I have a 2002 F-350 with a 7.3 in it, has 170,000 on it now, it's a 6 speed 4x4 crew cab, just noticed the other day when pulling my boat that it was losing speed on the hills pretty badly, it's never kicked off cruise before pulling hills loaded, when I was empty and not pulling you could feel the turbo kick in strong, now you can hardly feel any turbo kick, oil level is good, coolant level is good, mileage has dropped also, any ideas what I should look at? Could it be a waste gate issue or maybe turbo issue?

Thanks for any help.

Sorry I should have added, no codes coming up or check engine light.

 

Check to make sure you don't have any boost leaks.

 

No leaks that I can find or hear, could the waste gate be hung up in the open position or partly open?

 

Exhaust leak, boost leak, tired turbo wheel, bad ICP sensor, clogged fuel tank screens, air in fuel, etc....

There are many things that can cause low power, and it takes fuel coming out the injectors to provide the drive to spin your turbo. Low boost could just mean not enough fuel is being injected. Do you have soot when the power is low? Does your ICP sensor have oil in the connector? If so, try cleaning it with electrical contact cleaner just for a test drive before replacing it.

 

First off what tune are you in and where is your boost? EGT's? Although you can't hear or see a leak gauges will help diagnose one as well.

Low boost and higher EGT's could be caused by a number of issues. Like mentioned most common are boost leaks and the waste gate could very well need to be adjusted to help with increasing the boost if it is lower than normal with no leaks present. When we started having similar issues with our 03 EX we just put on a Banks big head and it fixed the sudden low boost issues when no leaks were found. The issue with fuel mileage may be that your foot is in it harder now because you are not making the boost you once was so you are in the throttle harder to regain the "power" feeling.

Every truck is different though so Let us know what you do to remedy your issue.

~Diane

 

Check for soot around the up-pipes. Build a boost leak detector and test. Clean EBP tube. Buy Auto E and make Rich tell you what's wrong.

 

This is an all stock 7.3, I have onwed it basicly since new, had one injectored that was replaced on it when still under warranty, other than that cam sensor was replaced, so I have not had to do any trouble shooting on this motor at all, so it's all new to me, I have had the hose blow off one time from the turbo, put it back on and tightened it and all was good, that was long before it his 100,000 miles, it has no gauges on it other than stock, but I would like to add pillar gauges to it, just not sure what all it will take to do that, so not sure what the boost was before this, but I know for sure the boost even unloaded is not even close to what it use to be, but as far as power, I can still get the speed up on it, just pulls down with a load, use to pull a 5th wheel with it with another trailer behind that, never slowed down on hills like this before, and yes I do notice more smoke out of the exhast now, never use to see hardly any smoke before at all, so I'm basicly a rookie on 7.3's, so all the help and ideas are great and I will check everything out suggested, thanks, and I will post what I find when I find something.

 

Rich notices post on tablet...saunters over to "Stinky Laptop"...finds standard saved reply...copy/paste...done and done.

 

One could get that impression. I do have stuff linked in my signature to save repeating in-depth explanations, but I actually do type this stuff out... I need a life.

The soot-search and the leak-look have both been mentioned. With smoke coming out the back, the ICP becomes less likely. A falsely high-reading ICP will rob you of power, but keeps the Fuel Injector Pulse Width low... which prevents smoke.

You probably have an exhaust/boost leak.

 

Well looks like I found my problem, thanks for all the ideas, turns out it looks like I lost a screw or 2 on the side of my turbo, looks like there may be a leak on the down pipe on the drivers side, heres a few pictures, I'm thinking I am going to rebuild the whole thing while I have it out, any ideas or tips while I have this apart or upgrades I should make?

[/URL]

[/URL]

[/URL]

 

Get the new rebuild kit from Riffraff diesel for the center section along with new bolts and up pipes and that should take care of all those leaks. Look at the intake wheel and if its wore change that as well.

 

Ok I am planning on rebuilding the whole turbo, and I amgoing to replace the air side wheel, thinking about the wicked wheel, and I amalso going to get a SCT tuner and going to change exhaust to 4" all theway, is the wicked wheel a good thought? Don't want a big change, but would like to add a little more, and ifthat is what I do, do I need to send in the shaft to have someone balance thewhole thing, or can I order all new and already balanced?




Sorry guys, all new to me on these diesels even though I'veowned it since 2002, I have never had to touch this thing except starter and alternator.

 

The tuner will give u the most difference. The WW will help the bottom end if surging. It dose not need to be rebalanced. I'd go to the gen2 wheel.