Ken Brubaker
Senior Editor, Four Wheeler
Do you have a 7.3L Power Stroke-powered truck with a rusty, leaking oil pan? If so, welcome to the club. This is a common problem, especially in areas where road salt is used.
The oil pan on our northern Illinois-based ’02 Ford F-250 4x4 had this problem. Oil was seeping from the bottom of the pan due to corrosion caused by 13 winters. It had actually been leaking for the past two years, which means we only got 11 years out of it before rot poked holes in it.
We wanted to replace the pan instead of using a kit or material to “repair” it. We were set to purchase a new pan from our local Ford dealer, but didn’t relish the thought that the replacement pan would be made of the same material as the old pan, resulting in the same outcome. It was then we stumbled on the cool new oil pan from Moroso.
Here is the Moroso oil pan (PN 27336), which has an approximate street price of $320 at time of print and the Moroso gasket (PN 27293), which has an approximate street price of $80 at time of print. The gasket kit includes new mounting hardware.
The Moroso 7.3L oil pan (PN 27336) fits ’94-’03 Power Stroke turbodiesel engines, and it’s made from quality 16-gauge steel, which is thicker than the factory pan. The pan has a triple coat finishing process of a zinc phosphate that creates a durable finish foundation and also neutralizes any corrosion caused by the welding process during manufacturing. On top of that are a black electrocoat and a gloss black epoxy powdercoat. Moroso says that this process has been fine-tuned from the company’s years of oil pan building experience and from this oil pan being subjected to numerous salt spray testing. Compare these finishes to the factory pan only getting a black painted surface on top of its thinner construction, and it becomes clear that the Moroso unit is a vastly superior pan. Other features of the Moroso pan include a dipstick provision; internal OE-style anti-slosh baffle to keep oil contained in the oil pick up area; and a magnetic drain plug.
But that’s not all. Moroso also offers an oil pan gasket (PN 27293) for the 7.3L Power Stroke. From the factory, the pan on these engines used a special sealant. The Moroso gasket is constructed from a high-temperature/oil-resistant material with a rigid core and built-in inserts at each bolt hole so the gasket cannot be over tightened. The gasket works with both styles of timing covers used on the 7.3L engine.
We chose to completely remove the engine in our ’02 F-250 to install the pan. In the past, we replaced another rusty OE pan on a ’99 F-250 by jacking up the engine just enough to remove the oil pan and sump as one unit (at the time, the transmission of said truck was removed for a rebuild, which made the job easier). In the case of this ’02 F-250, it had 120,000 miles on the odometer and still was running the factory clutch, so we figured we could knock out both projects at the same time, without spending so much time on our back on the shop floor. In the end, it only took us about five hours to remove the engine and get the new oil pan installed. Along the way, we found rust damage to other components and at press time we were waiting for parts to arrive from our local Ford dealer before we can begin reinstalling the engine. We’re anticipating that reinstalling the engine should take slightly longer than disassembly, so we’re expecting it to be in the 5-6 hour range.
Here are some highlights of what we found while removing the engine and a detailed look at the Moroso oil pan and gasket.
1. We were working with our friend Dave Daly at a relative’s home shop. This shop doesn’t have a vehicle lift, so to create a bit more room to work under the truck, we raised the front of the rig about 5 inches and supported it with jackstands. We then began the process of removing all of the items in front of the engine, which needed to be out of the way so the Power Stroke could be removed.
2. There were no surprises as we removed all of the things on the front of the vehicle. It is worth noting that you’ll need a way to evacuate the air conditioning system and capture the refrigerant prior to disconnecting the A/C lines. We prefer to take the truck to our local shop and have them evacuate the system and then recharge it when we’re finished.
3. With all of the front end components out of the way, we went to work on disconnecting all the various engine tubes and wiring. It’s worth noting that there’s a crossmember on the very front of the truck that makes a good platform for standing on while doing this work. It’s a small thing, but makes the tedious job a bit easier.
4. Living in the rust belt meant we had to take care while removing rusty parts. There was some collateral damage during disassembly however, no matter how careful we tried to be. This is one of the power steering fittings, which broke a line while we were removing it from the pump. We ordered a new one from our local Ford dealer. In another instance, we had to remove the upper engine ground strap from the cab of the truck because the bolt at the engine was frozen with rust.
5. It’s also worth noting that fuel line disconnect tools are needed to remove the fuel lines at the engine. These tools are inexpensive and available at Harbor Freight Tools, www.harborfreight.com for only $6.
6. Underneath, one of the things we removed was the slave cylinder on our manual transmission-equipped truck. This allowed easier access to the top bellhousing bolt on the driver side. After removing things such as the starter, oil filter, and motor mount bolts, we supported the transmission before we started removing the engine.
7. After triple-checking to ensure nothing was connected that shouldn’t be, we jockeyed the engine out of the truck by alternating between the two lift points on top of the engine.
8. With the engine out, we were able to go to work removing the old oil pan. First we removed the factory dipstick tube and the 12 bolts that attach the pan to the block. Then we went to work with a chisel to loosen up the pan from the block. Ford used a sealant that was rather stubborn, and it took some work with a hammer and chisel to break the pan free.
9. Here you can see the leaky factory oil pan next to the new Moroso oil pan. We were impressed at the build quality of the Moroso unit. We’re anticipating never having to deal with a rusty pan again.
10. We prepped the block for the new pan and gasket by removing all the factory sealant material. Naturally, there can’t be any old material remaining, as this could cause a problem with the seal of the new gasket.
11. The Moroso gasket comes with 12 new 8mm studs. These are longer than the factory fasteners to accommodate the thickness of the new gasket. Moroso recommends using a product like Loctite Threadlocker Blue 242 on the threads going into the engine block. This Loctite product allows normal disassembly with standard hand tools. The instructions say to leave between 3/4- and 7⁄8-inch of the threads exposed on each stud.
12. During our test fit of the Moroso pan and gasket, everything lined up perfectly with no problems. Our factory dipstick tube was in the same rusty shape as the factory pan and was unusable, so we ordered a new one from our local Ford dealer. After our parts arrive, we’ll be reinstalling the engine so we can get back to business. Now our truck won’t be leaving oil stains everywhere.
