2000 7.3 surges dies scanner wont communicate HELP!

[cumminstroker]

Hi, a buddy of mine has a 2000 f350 with the 7.3. It starts very hard, cranks and cranks then when it finally starts it runs very roughf and surges badly from about 500rpms to 1500rpms and if you tyr to hold it at a steady rpm like 3k it still surges, then all at once it will kick in and run relatively smoothly. I have a mac taskmaster scanner and attempted to hook it up and it will not communicate with the pcm, it just says the ignition is turned off. I checked the fuse for the obd2 plug and it is good. Any suggestions on where to go from here would be appreciated.

[NoRalPh]

I'm afraid I don't know anything about your scanner, have you used it on 7.3's before? I know there's some specific configuration you might need to change. See if you have an option to use the J1850PWM settings maybe. If you have power to the port along with a WTS light when you first roll-on the key AND it starts even a little bit, the computer's Gotta be running....

Hopefully it's just the proper configuration that's keeping you from communicating.

[cumminstroker]

I have used this scanner on lots of 7.3's of all years and never had this problem. I do have a WTS light so that was confusing me too. I will try my older scanner and see if that works. Thanks for the reply.

[cumminstroker]

Tried my other scanner to no avail. Any ideas on what would cause this or any thoughts on what to check as far as the running problem? I am not sure where to procede please help!

[NoRalPh]

How does the OBD-II connector pins look? Being that it's right above the accelerator pedal, in snowy areas, it can get wet with salt residue and corrode. I've seen them pretty "green" and unable to properly connect...

Any chance yours is cruddy?

[cumminstroker]

Well I went and tried my old scanner and it communicated with it along with another that my buddie has. There are no codes stored in the thing but neither scanner has the ability to check live sensor data like my taskmaster so I cant check icp or ipr values. I tried the taskmaster on another 7.3 in the meantime and it worked perfectly. Nevertheless, when I crank the truck over it takes a long time to build oil pressure on the gage and along time of cranking to get it to fire at all even when warm. When it does start you have to give it some throttle to keep it running at first then it will sit and idle idle but not the best. If I hold it at an rpm it acts like its running out of fuel and will die. I replaced the fuel filter in the meantime and checked for proper flow to the filter housing. To me it runs like a bad hpop but without reading the icp I do not really want to throw parts at it. Any input would be apreciated, thanks again.