I sold a customer (a non-Ford Dealership) a 6.0l for an 03 Excursion. They had one of their EX mechanics install it at his home shop, and it took 2 months. They say he changed the lpop and the hpop before installation. When he finally got the engine installed, they say it ran for a while then quit, now cranks with no start. They called to tell me they needed another engine since this one was bad on friday.
Thanks to this site and my own personal truck, I advised the parts man that ordered the engine from me on some things to check. He had no codes for me, no vitals on the engine for me, and no idea what I was talking about. He said he was going to have the mechanic answer the questions for me.
Fast forward to today, and he calls me this morning saying they took it to a local Ford dealership and they told him it has an internal oil leak. I asked him where, and if it was lpo or hpo. He then told me they said lpo was fine, but hpo was 65psi. I told him he had a major hpo leak and the 6.0l needed 500 psi to fire the injectors. I told him he needs to do an air test to better determine the source of the leak.
After talking with him for a minute, I asked him what the ipr reading was while the truck was cranking. He did not know what this was. I told him to unplug the ipr to see if that made a difference. Was I right on the ipr? I know with only 65psi there is either a major leak or there is an issue with the ipr.
I guess what I am saying is, is there any more information I can give them to check on? Am I headed in the right direction? What puzzles me is they say it ran and then quit, now a no start. Air bubble maybe?
Thank you

 

Was it a complete motor or just the long block? Lets hope the reason it ran for a second wasn't due to the use of ether.

 

Since the IPR is sensitive to dirt, and they were in the area they need to be very clean, they need to pull the IPR and check the screen on the end of it. They may have put a hole in it.

 

It was a long block. I forgot about the ether, I really hope they didnt use that.
I will have him check the ipr screen as well, that might explain why it ran for a while and then quit...... that is why I love this site, bunch of people scratchin their heads to come up with a solution.
What worries me, and I told them this, is that their "diesel" mechanic had to have it towed to the Ford dealership to give me the hpo psi. Shouldnt he know how to do that?

 

I think you nailed the fact the they don't have a real mechanic working on it.

Unplug the icp to see if it will run. The icp controls the ipr valve. If the icp is not working the if a default mode the truck to bros the icp. Obviously it won't perform as well.

The default for the ipr valve is full open. If it is unplugged it will be open. This drain all the oil Bach into the crankcase and will not build hp oil.

 

So does that mean it didn't have valve covers, HPO rail, oil pan, the HPOP or injectors, just the block and heads? If so there are far to many variables to blame the engine you supplied them as the source of the problem. And yes the guy working on it should have the ability to read and know what HPO system pressure is.

 

Uggh. Update.
Their mechanic called me today to get some clarification. Now I have a little more of the story. I sold them an engine complete from valve covers to oil pan, minus FICM and turbo.
The valve covers were damaged from accident, but I pulled them to make sure the oil rail was not damaged, and the inside of the heads were so clean I was jealous, obviously someone had recently been in there.
So, they changed out the valve covers and various other small items, and installed my engine. It ran. Mechanic was glad "because he just wanted this headache out of his shop." Mechanic said he ran it "for a week, only 30 miles or so," and the oil pressure gauge started to drop. Before I had a chance to tell him the gauge is just a dummy light at best, he beat me to it. He took it back to the dealership I sold engine to because he had no tool to hook to the lpo fitting. The dealership changed the cluster and gave him back the truck to finish, said it was the cluster. He then drove an unspecified amount of miles and took it back to the dealership and it has not started since.
Then the fun started.

 

They threw the parts book at it. It started with the lpo pump, and escalated from there. I do not know why they did not test the engine after lpop install, but dont believe they did.
Items changed all at once:
HPOP
ICP
IPR
Still will not start. I told the mechanic to unplug the IPR and see what the pressure was then, to which he replied "I dont have any way to see that." And then was told by him that he changed the ipr with a new ford one while he was doing the icp. I then told him to unplug it and try to start it, but if it didnt start to not rule it out because with no way to test hpo, it was not a catch all. I did say that if it will not start after the unplug, to do an air test, because 65psi is a huge leak. He then asked me if the branch tubes came out of the block, as he was told they did not. (do they? I dont know for sure). With a leak that big, if it is not a faulty ipr, I think it may be the rail over the injectors, maybe they nicked an o ring putting it back together.

I am at a loss. I stand behind my engines with my warranty, but now who knows what they changed or didnt. And I dont want to give them another engine for them to do the same thing too. And I seriously think that they would rather install another engine instead of fixing the one in it currently. What if it is just one of the o rings above the injectors?

 

Oh yeah, since the Ford dealership they took it to told them it has an internal oil leak, they believe the engine block is junk. Their mechanic has experience with powerstrokes, just not a 6.0l as he wont own one "because of all the problems they have"

 

It sounds like they still need to find someone who knows how to diagnose the problem, rather than keep throwing parts at it. These engines are not all that complex, but they can be rather daunting to someone who has never worked on one.

As for the branch tube, yes it can be replaced. I doubt it is the problem though. It is most likely a leak that should be found with an air test.

 

I am saying no on the branch tubes as well, seeing as it ran beforehand, and then quit. i just hope they didnt run it low on lpo and starve their new "Ford quality reman hpop."
On a side note, I did call the dealership and tell them I am not trying to be a *****, I am just trying to make sure that it is not an .80 cent oring before they scrap truck altogether or get another engine to R&R. And I also said I would help out ($ wise) if it is an oring or rail or something like that as well.

 

You should advise the shop to run down to the local autozone where they undoubtedly purchase their parts and have them pick up a scan gauge and program the xgauges in so they can see why it will not start. You are spot on, they need to do an air test. In your post you recommended to them to unplug the IPR, they need to unplug the ICP to get it to read the default value, if they unplug the IPR they will get little if no pressure as the IPR valve fails open.

 

Crap, unplug the ICP?? I boo booed on that one, will call right now.

 

If you unplug an IPR connector on any 6.0 (or even a 7.3 for that matter), IPR defaults open, exhausting all high pressure oil output to the crankcase.

Since this is an '03 engine, I would advise them to pull both valve covers for a look/see at the straight rails. Have an assistant cranking the engine over to see if there is any oil leaking visibly. For what it's worth, I had one once, that the standpipe threaded into the branch tube came loose causing this type of issue. THAT one pulled my hair for a while. Although I haven't personally come across one, I've also heard of the quick connect fittings from the braided high pressure oil lines becoming dislodged from the standpipes as well.