It's a good way to keep up with your truck.

http://www.powerstroke.org/forum/

http://www.thedieselgarage.com/forums/index.php?

I use Ford Truck Enthusiasts:
http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/index.php
I have learned a lot from the folks on that forum.

I have a 1997 Power Stroke F350 4X4 and had some (rare) bad luck with it last week.  The fuel/water seperator pot under the hood, blew a 3/4" hole in the bottom of it when I was running down the freeway.  I think it failed at the moment I switched fuel tanks via the dash switch.  The pot is under about 70 psi and I'm guessing the pressure shock of switching fuel tanks finally caused the pot to fail.  It dumped about 16 gallons of diesel on the ground before I knew it had happened and got it parked. The entire underside of the truck, including the exhaust, CAT converter, rear brakes, inside the bed and the rear bumper were dripping wet with fuel when I stopped.  I still can't believe the truck didn't turn into a fire ball when it blew.  The 950 degree turbo is just behind the water seperator, but lucky the fuel sprayed down and away for the turbo when the pot blew. The fuel seperator is a common failure problem with the Power Strokes just like the CPS sensor is.  It fails due to water setting in the pot for long periods of time between draining.  It corrodes the aluminum until a point it finally fails.  I make a point of routinely draing the water, long before the dash light comes on, so I got better than average life out of mine before it failed. I bought my truck new so it lasted about 14 years.  I've heard of them failing with only 5 years of service. I wish the water seperator failure was under a TSB.  The part along is about $ 1,000.00 bucks.

I drain my seperator at least at every oil change (5000 miles).   That's only about 10 tanks worth.
I get diesel from one station, almost exclusively, and I never fuel up while the tanker truck is filling their underground tanks or shortly after it left.

I check the bottom of the bowl when I change the filter.  Mine still looks good.

A side note to this story is that I was headed to a computer store, that a fellow VTXer was also going to unbenounced to me, when it failed.  I left a "Snail Trail" of fuel from the freeway to the stores parking lot where I eventually got it parked.  He said he saw the fuel spill after he slipped in it going around a turn under the freeway over pass.  I'm glad he didn't go down.

I think I heard about this story at Hick's on Sunday.

[matap]

I used to have a 7.3 2001 F-350 and I remember those 15qt oil changes.  I started to think after looking at the specs above on all the capacites that the reason these trucks are so damn engine heavy is because of the fluids.  That's a joke, I know it's more than that, but damn really, it is like triple of any other truck out there.

[MRVTX]

Y'all got lucky. Two sundays ago, I left to go pick up some Sunday papers, and my motor completely siezed on the trip home. Dead.

Yeah, but tell everyone why it seized up?   

I think I heard about this story at Hick's on Sunday.

Yeah, that was me that almost went down through the u-turn at San Felipe & 610.  I couldn't figure out why my back end went squirrelly on me until I parked at MicroCenter and ran into Mike.  As soon as he told me what happened, I then knew what almost took me down. 

[cybrhick]

Y'all got lucky. Two sundays ago, I left to go pick up some Sunday papers, and my motor completely siezed on the trip home. Dead.

Yeah, but tell everyone why it seized up?   

Epilepsy.

[VTX-Dan]

Epilepsy.

Ha ha.

Status epilepticus.

[MRVTX]

Epilepsy.

Ha ha.

Status epilepticus.

More like Neglecticus Lubricanticus...or more commonly referred to as the "ID 10 T" error!   

[cybrhick]

 

Epilepsy.

Ha ha.

Status epilepticus.

More like Neglecticus Lubricanticus...or more commonly referred to as the "ID 10 T" error!   

Well, that's not really a confirmed status. All we can confirm is that there was no oil or coolant in the engine once we got it home. That doesn't mean there wasn't any in it when it died. We had been having problems with the oil pressure suddenly dropping out.

[MRVTX]

Epilepsy.

Ha ha.

Status epilepticus.

More like Neglecticus Lubricanticus...or more commonly referred to as the "ID 10 T" error!   

Well, that's not really a confirmed status. All we can confirm is that there was no oil or coolant in the engine once we got it home. That doesn't mean there wasn't any in it when it died. We had been having problems with the oil pressure suddenly dropping out.

Is it fixable?

[cybrhick]

Epilepsy.

Ha ha.

Status epilepticus.

More like Neglecticus Lubricanticus...or more commonly referred to as the "ID 10 T" error!   

Well, that's not really a confirmed status. All we can confirm is that there was no oil or coolant in the engine once we got it home. That doesn't mean there wasn't any in it when it died. We had been having problems with the oil pressure suddenly dropping out.

Is it fixable?

Not affordably. Either an engine rebuild, or new engine.

[Silver-VTX]

It's so nice to have the internet to help troubleshoot mechanical problems.  I have a 1996 Z71 with ~150k miles and do most of my own repairs as well.  And only $26 - you can't beat that.