It's terrible for it but I think you could keep driving it. Our motor ran out of oil and the injectors kept working. Also why have you not fixed the oil leak before parking it on your driveway and dumping a bunch of oil in it?
7.3 idi ran out of oil
so my dad took his 93 7.3 nonturbo out yesterday, he drove roughly 30 miles, and he left a big trail of motor oil all the way from the parking spot in the driveway, all they way down the road, he never saw that it was leaking, but he couldnt make it back home bc it started knocking coming up the hill on his way back, we towed it back to the driveway and added 2 gallons of oil and it started up and sounds fine, i read that the injectors will quit working when the oil gets low, so how much damage is done?
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Yup, 7.3 Idi relies on oil pressure to pressure the injectors IIRC. Bad for it. But likely gonna be fine since he shut her off and towed it. Sounds like bottom end and cam bearings survived okay or it'd be knocking like a bastard still. Fix the leak, drive it and see.
Fix the leak for 2 reasons.....#1save that poor trucks motor, and #2 dead dino juice ain't cheap anymore😉
Fix the leak for 2 reasons.....#1save that poor trucks motor, and #2 dead dino juice ain't cheap anymore😉
My superduty was ran out of oil by my buddy (when he owned it about 12-15 y/a)
And afaik nothing was ever done to it.
And afaik nothing was ever done to it.
Yes, for the 1993.5 and up 7.3L HEUI engines, though by the time that happens you have already damaged the engine, it just will not be a catastrophic failure with rods exiting the block or oil pan.i read that the injectors will quit working when the oil gets low
After you run low on oil (really any engine) the best thing to do is take an oil sample, send it away, and change the oil and filter. A rebuilt long block V-6 for my small POJ rusting Fords are only $1200-$1400, so, I would not bother doing an oil sample if I ran them dry. Considering the cost of a short block 7.3L, if you can find them, I would probably want an idea if I did serious engine damage or not.
The knocking was probably because the engine was too hot and dieseling, so, I would look into checking the coolant and make sure it is still viable. If so, then do a compresion check on the engine and coolant system. You probably only shortened the life by < 10,000 miles by running it hot and the knocking was from pre-iginition, not from rod , bearing noise, etc.
$0.02
Ran one to the point of dieseling. Never did a thing to it. Owner did it again later. Never suffered. Long as it was shut off when the knocking starts . Running it to the point it stalls would maybe damage it. Even the 95 ups take it. Turbos don't like it lol. But the engine itself.. ,seemed fine. Off course change the oil and filter and fix whatever's leaking.
Bro goes a little over board sometimes. 
7.3 idi is mechanical injection. 100% fuel lubricated. Running it out of oil is not great anyway. Worst thing is 21:1 compression ratio is hard on dry bearings. I would definitely cut the filter open and look at it before I went anywhere I didn't want to walk home from.
The injectors definitely not dependent on oil whatsoever, these engines can handle a lot of abuse, fix the oil leak and run it
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