I have the not uncommon bucking and then no start. I started the truck yesterday morning and it started fine and then started missing bad. On restart it will idle rough for a few seconds and die. I did a search and am in the process of trouble shooting. It has enough oil, fuel in the fuel bowl. The fuel tank is at a little less than 1/4 tank. I initially had P1119 and P1316 codes. I cleared those.

Now the question. I pulled the ICP to see if that made a difference. The outside of the ICP was dry, but the inside of the connection was very oily. Is that normal. I now get a P1230 code.

My initial thought is loose UVCH connection, but want to rule out other issues before pulling the covers.

Truck is 2001, auto with about 169,000. The transmission was replaced a month ago and I just got back from a 1200 mile trip towing a 5th wheel. 10 mpg average fuel use. It needs an oil change and is running rotella T6.

 

Nice assortment of classic symptoms. Oil in ICP means it is going bad. Some folks clean it and limp long, but I'd just slap a new one on there and be done. OE Ford or IH is recommended since some aftermarket ICPs suck.

The P1316 is classic for the UVCH coming loose, which can be intermittent. Lots off good threads on the subject.

And the 1/4 full fuel tank is the hallmark of a broken fuel pickup foot. If the problem goes away with more fuel in the tank you can be pretty sure you need a new one. \

 

Thanks David for the reply. I had not seen the reference to oil in the IPC in my search of threads on this subject. I may have missed it. I will probably just throw a new one on as soon as I can get one.

I found another problem in my search under the hood. A wire to IPR had been chomped by a rat and was gone. I repair and soldered in a new piece. The truck started for a few seconds, ran smooth, then the miss came back and it died. I'm getting blue smoke when I try to start it after cranking a few seconds.

Next step is to ohm the UVCH connections and probably go ahead and pull the valve covers.

 

My mistake, the chomped wires were to the fuel bowl heater. I've pulled the driver valve cover and the UVCH was slightly loose. Maybe 1/16 of and inch. I went ahead and did the 50 cent mod on that side. I guess it is the 25 cent mod at this point. I will check torque on the injector and rockers before I button it up. Anything else I should look at while I am in there.

Tomorrow I'll pull the passenger side.

 

Start the engine with the covers off and watch your rockers, look for leaking oil out of the base of the injectors for bad orings, watch for the oil coming out of your injector oil deflectors near the top of the head on each injector, watch for oil leaking out of the oil rail plugs, watch for blow by out of the glowplug holes a member just had that issue a little while ago, look for squirting oil out of the weep hole on the side of the injector solenoid (no good) and when you done with that retorque your injectors.

 

What FiznUKa says. When you retorque - the book says 120 INCH/pounds, but I've been doing 130 and they "stick".

 

Thanks guys for the information. I'll bet back at it today and see if I can get it going. I work slow as I don't crawl up on stuff as quickly as I did ten years ago. Maybe I should let the air out of the front tires.

 

Very good list of checks. I just had my valve covers off a couple weeks ago and checked the oil deflectors. But didn't know there where so many other places to check. Will have to do this again now.

 

I torqued the injector and rockers on the drivers side. They took a little tightening, but all were solid when I first put the wrench to them. None were "loose." Also the UVCH were about a 1/16" apart under both valve covers, maybe a little less. Is that enough to cause problems? Pictures I've seen here and other places show them much farther apart. I'm doing the 50 cent mod anyway. I'll try doing the ohms with my cheapie HF meter also.

I'm leaning toward the oily ICP as being the problem. I will pick one up today if the stealer has one in stock unless he thinks it is gold, then I'll order one from one of the venders here.

I don't have a pressure gauge to check that, so I'm trying to eliminate other issues. Does it look like I'm on the right track?

 

A big thanks to everyone that helped me chase my starting issue. A special thanks to FiznUKa for response on the ICP. After replacing the ICP the truck seems to start and idle fine. I had pulled the valve covers before the ICP code showed up, but everything seemed to be fine there. After I got it running again I checked for leaky O rings etc around the rockers and injectors. Everything there seems to be fine. I did torque the injectors and rockers, but nothing was overly loose. Several took a minimal turn, but nothing loose. That gives me a sense of security for the status of stuff there.

I also cleaned the EBP tube and sensor while I had access. Surprisingly the tube and sensor were mostly clean. Nothing was blocked.

I did pull the inner fender liner to get to stuff on the passenger side and that made removing the valve cover a bunch easier. The rear bolts on the valve covers weren't too bad. I used a 3/8 drive stubby rachet with a universals joint and a short socket. A speed wrench and deep socket were helpful on most of the other valve cover bolts. There is surely a lot of stuff to pull apart to get to things on these engines.

Also, Tugly, I used a bunch of the information you provided.

Thanks again to the FTE 7.3 bunch for all the help.