P0269 Cylinder 3 Contribution

[W1ldBi11]

I've been troubleshooting a problem with my truck for a very long time. So far I've done the following:
Had injectors rebuilt by BDP.
Replaced IPR o-rings.
Replaced HPOP and IPR (truck will now start without ether).

The truck now shows a P0269. I pulled injector number 3 and something looked kind of funny on that injector. First, after I wiped the oil off of the spray nozzle I had to wipe vigirously to actually see the tiny spray holes. It had what seemed to be a lot of dark buildup. Second, one of the input holes in the injector isn't lined up. See picture.

To get a baseline, I pulled Injector number one. After a gentle wipe of the oil I could see the nozzle holes. Also, the input hole (not sure if diesel or oil) was lined up with the outer housing. See picture.

Is it OK for Injector 3 to look this way??

[f250ghost]

Looks like it was put together wrong to me...I'd call your injector supplier.

[W1ldBi11]

I emailed them and they said:

"The hole in the injector that is pictured does not have to be lined up with anything directly, there is a chamber cut into the housing all around the inside and the unused fuel exits around the chamber then out the hole.

The build up on the injector tip makes me wonder what the compression is on that cylinder. I forwarded this E-mail to the injector builder for him to look at the pics and he said it was normal."

Can someone weigh in on this response?

[W1ldBi11]

Anybody have an opinion?

[ajpu1983]

Run a compression test

[W1ldBi11]

I'm ordering the tools I need for the compression test now. I should know something by Wednesday.
Here's another question, if I do have one bad cylinder, and the problem is because of a cracked piston or bad rings, can I pull that one piston in my driveway without pulling the engine or crank? It sucks, but I don't have the facilities to pull the engine out and I'm afraid I'd have to sell the truck before I would pay someone to pull the engine and rebuild/replace.

[ajpu1983]

The problem is in order to get the oil pan off you at least have to pick the engine up somewhat in order to clear the crossmember. Then to get #3 out would be a nightmare. The engine needs to come out if it is a piston. It could however be a valve issue. I had one 97 F350 showing a contribution code and it was the wiring harness but would pass the buzz test. The compression test will tell-all.

[W1ldBi11]

I got the compression tester in this week and ran some tests today.
I ran the test using 5 revolutions of the engine. The engine was cold.

Cylinder 1: 400 PSI
Cylinder 3: 390 PSI
Cylinder 5: 290 PSI
Cylinder 7: 325 PSI

Oddly enough, cylinder 3 tested out pretty good from what I can tell. Given the wide variance in compression, it's not looking good...
Can I get some input on these numbers?
I've heard any where between 5% and 25% variability is OK. Which is true?

[ju015dd]

looks like rebuild time, shouldn't be under 350 if I remember correctly. Are you getting any white gray blue smoke going down the road or on startup? i just had to get mine rebuilt had 290 on cylinder 4 and 310 on 8.

[W1ldBi11]

I do have white smoke on startup - more smoke than before I started having problems almost a year ago. The smoke does not go away, it is persistent no matter how warm the engine gets. The smoke used to go away after the engine got warm.