1997 hard start then dropped cylinder

[stampyoldani]

hey all,
I have a 1997 F250 7.3L manual.
It has been starting hard the last 3 days and I have been attributing it to teh starter (though it is only 1yr old it has been doused in power steering fluid). tonight as I was leaving work, hard start... fires up.. I drove 300 feet and all of the sudden it seems like 4 cylinders have cut out, very rough running, and total loss of power. I quickly turned it off and inspected under the hood. nothing was suspect. I tried to start it again and it ran fine for a second or two then.. .again several cylinders cut out and it's rough running. the check engine light comes on with the problem


I don't know if the starting problem and the engine failure are linked but it seems likely.

I'm wondering if I have poor injectors? I read that the o rings can go bad?

while I dont work on diesels I am mechanically inclined so If its thought to be swapping out injectors that seems like something I can do myself?

Maybe I need to have it towed to the shop $$$$$.


any help I can get would be appreciated.

[Tyler]

You need to check the code, if its dropping cylinders, it will tell you which ones are misfiring. if your losing 4 of them, the motor might not even run, but if you can get the code, and it says cylinder misfire 1,3,5,7, or 2,4,6,8 then you've lost one side of the block. Possibly the cam sensor, but probably bad injectors.

[95PDXLT]

my 95 is doing similar things. It fires up ok then the CEl comes on and runs rough. Whole passengers side bank dead. Then like a light switch starts running fine and cel goes out. I looked at the plug ins on the valve cover gaskets and two of the plugs from the harness are burnt up on the end connections. Also the end prongs in the vc gasket are bent.

Does yours come back to running on all 8 like at the snap of your fingers?

[dbkerley]

UVC harness gaskets, CPS, computer and several other things. I am not a tech.

NOTE TO SELF: THAT HARNESS CARRIES LIKE 115V DC AND WILL KNOCK YOUR **** IN THE DIRT IF YOU MESS WITH IT THE WRONG WAY.

Check out all of the "easy" stuff before tossing the injectors.

[jj350]

I HAVE 96 psd tries to start but will not changed cps still same fuel in filter housing smokes while trying to start.started running ruff when shut off has not run since

[Diesel Monkey]

Inspect engine heaness where it connects to valve cover gaskets for bent pins and dirt, spilled oil. carefully clean and reatach. See if it is better.