Replace Orings or Replace Injectors

[Robin]

Carpenter here with limited motor skills but due to downward income spiral a few of us types are trapped in, I need to try and fix my '97 Powerstroke which I've put 385,000 miles on. Poor thing has been running very rough this summer and getting very hard to start, needing the block heater plugged in for a couple of hours to get it started. Now it barely wants to run at all and seems to be running on less than 8 cylinders. I've watched every utube video and read a lot of posts on this site and determined that my faithful old horse needs injector work,eh?
Will pulling the injectors and replacing the o rings get me by or should I send them in for an exchange? I've got right side valve cover off and #1 injector out at this point and am in a quandry as to what is the smartest yet not-a-penny-to-waste route to proceed. I did notice a burned out left outer prong on wiring harness and so have bought replacement kit with new valve cover gasket. I imagine that had something to do with the hard start as I understand that went to the glow plug, which since I'm in there I should go ahead and replace also at $11 apiece.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Robin

[BigFuel]

Glow Plugs do die (and it always happens when you least need it). Have you tried the Oregon section of this .org? There may be several people near to you that would have a AE scanner to put on your truck to see which injectors aren't putting out. While it's not great to only replace the injectors that are bad instead of the whole set I feel you and money is a practical concern. Go here and see if there is someone nearby that would lend a hand and help you save some money.


LINK -> Oregon Members - Ford Powerstroke Diesel Forum

[Robin]

Thanks, I didn't know there was a specific Oregon group. Will check it out.