I think my oil filter drain valve is leaking. I suspect this due to the following reasons:

1. After running the EOT up to normal range and shutting the engine off, I heard a draining noise coming from the oil filter housing. Sounds obvious, but I just want to make sure this is a problem.

2. Experiencing hard/no starts, especially cold weather, and the LPOP gauge is slow to come up during crank (3 secs).

3. Once LPOP comes up, it idles great, but struggles (no power and Stiction type issues) until fully warmed up. Did LPOP test as per tech folder and it fills up to the top in 2 secs on crank.

My truck is an early 03, F350 with 168k, no mods or tuner. I installed OEM Oil and Fuel filters. Running 15-40 Motorcraft oil, and I do plan to go to 5-40 Rotella synthetic.

Bought the truck Sept 2010 with 158k on it and found the Fuel Injection spring cover to be leaking and changed to upgraded blue spring with new gaskets. Also found non-OEM fuel filters were installed and the internal castle toothed ring of the secondary fuel filter had come off of the previous one with the non-OEM stacked on top. After replacing with OEM filters it improved slightly. However, this was a less frequent issue during late summer when I bought it and it having the non-OEM filters.

What are some thoughts and how do I replace the drain valve if that's the problem.

 

Someone else had an issue with that not so long ago...

 

Do you have an OEM oil filter cap?

 

If the previous owner used the oil filter that comes with an integrated cap sold by NAPA, you need to buy a brand new cap from Ford before you can use Ford / OEM filters again.

I found that out the hard way --- that is why the diesel shop that had my business by default (they serviced the vehicle for the previous owner) no longer has my business.

They threw out the Factory cap.

Talk to IH and Ford, see who gives you the best price, as they cut the price of the part after many customers complained.

 

Yes. The oil filter cap is OEM and the fuel cap as well. The only non-OEM part was the fuel filters, which I recently replaced.

I did notice that the oil filter cap needed some serious torque to seal all the way down, so I picked up a replacement this afternoon. I put the new OEM cap on and the truck started right away with an EOT of 40 degrees F. I let it run a few minutes and shut it off. After 15 minutes or so I restarted to see if the LPOP gauge would delay 3-4 seconds before registering (as before with 15 min wait) and it popped up in one second or less.

Usually this would result in a no start for three tries or so and would run like someone is throwing hammers inside the block.

The engine did vibrate a little at 700-900 rpm, but once the temp gauge registered past the first line, it took off like a boss (did not do this before). No white smoke or loss of power. I did the Italian road test and it responded immediately and strong.

I'm still wandering if I could have some stiction issues that are causing the rough running until warm.

I do plan on changing to 5W-40 Rotella Synthetic to help with out with that.

Any suggestions on other things to check out would be welcomed.

 

So no more issues? If true, what else needs to be checked? Sounds like you were not getting the oil filter properly seated and now you are.

 

Yeah, that or the housing was cracked or o-ring was split, but those would both cause a leak. I've found if you go by the torque spec, you reach the spec before the filter housing fully seats due to o-ring drag, even when properly oiled.

 

Well, I let it sit overnight without being plugged in (outside temp was ~28degF) and it didn't start on first crank and did on the second. Sounded like it was throwing hammers again, BUT cleared up perfectly after 5 mins of idling. Ran strong the first half of the day then after sitting for a couple of hours it has loss of power and white smoke until fully warmed up.

There are no signs of a cracked canister or leaks and I'll listen for the drain valve flowing when I park it tonight.

I guess the next test is to see what my HPOP pressure is by following the ICP procedure in the tech folder (stripping the wires back and measuring voltage).

Or could this be the 15W-40 Dino oil messn' with my injectors that have been abused by previous low HPOP and fuel pressure?

 

Quite a few possibilities. It COULD be the 15W40 oil. It could also be other injector issues developing, a weak FICM, or even some air leaking into the fuel system (usually happens at the primary fuel filter due to leaks past the cap o-ring for whatever reason).

I would consider switching to the 5W40 oil, getting a flash update (if you haven't already), testing the FICM, and maybe trying some RevX,

 

Ok.

Drove 35 miles and it has worsened back to white smoke when It's not fully up to operating temp and loss of power when it is up to temp.

So, I listened for a draining sound in the oil filter canister when I got home.
Lo and behold, it was draining out! I put the oil filter cap wrench on it and got another 1/2 turn! Even when I could turn it no more, I could still hear oil draining out. How did this thing back off the threads?

The night before, when I put the new OEM cap on, I put it on past torque spec and it fully seated. Even more so, last night after the new cap was put on, it ran better than it ever had.

There are no visible signs of leaks, so what is causing my drain plug to not fully seat after putting in a new OEM filter (2500 miles ago) and filter cap (last night)?

Mark, the FICM is 47V at startup, I still have the injector cycling "Buzz" Flash and I did a fuel bubble test at secondary filter and it was bubble free.

 

I think you have multiple issues going on.

Technically the oil filter housing draining shouldn't cause your hard or no start issue. The HPOP has a reservoir of it's own to feed the injectors with that is supplied by the LPOP but isn't emptied at shutdown unless you have some kind of leak in the HPOP system. It should have more than sufficient oil to crank and run the truck until the LPOP can refill the reservoir. Mine often starts and runs before the indash gauge ever registers pressure.

IIRC there are 3 areas that could be causing your filter housing to drain pictured here: Page 25: Lubrication System.

Are you sure you're not hearing fuel drain out of the secondary filter housing? The stacked/non-oem filter bases in the secondary fuel filter housing has me concerned that the stand pipe has been compromised and it's not allowing you full fuel. It's really cheap to change--like $6 and two small torx head screws. You possibly have the same issue with the oil filter from aftermarket filters or it's possible that you have a legitimate oil flow problem in the filter base/cooler assembly (no parts available). It's also possible that all your troubles are simply injector related. Try the 5w40 and see if it helps within a couple of days. You might be immediately surprised. I was.

 

Thanks for the pics, that really helps.

I listened closely to make sure I wasn't hearing the fuel filter draining and the sound was only coming from the oil filter housing.

I didn't think about the fuel stand pipe being damaged. (p/n: 9T289?)

I'll definitely change the oil to 5W-40 synthetic and hopefully that does the trick.

Thanks

 

I replaced the fuel stand pipe in the secondary fuel filter housing and had no change (hard/no start, white smoke on start up and after warm up, loss of power). Afterwards, I replaced the oil filter drain valve just to see if my oil filter housing stopped draining. It did not. Therefore, from the link listed in the above quote, it can only be from two other areas, the anti-drain-back valve or the oil cooler bypass valve.

I found this link from October 2010 that npccpartsman and bismic commented on the oil cooler bypass valve: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ml#post9476191

As mentioned in post #11, could my bypass valve be stuck open and causing issues with my HPOP?

 

FINALLY, after many months I found the culprit!

npccpartsman was right, there was a leak in the HPOP.

I pulled it out and found the HPOP shaft seal to be blown out.

This would explain that when I parked with the nose up, I would have severe hard start issues and my LPOP pressure would take 15 seconds to register.

(Being that the shaft seal is located to the rear of the engine and would leak when parked in this position)

However, when I parked nose down, it would crank on first start and purr like a kitten.

Thanks everyone for your help!