Ford 7.3L Godzilla cam issue; Tell me what you think

[Spike555]

What do you guys think? This is a Ford 7.3 Godzilla, it suffered from the typical cam shaft failure that this engine is notorious for.
How many miles do you think are on this thing?
First picture is the timing set, second is left cylinder head, then right cylinder head, then the oil pan looking down from the timing set.
It is getting a new cam, lifters and pushrods.

 

[bullwinkle]

Sure looks clean-25K?

 

[Kira]

What kind of vehicle was it in?

Gimme the 350K longshot.

 

[nascarnation]

Not familiar with these. What is the root cause? Metallurgy? Heat treat? Same supplier as the Hemi?

 

[Danno]

7.3 Godzilla - might need a rename to 7.3 Wimpzilla

Cause when they're down, they're making zero power.

 

[cptbarkey]

What is the typical camshaft failure, do elaborate.

40k miles.

 

[jhellwig]

Under 10k.

 

[dnewton3]

Is this your engine? Or something you found on the net and regurgitated here?
What year of production? (I'm curious if this is a first year engine, or late mode; that would indicate if it's an ongoing problem or not).

 

[Chris142]

First I have heard of cams failing in these . How is the 6.2 doing?

 

[Spike555]

This is in a 2020 Ford F-59 delivery van, it has 122k on it. I am the fleet manager and I have a fleet of these to take care of.
I use 15w-40 conventional diesel oil, 10,000 mile oil changes.
This van is rode hard and put away wet 6 days a week, dirt roads, stop and go all day long. 8-10hrs a day.
The cam shaft delaminates, which causes the lifters to not roll over the cam lobes smoothly, then the lifters go bad.
If you let it go long enough the engine will grenade.
Catch it soon enough, replace the cam and lifters, good to go.
Ford got a bad batch of cam's as this was made during Covid.

I have video of it running and making noise, but the forum won't let me upload it.

 

[Braapdaddy]

10k is about 4k to long on the oil

 

[hemitom]

This is in a 2020 Ford F-59 delivery van, it has 122k on it. I am the fleet manager and I have a fleet of these to take care of.
I use 15w-40 conventional diesel oil, 10,000 mile oil changes.
This van is rode hard and put away wet 6 days a week, dirt roads, stop and go all day long. 8-10hrs a day.
The cam shaft delaminates, which causes the lifters to not roll over the cam lobes smoothly, then the lifters go bad.
If you let it go long enough the engine will grenade.
Catch it soon enough, replace the cam and lifters, good to go.
Ford got a bad batch of cam's as this was made during Covid.

I have video of it running and making noise, but the forum won't let me upload it.

What kind of gas mileage do get on these vans ?
buy the looks of the engine the 15w40 and 10k o.c.i seems to be doing the job ! to bad there is a defect in manufacturing i wonder what kind of miles you could put on one in your use ?

 

[MNgopher]

Rode hard, put away wet on dirt roads etc... with a 10k interval.

What's the oem recommended interval for severe duty, not optimum conditions?

Think you may find an answer there...

 

[Spike555]

Rode hard, put away wet on dirt roads etc... with a 10k interval.

What's the oem recommended interval for severe duty, not optimum conditions?

Think you may find an answer there...

What answer do you think I'll find?
Ford recommends following the oil life monitor OR 10k, whichever is sooner.
The oil life monitor on all of my vans comes on around 7500 miles.
Ford RECOMMENDS 5w30 full syn.
This is Ford's HD engine, it does not have a non severe service interval.

 

[bullwinkle]

The cams on the Godzilla have a REALLY bad reputation-not sure if they’re possibly Chinese? From the stories here, & on the net, I’m not sure oil, or even OLM length OCIs, would have stopped it. At least the engine survived.

 

[Spike555]

What kind of gas mileage do get on these vans ?
buy the looks of the engine the 15w40 and 10k o.c.i seems to be doing the job ! to bad there is a defect in manufacturing i wonder what kind of miles you could put on one in your use ?

MPG is around 6.5.
Others in my industry use cheap full syn 5w-30, change it every 5-6k and replace their engines every 150-175k, all sludge up and smoking.
Not a single one of mine use any oil between oil changes.
I add 8 qts, I get 8 qts back.

 

[bullwinkle]

What answer do you think I'll find?
Ford recommends following the oil life monitor OR 10k, whichever is sooner.
The oil life monitor on all of my vans comes on around 7500 miles.
Ford RECOMMENDS 5w30 full syn.
This is Ford's HD engine, it does not have a non severe service interval.

I’m pretty hard on the overloaded Transit 250 DI/port injected 3.5 in my sig, the OLM usually goes off at ~9500 miles, but ir’s getting 7500 regardless (5W20, usually PP or Service Champ full synthetic).

 

[Spike555]

The cams on the Godzilla have a REALLY bad reputation-not sure if they’re possibly Chinese? From the stories here, & on the net, I’m not sure oil, or even OLM length OCIs, would have stopped it. At least the engine survived.

I have friends who work at one of the Ford dealers I use for wholesale parts, commercial service advisor and master tech both said the same thing, defective cam's for whatever reason.
They've seen F-350's with 2,000 miles on them with bad cams.
Replace the cam, good to go.

 

[Spike555]

I’m pretty hard on the overloaded Transit 250 DI/port injected 3.5 in my sig, the OLM usually goes off at ~9500 miles, but ir’s getting 7500 regardless (5W20, usually PP or Service Champ full synthetic).

I had 3 Transit high roof's in my fleet, 2 350 HD's with duals, one 250 HD AWD, one of the 350's was totaled, using the diesel oil in those too.
The AWD I change the oil in the PTU and front diff every 25k, that van is low miles though, only new drivers drive it so it doesn't get the 1,000+ miles a week my other vans do.

 

[bullwinkle]

This is in a 2020 Ford F-59 delivery van, it has 122k on it. I am the fleet manager and I have a fleet of these to take care of.
I use 15w-40 conventional diesel oil, 10,000 mile oil changes.
This van is rode hard and put away wet 6 days a week, dirt roads, stop and go all day long. 8-10hrs a day.
The cam shaft delaminates, which causes the lifters to not roll over the cam lobes smoothly, then the lifters go bad.
If you let it go long enough the engine will grenade.
Catch it soon enough, replace the cam and lifters, good to go.
Ford got a bad batch of cam's as this was made during Covid.

I have video of it running and making noise, but the forum won't let me upload it.

The 15W40 is likely the reason the cam lasted as long as it did!