Oil and general Old 7.3 questions

[stevo1000r]

I just got my first diesel ('96 f250) two weeks ago. I immediately changed the oil in it and when I looked at it today, it was already Pitch Black and smelled a little burnt. It didn't smell horrible - it mostly smelled like new oil.

1. I was wondering if it was normal for a 210,000 mile truck or am I just being Neurotic?

2. I know this is going to dredge up another age old discussion, but it is possible that if I changed the oil in the top of the engine at the same time as the bottom that the oil would stay "clear" longer?

3. I'm also wondering how much of a difference I'd feel in the seat of my pants with a chip, straight pipe exhaust, and intake - and possibly an adrenaline HPOP. I've driven several 2002 7.3's stock and they all seem to be quite a bit faster than my truck...


Any wisdom from all of you Powerstroke gurus would be much appreciated!


Oh, and by the way - this truck has totally made my catch the Diesel Bug!

[Goose]

you would def need the hpop injectors and a intercooler to get that kind of Seat of the pants i'd believe

[ajpu1983]

First off what most people dont know is that there are 15 quarts in the pan but there is also 1 quart in the HPOP reservoir and 1 quart in each head's oil rail. These 3 quarts get recirculated in the general oil supply... by theory. In actuality this oil gets super-thick and does not circulate as planned and is a main reason for worn out injector solenoids. You can service this oil by changing the oil as usual and then pulling the hex-head plug out of the oil reservoir and siphon that quart out. The reservoir is in the front of the motor in front of the fuel filter housing under the Powerstroke cover. Siphon the quart out and put a new quart in. Run the truck for 5-10 mins and repeat. Do once more and you have serviced most of that oil. Also the horsepower difference in your buddy's trucks comes from tuning, intercooler, and the later year models have HPOPs that put out 150-200 more psi of injection pressure. Speaking of Adrenaline HPOPs they are later year model HPOPs with some fine tuning and upgrades.

[stevo1000r]

By the way - I'm sorry, I just realized i put this in 99-03 forum - should've been on the 94-98. Thanks for the replies too!

[lcducote]

its pretty common for any diesel, especially high mileage diesels to have darkened oil and maybe even the burnt smell. nothin much to worry about, just change it on time.

[stevo1000r]

OK so I changed the oil in the HPOP reservoir, ran it a few minutes and repeated 2x. I could tell a difference immediately! It starts pulling lower in the RPMs and continues to pull higher as well.

The oil that came out was some of the nastiest stuff I've seen come out of a running engine (mind you, I'm new to diesels)

I am a LITTLE worried though because it's still a bit rough at about 1500-1600 RPM. I wouldn't be surprised if new injectors were in order soon. Would it be ok to change the only bad injector if it is the case?

Thanks for the advice guys! I've already learned a ton from this site!