Hi guys, just bought a '97 F350 PSD with 305K on the clock. Its just a rough ol work truck, been rode hard and put up wet. I bought it not running for $200 bucks, so there's really no way I can get burned.
The PO told me that the truck was running well and just shut off going down the road. Looks like someone has been working on it because the fuel lines were loose from the regulator and the RH HPOP line was loosened. Replaced all this and dropped in a fresh battery, crank but no start. Checked fuses and found all of the big ones good, but a 25A smaller one blown. Replaced and it started trying to hit. Finally got it started using a little brake cleaner as starting fluid (it works well without being as hot as ether). After the air cleared out it idled well but would cut out severely when reved. Now if I shut it down it is difficult to start, it will crank over and hit occasionally and finally start, but surge and smoke until I rev it slightly. It will even out and idle well but still cut out if revved above 2K rpms.
The engine seems to be pretty well worn, it has extreme blow by. Someone installed a small K&N lookalike filter on the elbow before the turbo and a hose dropped down for a blow by tube. When idling it will look like the truck is on fire.
Not sure where I'm going with this truck, probably just parts for a '97 F250 4X4 PSD I already own.

 

With that much smoke I would suspect the injector o rings.
That is a heck of a price for the truck

 

Thanks! The guy started out at $1500, but it had been sitting in a field for over a year, so I started talking him down. It helps that I work on logging equipment for him too. ;-)

 

An easy test would be pull the IPR & look at the small O ring

 

After thinking about it a while, the truck evidently had some mods done. There is a bung welded into the DP for a pyro, the resonator and muffler are gone, so there's no telling what I will find when I dig deeper.

 

That was going to be my first thing to check.

 

$200!!! What a deal!

 

Very first thing I would do is go to Ford (not the local parts store) and get a CPS. If that doesn't solve most of your problem then keep the original in your glove box along with the 10mm socket and ratchet you used to change it.

If it does solve most of your problems, throw the original away, keep the same tools in your glovebox, and at your first convenience, get another one from Ford.

There are two kinds of 7.3 owners in this group...those with a spare CPS and tools in there glove box and those that without.

$200? Even for a parts truck that's great!

And you likely already know, at 399,999 the odometer on these turn back to 300,000.

If you do part it out there is a frame crossmember I'd like to get from you.

 

Huh? Really!?

 

Was not aware of this, really?

 

yes sir. Mines at 451 but reads 351

 

OK, so there's really no telling how many miles are on this truck. With the condition I was wondering if the speedo had been inoperable for a while.
I currently run a 95 Dodge 3500 for a service truck. When I bought it the PO told me the speedo hadn't worked in years, probably had over 350K on it, all that was wrong was the wires were unplugged. Just don't understand folks that let little things like that go......

 

Sheesh for 200$ I would have drove a 1000 miles to pick that up! Great find man!

I agree on the CPS if its cutting in and out. I'd also look at those injectors as they probably are long gone as well, let alone the orings. Do a compression test and see how bad it truly is before you give up on the motor. I have seen quite a few of them appear to be on fire at a light and will still tow the wheels off anything.... I have yet to make the true correlation between blowby and lack of compression. I have seen it go both ways.

 

Look at your odometer next time you turn the key to RUN, and all the digit segments light up at once. It'll illustrate why this happens.

 

here, for the uninformed