Ford 7.3 Gas Problems and Other Potential Issues
Hannah DeWitt
· 3 min read
In the hyper-competitive market of domestic pickup trucks, one-upping the competition is an age-old tradition. While Ford is the king of truck sales, that hasn't stopped the company from coming up with new innovations.
Such is the case with the relatively new 7.3L gas V8 engine, an engine block so powerful that Ford insiders named it "Godzilla." While Godzilla surely is powerful, there are always concerns about the reliability of new engines.
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Specs of the Godzilla engine
There's no doubt that the Ford 7.3 combustion engine is truly a beast. It’s the stock engine on F-450 and F-600 models, and is also available as an upgrade on the F-250 and F-350.
The 7.3 Godzilla engine replaces the stock 6.2 "Boss" engine on upgraded F-250s and F-350s. The cost of upgrading engines is surprisingly only about $2,000.
The Boss engine has been on the market since 2011 and has shown itself to be reliable. Diesel IQ was able to prove that Boss engines can easily make it to the 300,000-mile mark.
Common Ford 7.3 problems
Even though the Ford 7.3 gas engine has only been around since 2020, a few issues have already popped up.
- Gas mileage
- Spark plug harness failure
- Isolated issues
Not really an "engine problem" per se, but the Godzilla engine does get atrocious gas mileage. This is not the engine you would want to minimize gas expenses or reduce carbon emissions. According to Diesel IQ, the Godzilla only gets 12 MPG for combined city and highway driving, dipping even lower if you're towing something.
There have been some problems with the wiring harness of the spark plugs. So much so that there have been reported cases of misfires and even no-start situations.
Luckily, this appeared early on and has been corrected in the manufacturing process. Dealerships will fix this issue, or you can do it yourself with a $30 part.
As for the isolated issues, there have been a few reports of stuck lifters and cylinder scoring. However, these issues are rare. A handful of engines have also experienced catastrophic failure, but, again, this is incredibly rare.
Do the gas problems make the Ford 7.3 a bad buy?
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The issues with the Ford 7.3 gas engine are minuscule and largely nonrecurring. Other than the $30 spark plug issue, there is little to worry about with this new beefy engine.
Of course, it's too young to know what its longevity will look like. But if it's anything like its 6.2 Boss cousin, we think Ford's Godzilla will have a longer lifespan than the creature it's named after.
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