99 still idles rough, low power, is it the turbo?

[headwatermike]

I posted here a few weeks ago regarding my early 99 7.3. It is running rough, like it is on 7 cylinders. At an idle and under acceleration the truck shakes from the miss. At about 1800 rpm and above it smooths out and builds power, but not like it should. I finally was able to leave it at a mechanic over Xmas. He said it had oil in the intercooler lines and that the turbo was shot. "Blowing oil," he said. I told him in my experience that bad turbos caused alot of smoke. He said it was leaking on the intake side, and the oil was being blown into the engine causing it to flood and run roughly. He quoted me $1500 for the turbo and 6-8 shop hours to r&r. He wanted a couple more shop hours and $150 to chemically clean the intercooler. He also tried to high gross me on a front bearing assembly. He recommended that I don't do the repairs and instead "trade it in."

Trouble is, I looked at the intake side of the turbo before taking it to him, and had it at Ford a week before the problem started (~3 weeks before he saw the truck). There wasn't much for oil in the ic line, and the shaft is tight at the intake side. Ford techs also said turbo looked ok when they saw it ("lightly dusted"). Also, the truck went from no smoke whatsoever to a very light amount of blue smoke, only noticeable if looking for it. And the truck isn't using any more oil than I'm used to in a couple of thousand miles like this.

Now I'm stuck not knowing what to do. I don't trust this mech I took the truck to, as he lied about costs (said he would replace the front bearing assembly for his cost on the part plus labor, cost being $625--trouble is my cost is only $495 from the dealer, and I don't mind a mechanic making money, but I didn't ask for his cost, so why lie??). I called Ford and they can't see the truck for over a week on account of my schedule and theirs, but the service guy there I sort of trust told me that he didn't believe it was the turbo.

I want to buy a turbo and bolt it on, but I don't want to spend $800 to find out that my mechanic was full of bs. Does this sound like a turbo? I've replaced a bad turbo before, and you could tell it was bad from several blocks away (smoke). There simply is not much oil at all in the intercooler lines, and this doesn't seem like the problem. I hope I'm wrong so I can fix this thing. Never t!hought I'd say it but I wish I knew I had a bad turbo so I can move forward!

My other option is to wait until the 18th and let Ford diagnose it, but sometimes it seems like if the truck doesn't have any codes, they don't know what to do. I'm tired of spending money for no help--I paid Ford $80 to look at her for poor mileage (getting 11-12 mpg empty going <70 mph) only to have them try to sell me a new intake for $500 with no assurance that it would help; now I paid $170 to this mechanic for what I'm afraid is bs.

I need to fix this truck, but am at a loss. Any ideas out there?

How do you check fuel pressure? I have an old fuel pressure gauge, but not sure where I can tap into the line.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

PS Anyone know a of a good mech around Bozeman, MT???

[Dirk]

I'd say you have o-ring or injector issues. Oil in the IC isn't a concern for me, it's being sucked into the turbo from the CCV.

Take it to another mechanic. I would like to know what a contrib/balance test, buzz test, and data stream shows.

[jdb213]

I don't know if this will help but it sounds a lot like what mine was doing. Turns out it was a bad injector.

[headwatermike]

Thanks,
I think you both are probably correct about an injector problem. That's what it feels like. Which is exactly why I'm worried and don't want to throw parts at it based on the mechanic's word. I'll have a word with him again once I get a chance to have it in to Ford. Any chance it is the turbo??

[vitalidle]

I would find a mechanic that knows diesels that you can trust!

[Dirk]

Originally Posted by headwatermike

Thanks,
I think you both are probably correct about an injector problem. That's what it feels like. Which is exactly why I'm worried and don't want to throw parts at it based on the mechanic's word. I'll have a word with him again once I get a chance to have it in to Ford. Any chance it is the turbo??

There is a chance you may have turbo problems, but you'd be giving us difference symptoms. I'd get a set of gauges to monitor the truck better. I run boost, EGT, and trans. I still want to see what the data shows. I'd be concerned about your HPOP pressures also.

The "flooding your engine" sounds like this guy mainly deals in gas engines.

[street-legal?]

Originally Posted by dirk0

There is a chance you may have turbo problems, but you'd be giving us difference symptoms. I'd get a set of gauges to monitor the truck better. I run boost, EGT, and trans. I still want to see what the data shows. I'd be concerned about your HPOP pressures also.

The "flooding your engine" sounds like this guy mainly deals in gas engines.

NO KIDDING FLOODINg..... It would take a lot to " flood" a 7.3

i wouldnt ever take it to him again.

Mine is ruuing rough also. I has to chip it it has such poor power.

[headwatermike]

Time for an update.

I took the truck to Bozeman Ford. They did a cylinder contribution test and said 3 and 5 were bad and wanted to do a compression test. I asked if they tested the injectors. He said "we would have found bad injectors by now." Compression on that side was 360 on 1 and 7 and 320 on 3 and 5. He said cough up $11k for a new engine, that is your problem. I asked again about injectors, as I don't know crap about diesels but I know bad compression, and it didn't seem like the main issue. I reminded him that this problem started over night. One day she purred, the next day the miss shook the entire truck. I had to tell him twice to put the truck back together, I wasn't buying an engine yet. He cost me a day's work. I'll be updating Ford on Mon, not that they'll care.

I took the truck to Billings and left it with my brother's mechanic (old Ford tech). He assured me that the main problem wasn't compression, but bad injectors (told me that two months ago when the problem cropped up). He did a cylinder cont test and found 3,5,7, and 6 bad. Replaced 3,5,and 7 and tested again. Now it's showing weak 1 and 8. It is running alot better my brother says, but still has a miss. I'm going to do the rest of the injectors myself rather than play this guessing game.

The question: has anyone tried injectors for sale on Ebay that are rebuilt? Some of the builders are 1/2 price from the local supplyer and have 100% positive feedback.

The moral: well, there are a few. The biggest is don't buy a used fuel tank and fill up from it without purging it first. In fact, maybe don't even use an external fuel tank at all. The fuel tank I bought before going on the road (working out of town) is the culprit. The mech told me that the water in the tank destroyed my injectors and cost me nearly $2k so far. Anyone in the market for a really nice AL fuel tank+toolbox??

[Just Because]

Hey my 02 ford f350 just started "missing" today on my way home. Ran perfect earlier today. Just suddenly started running roughand blowing a bit of white-ish smoke upon a little acceleration and starting. It does smoothe out at higher rpms though. Not 100% sure whats going on. Do you think it could be a bad injector?

[powerstrok`n]

have you checked the connectors that go under the valve covers?
they may have one burned causing the problem you described.

GOOD LUCK