Hello I have a new (to me) 97 F-250 4x4 with an auto and the powerstroke engine. I have had it for about three weeks and yesterday i decided to play around with the exhaust system just so i could hear how nice these engines sound without the cat and to give me ideas of how I might piece together a higher flow system in the future. I removed the system after the cat and test drove it around the block. I felt a litle more power but not much change in sound. At least no whistle unfortunately. I then punched a 1 inch hole through the cat with a piece of conduit, bolted it back up to the down pipe and left the rest of the system disconnected and then test drove again. Power felt the same as before and still no whistle so i then took off the cat all together just to see how it sounds. Wow it sounded awesome so ithought i would cruise to town. Everything was fine, did a couple of erreands and the started to head home when all of the sudden the truck started running VERY ROUGH. I pulled into a parking lot and turned off the engine. Waited a minute or two and turned it back on.. Still rough. figuring it must have something to do with me fooling around with the exhaust i grabbed the cat out of my tool box and bolted it up. Turned on the truck still felt like it was running on 6 cylinders. On the drive home i thought it was gonna die at each red light. Now im afraid to drive it anywhere incase it dies on me. With no ideas left i disconnected both batterries and connected them the next morning and still no luck. So my question is, does this sound like the CPS going bad?? If so is it just a coincidence that it happened while i was messing with the exhaust or did that trigger it? Could it have something to do with a lack of backpressure (??backpressure sensor??). Also one last thought. When i bought the truck both tanks were nearly empty I filled the front one and ran it for two weeks no problem Then two days before this all happpened i filled up the back tank and ran it no problem. Could my problem have something to do with water in the fuel?? Sorry for writing so much but i thought all details might help. Thanks in advance for any and all responses. -Kellen-

 

I think the exhaust was a coincidence. I would start by checking your valve cover harnesses. Look for burnt pins/wiring. Check the wiring under the covers too. Some say that if take off the oil cap and take a whiff....you can smell the burnt wiring if thats the problem...

 

If you do not know how long the fuel filter has been in the truck, change it. Also open the drain on the fuel filter housing to get any water out. Add a fuel additive to both tanks, Diesel Kleen, etc. How long since an oil/filter change? If you don,t know, change it also. This will eliminate most fuel issues. Keep us posted. With all of the knowledge on this site you will be able to get it fixed.

 

it sounds like coincidence to me also.

you will get alot more whistle with a different dp and intake also.

 

I changed the fuel filter and problem still exists. I had a friend of mine hook up a snap-on modis scanner and it came up with an IDM fault for the left bank. He said either wires could have come loose or bad injector(s). I checked the connectors outside the valve cover and they looked fine. Inside from what i could tell everything looked good too. Im going to try and get a (laser) thermometer and point at the exhaust manifold while the engine is running to see which injector isn't firing. Hope Im going in the right direction . Thanks for all the suggestions.....this site is awesome -kellen

 

Sounds to me like your IDM is fried. When mine went, the truck only ran on 4 cylinders. Any chance you can borrow one to check it out? I really don't think you have an injector problem & I know it's not the CPS. Playing with the exhaust didn't cause this either.

 

Thanks Leader for suggesting the IDM is to blame. It really hadn"t crossed my mind yet. If i can determine which cylinder(s) aren't firing, and more than just one isn't, i can pretty much rule out the wiring harness or the injectors. I mean how likely would it be for multiple injectors to go out at once. Does anybody have a better way of figuring which cyls are not firing other than feeling the exhaust manifold or using a thermometer? Also my check engine light has not come on during this whole process. Is that normal? I guess if its the IDM that went bad the computer wont tell on another computer? Thanks again guys -kellen

 

With mine, it was one whole bank that went out. I think it has happened 3 times in the last 360k miles. Every time it was water that got into the IDM & shorted it out.I really should fix this one so it doesn't do that...

 

Checked the exhaust manifolds this morning> The right side got hot pretty quickly while the entire left bank stayed cold. I then went ahead and ordered a brand new IDM from ebay for $170 (should be here in three days). I wonder what caused the old one to crap out as my truck only has 60,000 miles on it. I don't think water got into it. I sure hope everything works when i put in the new IDM. Once that is taken care of I can't wait to do some actual modifications to my new truck and not repair work. Thank you everyone for all your help -kellen-

 

if a whole bank is not firing it could be idm or wiring. or wiring that fried the idm. you may wanna pull vc's just to make sure. usually a short in the injector wire will cause the whole bank to shut down for safety.

there is a small vent hole on the back of idm's. you can remove it from truck and shake it to hear if you got water. i have yet to hear of anyone saying wether its bad to seal up that vent or not.

i carry a spare idm and uvc wiring, gaskets, and plug reapir kit onboard at all times. you just never know when it will go.

 

Can you tell me what an IDM is?

How many does the engine have and where are they located?

Can anyone reccommend a simple and effcieint mod to repalce the factory intake/filter housing?

I notice several people on this site reccommend carrying alot of extra parts on board. I recently bought my first powerstroke and know nothing about them. I have driven cummins engines for about the last 13 years and 900,000 miles and only carried a spare drive belt.
I bought a 1997 F350 cc 4x4...........mostly for the larger cab as I now have 2 little boys riding in car seats and the '05 dodge I am selling doesn't have a large enough back seat.............

Thanks for your comments and suggestions...........

 

idm = injector driver module. it sends the juice to your injectors so they can fire. you have one. its on the drivers side fender all the way back. silver box cant miss it. a new one on ebay is around 180. a new one at dealer is 800.
a few other things to carry is at least a cam position sensor, serp belt.

a good intake is the tymar or diy intake with a 6637 filter and 45* 4" elbow.

read this thread for intakes

 

Riata_Ag

I know you asked about intakes, but since your new to PSD's I'll throw this at you also. You need to check your exhaust Down Pipe, if you have the OEM one you might want to consider an after market one. Most of us have, since the OEM one is very restrictive and EGT can become a problem under load. Check out the website below for an extensive education on PSD's. And by the way congratulations on aquiring an awesome machine that you will enjoy.

http://pages.prodigy.net/stevebaz/_import/pages.prodigy.net/stevebaz/index3.html

 

I'm like you, all I carry is a belt. And that is an old one that i replaced with the one I have on it now. I have over 368,000 miles on mine & don't see a reason to carry an extra truck in spare parts. Stock intake, stock downpipe, regular dino oil changed at 10,000 miles, no extra filters or coolers. All I did was modify the filler tube so I could fuel faster. Enjoy your truck, it is every bit as dependable as your Dodges were.

 

Kellens,

You ask for an alternative to the infrared thermometer. You can test in the same manor with a spray bottle of water. Just spray a light spray of water on the exhaust manifold runners to see which ones don't evaporate quickly.

In a pinch, you can do it like you used to check spark on gas engines. Get someone else to touch it!

Gene