99.5 7.3 idling rough enough to rock the truck. Service engine soon light is on. I read in some other post to check the oil level. It's good. I thought I would change the fuel filter too. The one I pulled out wasn't that dirty but at least I eliminated that possibility. So, what could it be? Thanks in advance for your wisdom.

Jim.

 

If your ses light is on then there is a code. Do you have a way to pull them?

 

I have an Innova code reader and it just had a 0. I thought I would read the intructions and try it again and still zero. I even changed the batteries in the reader.

 

Alot of the code readers will not read all of the codes on a PSD. Where it is a medium duty International motor it was not required to be OBDII compliant. Is there any one around you that has a AE or something of the sorts?

 

There's a shop nearby but that would require a service tag. Earliest would be tomorrow afternoon. Tell me more about a code reader for the PSD.

 

The best is the AE http://www.autoenginuity.comYou have to get thef Ford bundle. There may be a member that is close to you that may have one. I know Curtis (pocket) has one and he is in Colorado.

 

Can you describe the problem a little better? Is it just a rough idle, or does it sound like the motor has 1 or 2 cylinders not firing. If it's sputtering, bucking, and barely staying running you may have a bad injector or a loose UVCH clip. If the engine seems to run properly, but just rough, you may have an ICP or IPR issue.

The quick test is to go outside and unplug the ICP and see if that smooths it out. It's located on the inboard front side of the drivers head. Just unplug the electrical sensor there and see how the truck responds.


Also, do you have a chip or tuner? Have you done the 10K mod or any other similar type mod on the ICP?

 

The engine sounds like it's not firing on all cylinders. I pulled that connector and there was not difference. What's ICP and IPR? I do have a tuner but I went back to stock to see if that was it. Problem still there.

 

ICP is the injection control pressure sensor. That's the thing you just unplugged. IPR is the injection pressure regulator. The two of them help control the high pressure oil that is used to fire your fuel injectors. The fuel injectors are commanded with an electrical signal, and sometimes a connector on the under the valve cover harness (UVCH) comes loose. This disrupts the electrical signal and causes one or more injectors not to fire.

You can check for this using an OHM meter. There is a flat 9 pin connector around the middle inboard side of each head. The connector at the valve cover has a plug on both the inside and the outside. The one on the inside is usually the one that comes loose. You can disconnect the outside plug and ohm the wires for resistance to determine which side needs to come off. The valve cover gasket is re-usable.

The 9-pin plug is wired as follows:

G G I I C I I G G

G=Glow Plug +
I = Injector +
C= Injector Common

The injectors fire with a 115VDC signal from the IDM. Do Not pierce the wires to test.

Test between "I" and "C" to test the injectors, should be less than 5.0 Ohms. That means one lead on the center pin, and the other lead on the 2 pins just left, and just right of center.

Write down or remember the reading from each injector. If all of them read the same except for one, which may only be .6 - .9 higher, this could also point to an injector solenoid problem.

Mostly what your looking for with the OHM test is which valve cover gasket may need to come off to fix a loose plug that looks like this.

 

Thanks for the help Jim and Chris. I'll do the Ohm test in a little bit. Could it be injectors? I have 111k miles and never had issues with injectors.

 

Injectors are a funny thing. Some go sooner than others. I've always been very religious about proper oil change intervals, and using a fuel additive. I've got 264k on all 8 of my stock injectors with no problems. I did finally lose 1 injector on a work truck with 230k, but guys that drive company trucks usually aren't as worried about proper maintenance as the guys that pay the repair bills.

If it is an injector issue, you can either have it put on a PSD compatible scanner, do a buzz test and cylinder contribution test, or you could try pulling the valve cover and watching for the oil discharge from each injector. If one isn't squirting oil like the others, that's a sign it's bad.

If you want to change an injector yourself I'd recommend you read up on the change process, or ask questions. You don't want to hydrolock your motor. I'd also recommend new vs. rebuilt injectors if it comes to that.

 

Uh oh, I'm quickly approaching the point where I just drop the truck off and pick it up when it's done. Do you know that feeling? Sometimes, I'll dive right in. Other times, I'd rather do the paying.

I used to change my oil every 2k. when I ran Delo 400. Then I switched to Rotella synthetic and upped my interval to 5k. So, it can't be the oil. Can it? What about the battery power levels? I've had these Optima red tops in for over six years. They may be getting weak. Do you think that may be a factor?

 

I don't think the batteries would cause it to run like it wasn't firing on all cylinders. It could cause other issues. If you have a multi meter, check the voltage of the batteries with the truck off, and at idle. Should be around 12 with it off, and around 14 + with it running.

Changing an injector isn't bad, you just need to follow the steps in order. If it turns out you have a loose connector, it's just a matter of removing some bolts, plugging it back in (and maybe adding a shim to prevent it from happening again) and putting things back on and tightening them up.

Of course there's nothing wrong with taking it to a shop to get the codes read, and maybe have an injector buzz test done. Just keep in mind that if you get a P1316 code and have one or more injectors on one side of the motor fail the buzz test, it can still be just a loose plug, and not a bad injector. If you decide to pay for someone to do the repairs, explain to them it may just be a loose plug, and before they start replacing any parts, you'd like them to remove the valve cover and inspect the plug. If it's loose, have them plug it back in and re-run the buzz test, cylinder contribution, and code check before changing anything else out. On a side note, keep in mind that if you've had the CPS recall done, the new gray CPS has been known to show some faults in rotational velocity on #3 & #8.

Sorry for making this more confusing than it needs to be. I'd start with the OHM test to see what the readings are and just go from there. If you've got the time and a step ladder, you can do this fairly easy. You may find a reading that makes you want to pull the valve cover for a simple fix. On a lighter note, I've always just run dino 15w-40 oil at 5k intervals and the oil analysis I had done recently came back with wonderful results, so I'd say you've overdone it on oil changes. No worries there.

 

How did you know I needed a step ladder? Actually, I use a 6' one.

If I feel motivated tomorrow, I'll do the ohm test. I'll report back in any case for the forum database.

 

Any findings?