Cracked Head @ Fuel Fitting...Now What??

[PowerstrokePete91]

SO...my 96 F250 PSD has been down for a while getting some much needed love at 260,000 miles. I rebuilt the leaky oil cooler, new UVCH, glowplugs, rebuilt the turbo with 1.0 A/R housing / WW2 / removed EBPV system / 360* bearing kit, T500 Hpop, new IPR/ICP, E-fuel from Marty's Diesel, etc...

After putting about 1,000 miles on the truck, she developed a small fuel leak at the front of the drivers side head, behind the Accessory bracket, where the JIC fitting screws into the head itself. I removed the fitting and applied some High Performance Permatex Liquid thread sealant to the threads conservatively, and re-inserted the fitting. I snugged it up with my 5/8 ratcheting wrench, then gave it another 1/4 turn. I waited a while to let the sealant set, then turned the key to pressurize the system. :doh: Fuel is pouring out compared to the drip it had before. I must've overtightened the fitting causing the cast to develop a hairline crack. Even though I was being careful to specifically not do JUST THAT :fustrate: After a moment of severe profanity, and vomiting on the floor, I removed the fitting again, took some sand paper to the surrounding area, and found what I believe to be the crack.

How many 7.3 owners has this happened to? And what is the best way to go about fixing this? JB Weld? Or bight the bullet and just replace the head... When replacing the drivers side head, does the motor have to be tilted at all? Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated. The truck was running like a spring chicken after I worked all the air out of the hpop system. I was smiling ear to ear, with the sound of the fresh turbo overpowering my speakers...and then this happens....just my luck. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Magnum PD]

That’s a tough one. Try to get some pics.

 

[PowerstrokePete91]

Will do.
I've been looking at rebuilt heads, just to price out the worst case scenario. Mostly on ebay. Looks like $600 shipped is the average price. Half that for one some guy yanked off his truck and is trying to sell. Which brings me to my next question: I noticed most of these ads for rebuilt heads do not say right side/left side. Does this mean these 7.3L heads are interchangeable/identical from right side to left? And are the SuperDuty 99+ 7.3L heads the same as an OBS 7.3 cylinder head?

 

[Magnum PD]

Yes and Yes. Not much difference

 

[AirFishAutomotive]

Pm sent

 

[cleatus12r]

They're extremely heavy too so shipping sucks. Take a 10 hour drive north and I'll give you one.

 

[gnxtc2]

Need pics of this crack. You sure a crack developed?

Billy T.
[email protected]

 

[mandkole]

On a jic cone seal, the seal is made at the cone, not in the threads. If you cracked the female seat in the head, I'd understand the leak but the likelihood of that is slim because there is so much material support. I'd try another adapter in the head.

 

[mandkole]

Never mind, it's a pipe thread in the head.

 

[dzldoctor]

I don't thing its hardly possible to crack the head with a brass style pipe thread fitting. The fitting would break before you could tighten enough to crack the head.

 

[PowerstrokePete91]

Sorry for the delay. I never was able to get a decent picture that showed the crack, but i am 99.9% sure that one had developed. I tried it with AND without thread sealant. Tried liquid AND tape sealants. Never could get it to wear she wouldn't leak. I've read before of this happening to others. And I was replacing the factory brass fitting with the Stainless fitting provided in my Marty's Diesel kit
I decided to try my luck with good ol' JB WELD, and so far so good. I made sure to prep the surface well, and gave it plenty of time to set up. I used a bit of liquid thread sealant on the male fitting as a little extra insurance. I have put a couple hundred miles on the truck since, and all is dry. We will see how it stands up to the test of time.. Thanks for any suggestions

 

[superpsd]

Good to hear I have used JB weld on coolant systems before with excellent success. Stuff works.

 

[PowerstrokePete91]

Update

Well guys, the leak has returned. It's been in the negatives at night lately up here at 9,000ft. I think all the expanding and contracting got to the JB Weld.. I am going to do my best to remove the SteelStick I used (SteelStick was all I could find in the small town I live in at the time), and try to use the classic JB Weld two part epoxy. I am thinking I will have much better luck using the original JB Weld formula. It should be easier to apply evenly, since it is more of a paste like consistency compared to the SteelStick. If this doesn't work, I guess ill be shopping for a replacement head this Christmas....:fustrate:

 

[morefuel]

Any way you could retap it further in and put a boss fitting with tape? Not sure how or if that would work.

 

[79jasper]

Yeah, I was think the same. Depends how big the crack is.
I've fixed a glowplug hole on a IDI by drilling it out, then using a bushing to step it back down.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

 

[Peroni]

You MIGHT get away with tapping it NPTS (straight pipe thread) and using Loktite sealant for hydraulic applications on it. With the tapered pipe thread the act of tightening the fitting will only wedge any crack open further. I'd consider this a band-aid at best. Hot fuel under pressure will eventually find a way out.

Personally I would pull the head so I could get a good look at the damage. As mentioned above it may be possible to go up a size if any damage does not go beyond the drilled area.

 

[ghohouston]

And then you have the worry of metal shavings finding their way into the internal fuel passage of the head, and into injectors.

 

[D66stroke]

This happened to my 97. JB Weld wouldn't hold and had to swap the head. I was told it's pretty common at that port. If I remember right, I was also told that when putting the fitting in, to turn the key before tightening it and slowly take it down until it stops leaking/spraying fuel. As far as shavings go, I've had a fitting break off in the rear of the head where the fuel feeds, so I just swapped some hoses from my regulator and pushed the shavings out with fuel pressure lol. It's sketchy but what else can you do.. So assuming yours feeds from the rear of the heads, just turn the key and let pressure do its thing. That's if you drill it out

 

[D66stroke]

I forgot I used air to blow the shavings out, not turn the key on. Either should work though. I just pulled the hose for that head from the regulator, and blew air through it. I never had injector problems so I guess it worked

 

[ghohouston]

I get theoretically it should work, but injectors are alot of money. When i cut out my rear drivers side fitting, i packed it with grease first before cutting it.