Injector Problem?

[jaded13640]

Hello. I'm Wayne, a new member. This is my first post.

I had been making and running biodiesel in my 99 F-250 with 7.3 Powerstroke. I accidently poured some biodiesel into the tank that had not been completely dried. The water tripped the water in fuel light on the dash. I drained the filter cannister and it seemed to be fine at the time. But it wasn't. It's got a slightly rough idle now and is down on power.

My assumption is that the injectors were damaged by the water. I've been told by an injector rebuilder that those particullar injectors do not tollerate water very well at all. In fact, he said they destroy themselves even when only a very small amount of water gets run through them.

I'm very mechanically inclined and would be able to change the injectors easily but I'm not nearly as financially inclined as I am mechanically inclined. I priced a set of new ones a couple of years ago when this first happened and just about fell over when the guy told me the price.

What do you guys thing about this?

Any help would be appreciated,

Wayne

[jaded13640]

I'm not going to hold anyone personally responsible for giving bad advise, I just need some ideas. Like yesterday, on another forum, a guy suggested the lift pump being a potential culprit. He just didn't know what the pressure reading should be for a good pump.

Do any of you know or have access to a specs page that has it?

I'd really really appreciate ANY advise and/or information. I'm getting ready to move from Mid Michigan to Dallas Texas. I can't drive this thing down there, all that way, loaded to the ground, hauling a trailer loaded to the ground with it running the way it is. I'd love to be able to take it down to the dealer or repair shop and let them deal with it and just write em a check but I don't have the money. That's just not an option. I have to fix it myself. So I really really NEED your help.

Thanks,

Wayne

[Dirk]

Did you drain the tank or just the bowl?

[SMKSTAX]

First off Welcome to the org!! I wish i could help you with your problem but i don't know enough about it so here's a bump for ya.

[cchase]

diy-injectors.com its the most econmicaly way possible to do your injectors. but i dont know if you can rebuild broke ones.

[Marty]

DIY-Injectors.com

and

1999-2003 Ford 7.3L Powerstroke Injectors

[SCUFFY828]

before you buy injectors or anything , do this first , get the tank cleaned or just clean it yourself and also , make sure the filters on the sending unit are clean, its not that bad to pull the tank,once thats done and its back to running , run a fuel pressure test at the heads not the pump, but at the heads and it should be between 50 and 60 lbs and stay there ,this want cost anything and then you can let us know whats goin on and we'll go from there

[jaded13640]

DirkO, Yes, both. I recently changed the pick up unit in the tank because it was cracked and would allow the truck to run out of fuel when the tank got below 3/4 of a tank. While I had the tank out, I thoroughly drained and cleaned the tank. There really wasn't anything alarming in the tank. No water, no grit, no gunk. Nothing. I drained it, mopped it out with rags, rinsed it with clean fuel and put it back in. When the water in fuel light first came on, I drained the fuel filter cannister and promptly changed the filter.

CCchase and Maintaince, thanks for the links.

Scruffy828, thanks for the info. As I said above, the pickup unit was just replaced with a new one. Sorry I didn't mention that in the original post. You say to test the pressure at the heads instead of the pump. I'm not all that familliar with a test port on the heads. Where exactly is it/are they located on the head? And, what type of connection is it? Knowing that before I start will help me to located the proper gauge or at least an adapter so that I can use one of the various gauges I already have. Thanks for the pressure spec. That will help me in selecting the correct gauge for the job. There's nothing worse that hooking up a finely callibrated 0 to 15 PSI gauge to a port that carries 50 or 100 pounds of pressure! I really hate it when that happens! Also, when I test the pump's output pressure, should this be done with the key on, engine off or should it be running? If off, does the pump cycle off when it gets up to pressure like on a gasoline fuel injection fuel pump? If so, should I cycle the key a few times or will just once do it?

Thanks again, let me know what that connector looks like and where it's located one each head as soon as you can get a chance.

Wayne

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Last edited by jaded13640 : 02-04-2008 at 08:01 PM.

[headwatermike]

Wayne,

You might check my post about water ruining my injectors:
99 still idles rough, low power, is it the turbo?
I used fuel from a nearly new tank that had apparently collected some water. It was an expensive mistake.

I replaced two more injectors yesterday. After replacing the first 3, it ran about 85% better. Now it is running at about 95%. I think I'm going to go ahead and order the final 3 injectors (they're all on the same side, so they will only take an hour or two to do).

The mechanic who finally found my problem replaced the first three. He told me to be careful in two areas: oil/fuel in the cylinder and properly torquing the retaining bolt. The job is easy. I took out the oil rail plug, but didn't remove the fuel drain plug as instructed in my Haynes manuel. Instead, I did as my mech did and pulled the glow plug and cranked the engine with it out after replacing the injector. Put the valve cover in place with a couple of bolts before doing this. The mech told me to torque the one retainer bolt you remove to 10 ftlbs, I went with the book spec of 9. Obviously I am assuming a certain level of knowledge here. If you need more detail, ask. The glow plug torque is 14 ftlbs, the valve cover bolts 6 or 7.

I don't know if your truck needs injectors, you will have to determine this yourself.

I took a chance and ordered injectors from an ebay supplier, Pensecola Diesel. I talked to him on the phone, and he said that they do not replace all the parts in injectors unless they are damaged. He said they strip and clean every injector, then replace as needed. They bench test and calibrate every one and offer a 12 mo warrenty. At $100 each, I took the chance as I could not find any feedback. I only drove the truck a few miles, but so far so good. Read the fine print before you order injectors, as some places back charge you for having cores that are not perfect, which I found a bit underhanded (if your cores were good, why would you be replacing them!?!).

Here's a link:
eBay Store - pensacoladiesel:

Good luck.

Oh, the wire connector that can apparently cause problems is part of the valve cover gasket. It sounds funny, but you have to pull the valve cover to check the wires going to each injector.

I will also mention some redneck diagnostic techniques you might try:
disconnect each injector one at a time and put the valve cover back on, start, and see if it runs worse. Or use a digital point-and-shoot thermometer to check the temp of your exhaust manifold to check for a cylinder that is not running hot. I tried the second before replacing the last two injectors and couldn't get a difinitive difference, but if you have a couple of really bad performers they might show up.

You could also go to Ford and ask for a cylinder contribution test. That will point you in the right direction. It only tells if some cylinders are producing less than the average amount of power, so after you fix those, others might show up as bing the new low producers. After my experience with Ford, I'm not really their best supporter.

Hope this helps--I sure could have used this info a couple of months ago!!
Mike

ps
I was told that when the water gets in the injector, it destroys a piston/cylinder that pumps the fuel as there is no lubrication. Gasoline will do the same. Apparently it takes only a very small amount. If you know you got water in, you might just go ahead and order a set of 8 depending on your finances. Once the valve cover is off, the replacement is the eay part.

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Last edited by headwatermike : 02-10-2008 at 09:34 AM.

[Hiperf]

Pensacoladiesel will not warranty injectors that have been run with biofuel. Found that out the hard way.

The manager phillip wouldn't give me my money back.