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Save my marriage

4K views 28 replies 8 participants last post by  66Bronco 
#1 ·
Ignoring my wife's advise,a few days ago I sold my low mileage, super clean 04 150 4x4 so I could buy a well used , 99 crew cab dually 2wd Lariat, so I could pull the bigger camper that I had just convinced her we needed. All in all truck is in good shape, body clean, interior so so, but what made me jump on it was the engine .All new up top, including low and high pressure pumps, injectors, harness,v.c gaskets.... all from ford (3800 in parts )and all done last month.Tranny and rear end recently gone through, so I figured it was a great deal .Long story short, the day I bought it, it ran stellar ,for 480 miles (up and down the Fancy Gap , walking the dog). At the 481 mark, it started skipping and smoking at idle, with a pretty good knock.Buzz test good, contribution keeps failing no 7. I swapped injectors, and no 7 still misses and smokes. Hard to tell if it is black or blue, but it isn't white. Seems to go away under load, but I'm not sure.It sounds like extreme leakage into the crankcase, and does have lots of pressure at oil filler. I am going to borrow a compression gauge Monday since all I have is car stuff and check. Broken rings on one piston doesn't make sense. Any ideas
 
#5 ·
not much different. A few items need attended to, but for most part, from what i've read, no worries to drop one in.

If, with the oil fill cap off, and it blows the cap from the filler tube, you definetly have a dead hole or two..:doh:
 
#7 ·
Problem comes and goes, only skips and smokes at idle. Here is the kicker: Because of the loud knock at idle (car guys thinks all knocks are bad), and what seemed like a lot of blow by I was convinced the motor needed to go. I bought a low mileage short block to swap in. On the way to the shop I stopped at the car wash to clean off the engine (which was really clean to begin with), and it ran poorly right up to when I shut it off. Since I washed it, it hasn't skipped a beat! I've let it idle for a few hours, dogged the heck out of it.....running like a top, zero smoke and no knock.. I'm holding off on the swap for obvious reasons ! Is it possible to have wiring or icm problems that won't store a code?
 
#8 ·
just a few possibilitys here...since the problem is come and go, i would rule out rings, valves, or valve springs. Smoke and skip at idle sounds like to much fuel on one or more cylinders (no. 7 most likely since it failed contribution). If its fuel it should be a greyish black color...oil would be blueish grey. Injectors don't usually come and go...they may skip at idle and smooth out as revs increase but once they start skipping they don't stop. I would guess either injector driver module or wiring on no. 7. One way to rule out a few things is to swap injectors from a cylinder that passes contribution to no.7 and re-run the test. If no. 7 is still dead, it has to be in the wiring or electronics. Hope that helps. Also, if it starts skipping again...use a mechanics stethoscope or stick or vaccum hose to find which bank the skip is on...pull that valve cover and unhook each injector one at a time until you find the one that makes no difference in idle quality...now you know which cylinder is down for sure and you can diagnose from there. If you can borrow an IDM from a good running truck that would rule it out as well.
 
#9 ·
I'll tell you the same thing I told the high school kid that wants to go from 7.3 to 6.0. You're an idiot. You swapped a known good truck for a "Let's play WTF is going on?". You've gone pretty far in fixing all the issues. What you need to do is build the heck out of the short block. I mean, build it right. Then when it comes proper time to swap out the "good" top end, replace what needs replaced. Put in new injector cups, wait to do the swap until you can get at least stage 1 single shot, upgrade the turbo to the WWgen2, and just do it all right the first time. You washed this thing and it seems to be running right. That means a sensor or eight are screwballed. The engine itself is solid, but the peripherals are messing with you. If you need to, go through the AE (or other real scan tool) and replace what needs replaced. You have another engine on standby, so don't worry about that. Sensors don't go out for fun, so you're not wasting money. You're simply spending money now that you don't have to spend later.

You made a poor choice in replacing a known decent 6.0 with an unknown 7.3, but the change is made, and you're pressing on. Save face and fix it right the first time. The 7.3 is a solid platform. You won't go wrong with it, you just won't pull 10sec 1/4 miles with 10K lb trailer. You'll pull a 24K lb trailer just as fast as a 10K trailer, it just won't be quick.
 
#11 ·
you actually look like the idiot there champ. you read a couple of sentences, draw some conclusions and call the guy an idiot.

his first sentence says he traded an '04 F150

and then you tell him he has to build another engine because he's having some intermittent electrical issues.

to the original poster: check your valve cover harnesses. unplug them, inspect them, spray some contact cleaner in there and then some dielectric grease. your injectors are powered through those harnesses and I figure that when you pressure washed the engine you moved one of these around a little bit.
 
#10 ·
i'd replace the IDM and check the wiring to number 7 injector
 
#16 ·
If the knock is just a bent push rod, you may not need the short block. The only info you gave is that the car guy thinks a knock is bad. If it's the "knock" that older diesels have, then all is well. You bought the stronger of the 7.3's, in that you have forged connecting rods, so that's a bonus. A large amount of blow by isn't good though. A pretty standard practice with older diesels is to use ether to assist cold starts. That is a huge no-no with the Power Stroke, but even now, people still do it. It will burn up piston rings, which will give you that blow by. If blow by is an issue, you might as well build up the short block you have, and get it ready for a swap. You'd have to rebuild the bottom end of the current motor anyway, and since you have a short block, you might as well just build it. No lost money in parts, and time saved in having the truck down. These are strong, reliable engines when they're treated right, but not all owners do so. It's the downside of buying used, but you save enough that a complete overhaul will still have you ahead of the game money wise. Once you have a strong engine, it will treat you well for hundreds of thousands of miles to come. A basic 6-pos chip from a good tuner will give you mileage and performance gains over stock, and you won't be disappointed in the 7.3 as a tow vehicle. It'll do what you want it to, so long as you do your part.

In the long run you'll be happy with your choice, it just might take a little bit to get there, blow-by being the biggest worry I see.
 
#17 ·
The knock goes away when the motor hits on all eight. I've heard the diesel guys talk about fuel knocks and maybe that is what I have.

I specifically bought this truck because of the year and the engine. I worked at Ford when these came out and never had to touch one. I don't think anyone there did. Oil leaks and valve covers is about all I hear about now. I also worked for a Towing Recovery industry for guite a while(side job when techs needed two jobs) and have seen superdutys put through the ringer and come back for more! I know I got a good truck.

I'm going to invest in a compression gauge , even if I only use it on my stuff.

I paid 1100, plus a $200 core for a 02 7.3 motor with just a hair over 100 k on it. I don't plan on doing anything major to the truck and I'm wondering if I should sell it the mortor if and when I nail the issue down to a fuel problem.

The guy handed me a board with a lead and knob on it when I bought the truck, I will send pictures, he said he took it out because he didn't need it. I think he though maybe it was causing the problem.
 
#20 ·
if you hadn't replaced the injectors i'd say stiction or something.. have you replaced the IDM yet? and good that its new wiring.. make sure the injector terminal posts are covered with dielectric grease.. it may help
 
#21 ·
Eight injectors from Ford in April.(I bought it two weeks ago) injectors under warranty if needed. When it was skipping at idle, I swapped no7 and 3 and miss stayed at no 7. In a way I wish it would run poorly again lol just so I know for sure if I found something. I was going to do a voltage drop but the high voltage sign stopped me. I am however going to attack it with dielectric. Going to meet a diesel guy on Tuesday,sounds like a good guy, maybe he will have a idm I could try
 
#22 ·
since swapping injectors made no diff in no.7 i would say the injectors are working correctly. It sounds to me like wiring...a bent push rod, broken rings/pistons, valves or springs don't fix themselves. If it starts again, i would change valve cover harnesses (even though there new), engine harness, and swap in a known to be good IDM before i tore into the motor or replaced it. Was the knock you spoke of accompanied by smoke...if so it was a fuel knock. One way to tell is when it does this again, pull the valve cover and unhook no. 7...if it still skips but loses the knock and smoke then that cylinder is getting way to much fuel at idle. I almost bought a truck a few months back doing the exact same thing as yours except it did it continually...we couldn't agree on price so i let it ride. A problem that comes and goes is a pain but maybe yours is gone for GOOD! Also, the pic you posted is a performance chip...depending on what it is and who did the programming it may be a good thing to add back to the truck...just be sure you get gauges before putting it back in.
 
#25 ·
I may switch gaskets side to side if I can. The knock is accompanied with fuel smoke and smell, and even the lightest touch of the pedal makes it smooth out, depending on how long it has idled, depends on how long it takes. I appreciate all the help. I will definitely keep you posted .I hooked up the trailer last night and worked it pretty hard and never once carried on. this morning it smoked pretty heavy cold but only missed occasionally and went away eventually. I'd pull my hair out but even though its almost all gray, I cherish what's there lol
 
#23 ·
#28 ·
boost and exhaust temp for sure and trans temp if you have an auto. Also, if you do have an auto and thats just a t/s chip with no custom tunes...you may wanna send it to one of our venders for a reburn...PHP is my favorite. T/S chips are usually alot harder on auto trans where custom tuners like PHP do there best to watch out for your trans.
 
#27 ·
does the motor you bought have valve cover harnesses? if so, it may be easier to use one of them on your truck. I know how you feel trying to run down an issue...it'll work out though..just hang in there!
 
#29 ·
Check the connection of the ICP sensor on the back of the HPOP. One of the retainer clips on mine broke off and the connection would vibrate loose and cause a skip also. If the connection is tight, disconnect it and run the truck. If it doesn't skip anymore, most likely the ICP is bad. I understand that it's new, but there are lapses in quality control.
 
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