A couple of weeks ago I noticed my truck was slowly running worse and worse. It was not consistent; sometimes it would be just fine, other times it would be a little on the chug-y side. I did some research and it seemed like new fuel filters would solve the problem. I was going to wait until that weekend to change them.
One day while driving home from work (2-3 miles) the truck just died. When I cranked it nothing would happen. I had read earlier about a guy with a similar problem who stabbed a hole in the upper filter to get home, so I did that and got it the rest of the 1/2 mile home. Truck ran super.
As I didn't have the correct tools with me, I just replaced the top filter. The old one was pretty brown, but it didn't really look as bad as other people had said. I did the ignition on for 30s, off 30s, on 30s for 5-6 times and then started it. The truck started fine, but within a minute or so it started running poorly. I cracked the fuel filter on top and a bunch of air hissed out. I closed it again and the truck fired right up. I tried to drive it around the neighborhood and it died again; perhaps 500 ft.
Once I was able to get the big socket I changed out the lower filter as well (using the International OEM filters), but the problem persists. I have noticed that I can crack the upper filter to bleed off whatever is in there, then close it and I can drive the truck for a minute or two. The problem always comes back, and seems to always be able to be fixed by opening the upper filter.
At this point I am hoping that it is some check valve or something that is broken, but I am not seeing anything helpful on any of the forums. Most people say that you just have to bleed the air out of the lines, but that doesn't seem to be working. I can leave it idling seemingly for as long as I want, but as soon as I put a load on it the thing goes down hill.
Also noticed that my EGT would go way up during that time, hitting around 1000 deg (normal driving on a flat road is usually somewhere in the 600 range). For whatever reason, the engine is just loading up. Has anyone else experienced this?
One other thing that comes to mind, I did have the EGR/Oil Cooler replaced about 8000 miles ago.
A week or two before I started having fuel problems, I was pulling out of a service station after just filling up and my truck read 50 miles to E, the gauge was almost at E. Just for my own sanity I hit the next station to top off, the truck took about $.60 of fuel before it was full. I started driving again and over the next 100 or so miles the fuel gauge came up and the miles to E started reading like normal. I've filled up since then and haven't had this issue since.
My truck has been doing this too. I read about cracked injector cups pushing air back through the injectors and causing a it to run rough. You can check this by doing a bubble test. Im not a mechanic but sounds a lot like a cracked injector cup to me.
It's not a cracked cup. It's either leaking around where the injector tip seats to the injector body or you have a copper washer going out. The reason your filter is brown is because of the exhaust gases getting into the fuel. Remove upper filter, remove the plastic piece that filter sits on. Then energize the starter with key off. Do you see bubbles?
LoxDiesel: Thanks, I'll give that a shot today. I am going to limp it over to my friends shop for them to look at further, but it would be nice to have an idea of what's going on first. Is the fault injector seal a problem that develops over time?
Did that, but the injectors on one side of the motor have failed the "contribution test", so he recommends replacing them all. I seriously cannot afford that, so its' going to come back to my house until I can figure something out.
I didn't ask specifically, but I am assuming that the fuel pressure was not correct. I believe he said it was the passenger side bank, but I am not 100%. Obviously, it would be better to do all the injectors, but what is the harm in just doing the ones that are bad?
Are reman injectors worth getting, or should I look for brand new OEM?
Well when you have air pumping into the fuel the pressure will read normal if you think about it. So watching contribution they decided to tell you to replace the entire bank. Which is normal for most shops to suggest.
If you want to go back to the bubble test and figure it out yourself this is how. Pull the filter and filter stand inside the upper fuel filter as shown above. Engage the starter with the exciter and make sure there is a little fuel in the bowl. Do you see bubbles?
If bubbles are present now remove the glow plug harness on the said bank that has negative contribution. Pull one at a time til and retest til bubbles stop. You should have your answer
You can replace 1 or 8 just find the faulty ones. Not impressed with shop replacing fuel pump for no reason. Use FORD remans on the injectors. There aren't any new injectors left.
Is it foolish to trust a non-motorcraft rebuilt injector? I've found some less expensive offerings that say specifically that they've replaced the spool valve with a new one. If I am just getting one injector the cost is negligible to get a real Ford injector, but for a whole set it is significant.
I'm in no way pushing them, but I do remember one of the members here said he had good luck with InjectorsDirect. OEM remans have the best reputation though.
I will agree that there are some reman injectors out there that are not Ford and are fine. It just seems that there are fewer problems with Ford injectors.
Use only genuine OEM Ford injectors for the best luck, they have the best track record. Autonation Ford in White Bear Lake, MN. or Ed@FICMrepair have the best prices. If 1 is out the other 7 are probably not far behind.
The whole bank failed the contribution test because at least one injector is leaking compression (air or combustion gasses) into the fuel system on that side. I am extremely certain you will fail the bubble test if you try it. The air wipes out the fuel supply on that side. Ford recommends replacing all injectors on that side because it damages all injectors that are starved for fuel (over time it damages all the injectors on this side). The air makes its way into the fuel filter housing and pushes fuel out and the truck eventually dies due to fuel starvation. I am currently fixing this exact problem on my truck. Make sure whoever fixes it actually torques the injector hold downs correctly and cleans the cups well, or the problem will persist which is where I'm at. Good luck.
Thank you for the heads up about cleaning the cups, do those stay in the head or do they come out with the injector? Since I don't NEED my truck right away, I might just bring it home and let it sit for a little bit so I can get the funds together for a full set of injectors. I surely don't want to have to deal with this when I am out on the road, as we are going to try and drive to PA from California again this summer.
I was finally able to get out to work on my truck a little yesterday. I utilized The FORscan tool and found there were codes for contribution to the 1 and 3 cylinders. I ran the injector buzz test while the truck was dead cold and it seemed that those injectors didn't buzz. Also, compared to what I've heard in videos, the whole procedure was much quieter than I expected. I ran the truck for a bit while checking the FICM voltage in and out, that all looked good.
The truck idled great for a while, though the RPMs would jump and stay for a bit (like high-idle on a gas engine), blipping the throttle would drop it back down to normal. Finally, when the ECT was around 60-70 degrees, the motor sputtered and died. It would not start back up while warm. I ran the buzz test again, and this time all of the injectors buzzed just fine and the test sounded like the volume had increased.
I am going to try and do the bubble test today and will report back with those results, but it seems like the immediate issue is the 1 and 3 injectors with sticking spool valves when cold. This doesn't seem like it should prevent the truck from running altogether those, so I am not sure there is not something else going on here. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
Run the bubble test. If that fails, single out the offending injector by removing one glow plug at a time from the suspect bank. Whichever cylinder you remove the glow plug from that causes the bubbles to stop is the cylinder to remove the injector from.
If the copper washer is blown out, you can try just resealing the injector. But it should probably be replaced since, as mentioned, the lack of fuel pressure is hard on the internals.
Personally, I wouldn't bother replacing all 8 injectors because of one failed washer. I might recommend all of them on that bank since it's already open. Depends what the customer wants to spend tho.
I always recommend OEM. Least number of come backs with them. Almost none
Thank you for the advice. This is on my personal truck. I am not a mechanic, but was a number of years ago.
I was able to get out there yesterday and today and get at all the glow plugs. Both glow plug harnesses are toast, but in the process I learned how to actually get them out correctly for next time.
I went through both sides and narrowed it down to number 3, that's the only one that is letting compression gas go by. Every single glow plug was covered in burnt motor oil, not sure if that means anything in particular. I took pictures of each one in case it would help in diagnosing.
I created a video of the injector buzz test because it doesn't sound right, would someone with some experience in these provide an opinion on which injector(s) I should replace?
My initial diagnosis (again, not a professional) is that the Cylinder 1 and Cylinder 3 injectors are hurt; I came to that conclusion because the buzz test sounded like 1 and 3 were not buzzing when cold, and there are two codes that stand out in the PCM: P0263 and P0269. After I fired the truck up (no effort required when cold, fired right up) and raised the ECT up to around 65 degrees or so, subsequent buzz tests sounded just like they do in everyone else's videos. Just fine. The truck did die on its own after warming up, I am hoping that is due to the compression gas passing. One thing I remember from when the truck first went down is that I could drive it for a mile or so (trying to get it home from down the road) and I would have to pull over and bleed off the upper fuel bowl, then it would start right up and run poorly.
If I can order whatever injectors I need on Monday or Tuesday, I should be able to get them by next weekend when I'll have more time to work on it. Excited to get my truck back on the road, I miss it!
Can't hear 4, 7, 8.
Odd that it fires up cold without hesitation.
Well, you know you'll need one injector. I'd buy the one, then connect it to the 4, 7, and 8 connectors while running buzz tests.
If 4, 7, and 8 buzz with the new injector plugged in, I'd say may as well replace all of them.
That's what I'd do anyways
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