any conclusion of why the block cracked??

A rare occurrence for sure..........??

problem on the 6.0s and 7.3s. poor quality casting is the consensus. i had heard that ford cast some of the blocks and international cast some. the fords were the ones that cracked so i heard. some one here said that he worked at ford and said that ford (or international, i cant remember which) cast all of them and they all were the same.

all i know is that i used the truck as it was designed to be used and it cracked. and i called the plant in indianapolis and talked to an engineer about it and found that ten years later they were still using exactly the same block even though they were aware of folks having cracking issues. hence why i will never buy another ford.

they all cracked on one side specifically. i dont remember any more which side.

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I have 91 Ford 7.3 with 481,000. Still use everyday as a shop truck. The valve covers have never ben off. The luck of the draw I guess.

All the stop leaks for blocks and heads are basically water glass if I remember. A good test if engine has been dummied up is to pull the top rad hose off the block and look inside. If it appears to have a glass coating someone has poured a good shot of water glass in. Was originally designed to stop boiler leaks years ago. Available quite cheap at drug stores or they order it in for you. All auto supplies carry it in small containers as block crack repair etc but the quantity is very small and at a much greater price. Cures best in presence of a component in the combustion process I believe. Anyways an old trick used by more than one used car seller. Perhaps not as common as it used to be but does not hurt to keep an eye open for it. Kind of like a coat of glass by the way when cured. I always wondered about the effect of reducing heat transfer once all the passages were coated.