Where Is The Block Heater On A 7.3 Power Stroke Diesel?

The Navistar/Ford 7.3L Power Stroke is highly regarded as one of the best diesel engines ever built. While the Power Stoke version of the 7.3L diesel engine didn't come out until 1994, Navistar's original 7.3 diesel had powered Ford trucks since 1988. Ford discontinued the 7.3 Power Stroke in 2003 in favor of the more technologically advanced and lower emissions 6.0L Power Stroke, even though the 6.0L Power Stroke had a host of common problems.

By comparison, the 7.3L Power Stroke Turbo Diesel engine often ranks as one of the best engines ever put in a Ford truck. However, even with its supreme reliability, unless your 7.3 is a remanufactured or rebuilt engine, it's going to be showing its age at over 20 years old and likely needs some minor repairs.

One commonly required repair involves replacing the block heater on the 7.3L Power Stroke. Fortunately, the 7.3L Power Stroke block heater is conveniently located near the bottom of the engine block, on the driver's side of the oil pan, just above the oil filter.

Before crawling under your 7.3L Power Stroke-equipped Ford truck to remove the old block heater, you should have a new one in hand. The part is easily sourced from a number of outlets, including Amazon where the Zerostart engine block heater is a top pick with a 4.5-star rating from over 635 reviews. The Zerostart block heater includes a 1,000-watt heating element and a new 120-volt power cord. While you may not need a new block heater power cord on your Ford truck, you should thoroughly inspect it to be sure. Ultimately, opting not to replace the power cord probably isn't going to save enough cash to replace the piece of mind that a new cord would provide.

You'll want to place a drain pan under the oil-filter housing where the block heater is located to catch the flood of engine coolant released when removing the old heater element. Unfortunately, draining the radiator still leaves coolant in the engine block, so be prepared to get messy. You can either remove the element and let all the coolant drain from the block or quickly insert the new block heater after removing the old one to retain as much coolant as possible.

You won't need many tools to change the block heater on a 7.3 Power Stroke diesel. The only uncommon tool you'll need is a 1-⅛-inch socket with a suitable ratchet, available individually or as a socket set from Harbor Freight or your favorite tool retailer.