I am in the process of trying out a 2000 f250 with 83k miles on it. The vehicle had some exhaust leaks, so they had the tech put in new up pipes and donuts to go with it. They thought the no power situation was coming from the bad leaks. Well the leaks are gone and it still HAS NO POWER!!! When you romp on it all it does is smoke black and very slowly pickup in speed. No Check engine light, no turbo whistle. it idles, starts, drives awesome cruising down the road with the cruist set on flat ground.
Read on here to check the normal things like IC couplers and all that and everything is good. Waste gate functioned when i put a handheld vaccum pump on it.

Any advice on what it could be?? This pickup is super clean and i can get it for a heck of a deal. But i dont want to purchase a money pit either and have a headache from the gf nagging at me that will never go away.

 

make sure it has no air restrictions, air in and air out

 

No Restrictions............... Could it just be the turbo is shot? whats a sure fire way to find out?

 

i bought a scan gauge II for my truck $160ish but if you know anybody with a AE scanner or a ford tech with IDS to monitor the MGP manifold gauge pressure to see what the boost numbers are, if your turbo is shot the bearings would move or have a ton of play up and down or rubbed the housing hope that helps

 

Update..... Just went out into the garage and pulled the rubber intake off of the turbo and it spun freely no free play in or out or up and down. this has got me confused????

 

In everybodys expeirence is this more a electrical/sensor issue???

 

Check the air filter to make sure it's clean. Unplug the MAP sensor and see if that helps. Check fuel pressure under load to see if it's dropping off too much.

 

Air filter is clean first thing i checked, New fuel filter was put in yesterday. I pulled the map sensor as you say to do the check engine light came on in an instant. It did seem to make a improvement. From 2200-3000 its just a dog one it gets to about 2700 it takes a long time to reach 3k rpms.

 

Unplugging the sensor will set the CEL and throw a code, but if it runs better with the sensor unplugged, you need a new one on there. The truck won't run perfect with the MAP unplugged since it's trying to determine boost level based on a pre-programmed table in the PCM.

How much better did it run with the MAP unplugged? Enough to make it almost normal, or still a ways off? Almost normal means get a new MAP sensor. Still a dog means keep looking. What about fuel pressure under load?

 

Not enough to be normal, the engine sounded different stepping on it, and upon decel it sounded different. I have no way at this time to check the fuel pressure. Anything else you can think of?

 

Screens in the mixing chamber inside the fuel tank getting clogged is not unheard of. If you can really get that good of a deal on it, I'd suggest you check fuel pressure. If it's low pressure, some cheap in tank mods or maybe a new fuel pump could fix everything.

If you don't want to invest in a fuel pressure gauge, maybe buy a can of diesel and some rubber hose and just pull the fuel line off the back of the fuel pump and run the truck from the new container of diesel. That would bypass the mixing chamber in the tank and tell you if the problem is in the tank.

 

I am not even close to being a diesel expert, so I have no advice to offer... but I make a living at troubleshooting and I can help there.

Lots of black smoke and no power? Should we be looking so hard at fuel... when it runs so well at cruise? I had an air problem with mine and the black smoke went away after that was fixed. Have you checked if it's chipped? Does it idle normal? Can you get a pressure reading from between the Turbo and the engine? 4-6 PSI is normal at highway speeds and 10-30 PSI can be reached while "romping" on it. A bad feed-air connection or a leaking intercooler will kill your air.

Just because the wastegate works with a hand pump, doesn't mean it's getting vacuum when it should. Does the heater work... or does it go right to defrost and no way to control it?

I bought my 2000 with 4X4 and extended cab for $10K when it had 200K miles. I upgraded and repaired to the tune of another $10K and I think mine is more capable than a 2012 model. A new one with a smaller and less-proven motor/transmission is $60K. Factor in the insurance, finance charges, interest, sales tax, and regular service to maintain the warranty... how bad can this get before you consider the used one a money pit?

 

this sounds like an air issue to me too. If your getting black smoke,as in all show, no go, your getting too much fuel to air. I had a similiar problem on a kenworth, the rubber hose between the intercooler and turbo had slipped off, basically making it run like a naturally aspirated engine. If your turbo is spinning freely, check everything beyond the turbo looking for air leaks, including the intercooler. If there is a leak, the motor might be dusted, as in it's been pulling in non-filtered air. good luck!