1999 F250 7.3 2WD 360,000 miles.
No idea if it's an "early" or "late" 99.

It's lived a long life and been used for work its whole life. P.O. told me the engine had been replaced at 140,000 miles. No idea if it was or not.

Recently the truck has started to run rough. Just not as well as it used to. It's especially grumpy when it's cold, even if its been plugged in. Glowplugs are 2 years old, and even in 50F weather it would always start without them anyway (we've had weather that warm recently and it still ran rough on startup.

I noticed my compressor wheel on the turbo is a little beat up - and while I'm sure it needs to be fixed I doubt it's the main problem.

Is there any way to test the injectors without a $2000 scan tool? I had a palm pilot that had buzz test/contrib test software on it but it sat for a long time without being plugged in and the software appears to have disappeared.

Is there any point in doing a compression test? I don't have a leakdown tester and I'm not sure how easy a compression test is to do on these engines, I'm guessing not very.

 

Are you getting a Check engine light?

 

The truck has half of an edge programmer. I say half because someone stole the dash unit. I'm pretty sure it was shut off when they stole it but I don't remember. I never bothered replacing it.

Anyways my point is I think it shuts off the CEL immediately. I see the CEL blink sometimes for an instant but there are never stored codes.

 

I would remove the edge chip and see if that helps.
But with the CEL light flashing... Almost sounds like it could be the UVCH (Under Valve Cover Harness)
With the engine idling, and please be careful, at the top side of each head where you see the wiring for the glow plugs going in, check to see if the harness has come loose. When mine started having the same issues I could push in on the harness and the engine would smooth out. Let go and it would run rough again.
Or better yet if you have the time, remove the valve covers and check the harness to see if it is plugged in all the way.
Then check the pins on the valve cover gasket and harnesses to be sure you don't have any burnt pins.

 

I got the codes scanned with a palmpilot that had some special ford diagnostic software.

Now that the weather is warmer the truck is running MUCH better.

Also, the powertrain control module returned the following faults, many of which I think aren't actually faults, and even if they are they aren't the cause of the problems with the truck running poorly.

The one that I do think is important is P1219 - CID low. What does this mean and how do I fix?

Some other important looking codes it returned:
P0470 Exhaust pressure sensor
P0705 Transmission range sensor circuit (PRNDL input)


the other, less important codes are:
P1536 Parking brake switch circuit
P0220 Throttle/pedal position switch B circuit
P1780 Transmission control switch (O/D Cancel) circuit out of self test range
P0571 Brake switch A circuit
P0703 Brake switch B Input circuit
P0566 Cruise Control OFF signal
P0568 Cruise control SET signal
P0569 Cruise control COAST signal

 

CID is cylinder ID. The IDM and PCM need this signal to know which cylinder to send fuel to, and when. The P1219 code is generated if the CID signal is intermittently shorted to ground. Have you checked the wiring for any chafing? You may have to check the harness going to the IDM as well as the 42 pin connector and PCM.

 

Where do I find this wire? I don't have a manual but I'm pretty handy. For that matter, I'm not even sure where the PCM or IDM are located. My truck has always been pretty reliable so I haven't learned that much about it :P

 

The PCM is located in the cab, with the connector sticking through the firewall. Under the hood it's the one closest to the fender, below the brake booster. There's a 10mm bolt that holds the connector to the PCM. The IDM isn't quite as easy to get to. It's inside the left fender well, and the fender liner needs to at least be unscrewed all the way around, if not removed completely, to get to it. It also has a 10mm bolt holding the connector to the module. I posted a pinout of the IDM connector here: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post14172980

If you need any help or have questions, post again!