Hi guys. You have an awesome site here with a ton of great info. I hope someone can help me. Im running out of money and my head hurts from banging it against the wall. My 2001 7.3 F350 150k miles suddenly began idling very rough and has lost a ton off power. We threw the computer on it and codes 1316 ad 1272 came back. I know they mean IDM codes detected and high to low side open injector #2. Also my SES light is on. The kicker is that it doesn't do it all of the time. When it clears up,SES goes off it runs great. From what Ive read on this site looks like the UVC harness has probably come loose. It makes sense because the #2 injector is the first one towards the front of the truck on the drivers side, so if the connection in the harness has gotten loose, the #2 pin would be the first to lose contact. Heres the best part. I ordered a new IDM from autocomputerexchange.com, installed it ran the computer on it again and 8 or 9 codes came back. Reinstalled old IDM, ran computer and this time only 1316 came back. The original 1272 code never came back. I called the guy where I ordered the new IDM from and told him what happened and he apologized and said he was shipping me one out that day. I dont know if he sent me the wrong one or what, but my new one should be here in a day or two. At this point, this is my plan of action. Install new IDM and see what that does. If that doesnt fix the problem, im gonna buzz my injectors to make sure they are all good. If they come up good, then I guess my next step is to remove valve covers and check the harnesses for looseness or damage. Everyone I have talked to has said that those injectors very rarely go bad.If someone has some other ideas please let me know. My truck has been down for weeks and need to get back on the road. I want to avoid bringing it to the dealer if at all possible. Thanks in advance for any info.

 

Moved to the 1999 - 2003 7.3L Powerstroke Diesel forum.

 

I am not the most knowledgable person on the IDM's but I think you are headed right.The UVCH will sure cause those symptoms.While you are in there,re-torque the injector hold down bolts and rocker arm bolts.Have you had the CPS recall done?

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...uld-share.html

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...ck-shakes.html

 

Yeah, I got the CPS done a while ago. It sounds crazy, but I'm actually kinda looking forward to pulling the valve covers and re-torquing while I'm in there. From what everyone says, its amazing what that does to the sound and feel of the motor. Also, everyone says to do a buzz test on the injectors. Tell me if I am right or wrong, but if an injector is bad, it would never work properly. The reason I dont think my #2 injector is bad is because the truck does run fine sometimes. I hope I'm right. Thanks for the reply. I will post outcome of new IDM when it comes today.

 

My friends truck was doing the same thing,idled rough and wouldn't get out of it's own way,while ideling I unplugged the drivers side harness that goes into the valve cover and there was no change,removed the one on the passenger side and it died so I knew the drivers side was giving trouble,removed the valve cover and sure enough the UVCH had worked its way loose.Now if you do this,be VERY CAREFUL,that harness carries a lot of juice,and of course watch out for the fan and any other moving parts...

 

Thanks for your reply.I'm gonna do the drivers side first because that's where the original 1272 code was pointing to. Once I pull one cover and re-torque everything, I really don't have any choice but to do the other side too. This way I can go ahead and fix that stupid clip problem on both sides to maybe help avoid this from happening again. I really hope its the harness. Im crossing my fingers.

 

My personal opinion is that I'd look under the valve cover before messing with the IDM again. It's way more likely that your under valve cover harness has come loose then having a bad IDM, especially since the truck runs fine sometimes.

Pulling the valve covers is really quite easy. If your harness is not quite loose but not quite tight, then you will have intermittent SES and rough running issues. Leave it like that for while and you will burn the center pin on the gasket and the harness as well. (that's what happened to me)

At this point, you might be able to get away with $0.50 to fix the issue. If your center pin gets burnt, then you are going to have to replace the gasket and harness.

 

Thanks. I agree with you. I'm pulling valve covers in the morning. I have my 2 lucky quarters ready to go.

 

Just a quick update.... I pulled both valve covers and the UVCH was unplugged partially on the drivers side. Did the quarter clip mods, re-torqued everything to spec, installed my original IDM, hooked up batteries and she runs like a top. Thanks again to all who chimed in and to this site for a ton of great info. I just saved myself a bunch of money that I really didn't have. As soon as I get straightened out, I will become a supporter.

 

Great news! Thanks for the update.

 

Do u have to replace gasket when u pull the valve cover off

 

No. Unless you damage it or it is shorted out some where.

 

So what do u have to retorqued other than valve coever bolts

 

Rocker arms and injector hold down bolts. If your in there, why not.

 

Do u no wat tge spec to torque them and the valve cover bolts