As 7.3L Power Strokes age,engine oil leaks

As 7.3L Power Strokes age, engine oil leaks tend to develop in the pan or at the oil dipstick adapter. Because not all oil pans rust out, the latter scenario is more common. From the factory, the oil dipstick adapter relies on an internal O-ring to seal it to the inside of the pan. Over time, this O-ring expands, swells and sometimes even breaks, allowing oil to escape. What follows is a consistent drip of oil wherever you park the truck, not to mention that the passenger side of the oil pan, starter and even transmission will wear a coat of engine oil until you solve the problem. Due to its design, the adapter can’t be removed without first pulling the oil pan—and the engine has to be removed from the truck in order to pull the pan. At some point, every 7.3L ever produced will experience an oil leak from the dipstick adapter.

The Solution:Knowing that the immense labor costs involved in pulling the engine and oil pan just to replace a $30 part are hard to swallow for many 7.3L owners, Strictly Diesel came up with the Dipstick Adapter Repair Kit. It can be installed with the oil pan still on the engine and the engine still in the truck. The factory adapter is replaced with a billet-aluminum version, which makes use of a double O-ring seal on the outside of the oil pan (vs. the single O-ring seal on the inside of the factory piece). The billet adapter is secured to the oil pan thanks to a steel brace (which sits inside the oil pan) and two Allen bolts. With the Allen bolts torqued to spec, both O-rings are compressed against the outside wall of the pan for a leak-free seal.