Hey everyone,

I am the proud owner of a 1997 F250 ECSB 7.3 2wd Auto w/278k miles
I used to have an 89 F250 LB 7.3 5spd, so I was somewhat familiar with these style trucks when I decided to buy another one.




I bought it about 3 weeks ago locally. Its in pretty good shape, and runs really well. This thread will outline the issues I'm currently addressing.

The main issues right now:
Torque converter doesnt lock up anymore ( jumped solenoid, doesnt lock, dead apparently)
Fuel leak (cracked FPR)
Water leaking in cab (front and rear)

I'm currently in the process of rebuilding the fuel bowl (and hopefully coming across another FPR soon) as well as the turbo


I'm also tackling the multiple cab leaks as well. Ive window welded the entire cowl but it's still leaking a small bit of water down the firewall and is coming out below the pedal box.
Heres a pic of my window welded cowl I need to go back and do more since I'm fairly certain it's leaking here. The windshield looks to have been replaced, the seal looks pretty good on it.


The rear window also leaks at each of the corners. I'm unsure if its leaking from the roof or the window seal itself. I'm going to run a bead of silicone around the window in hopes that solves that leak.

Stay tuned for more

 

Nice truck and welcome to the forum. Check the 2 rear side windows as well. The bolt behind are known to loosen and leak. I've never had an extended cab so I'm not sure how tight they should be but I'm sure someone on here will know. I keep thinking 20 inch/pounds. Check the parts for sale thread in the stickies. I'm sure someone has a fpr for sale

 

Thanks! I removed the interior on the truck, and observed the rear window leaking on the corners. Ill double check those back windows too while everything is out though.

I'm hoping a few people can confirm they have functional non cracked FPR's they can sell me

 

WELCOME! Great looking truck!

 

Nice truck.
Same color as mine, but yours is a solid color, mine has multiple colors, and a cc.

 

Even came with the dealer tag



I do love how cheap parts are for the truck. Except of course for another fuel bowl/fpr assembly. I'm hoping to track one down here shortly!

 

Dam, they were priced to sell quick, wish I was from that tume frame.

 

I got one laying around here someplace.

 

Im meeting up with someone this weekend hopefully, if not I'll let you know!


Update on my Cab leaks
I bought flowable silicone and went to work on the drip rails and rear window seal. When I peeled back the seal I could see rust spots where the water was getting in. The flowable silicone was real helpful getting into the grooves of the window seal.

As for the front cowl... Ive already patched a massive rust hole in the cowl that was caused by the previous owner's lazy repair. Today I found a lovely rust hole in the cowl just below the windshield on the upper part of the driver side cowl. After sealing the entire cowl with window weld, I went ahead and patched and sealed this rust hole with the last of the urethane.

I also noticed water around the pedal box/brake booster, so I removed the brake booster and noticed a lot of rust on the portion which mates with the firewall. I painted my rusty brake booster and will be sealing the mating surface when I install it tomorrow.

I'm really hoping I've finally fixed all of the leaks in this truck.

 

Well, I did more work on chasing down leaks yesterday.
This truck leaks EVERYWHERE.
So far it leaks down in front right near PCM on the firewall. the firewall insulation gets wet and I can't figure out the exact source.

I ripped the windshield trim off, and discovered a few leaks in the top of the windshield. I also took the cab visor off the truck and realized water was getting in there as well. I can't be certain either of these were causing water to run down to the firewall near the pedal box however. I've sealed up the cowl real well, and now this.This is driving me nuts


I also went ahead and layed some insulation down on the cab as well since the floors gets pretty hot from the exhaust.



To be continued..

 

Some good progress from this weekend.

BIG thanks to Rock15t for meeting up and selling me his spare fuel bowl FPR. My rebuild is back in full swing!

EBPV valve gut/delete:




Fuel Bowl and turbo successfully rebuilt too


Ill be putting all of this stuff back in and focusing all my effort into sealing the $^%$^ leaky cab. Lots of rust to treat & paint :/

 

Weather sucks in florida lately.
I cleaned the engine valley and cleaned out all connections / degreased everything. Tracing down leaks should be a lot easier now.

I am waiting on a few more o rings to arrive and ill be putting everything back in soon.



In the meantime, I am sanding down the roof and treating the rust...

 

The passenger side up pipe looks like its leaking.

 

From where do you mean? My hard fuel line was leaking on the passenger side, and I got back there with a brush/degreaser.
Here's another pic

 

Seems that there are soot in the upper part of the passengers up pipe and thats a sign of leaking.