Ok, so I just found out my old 92 f250's rear end went kablooey so Im looking around at trucks and found a 01 powerstroke. It has a power steering fluid leak apparently coming from the hydroboost and is leaking behind the carpet on the floorboard. Im guessing a seal? Is it possible to just replace the seals or am I looking at a whole hydroboost assembly or something? Also, it is very hard to start in the cold. Like unusually so. Not impossible, just have to hook up the block heater every morning unless its hot outside. So, I'm thinking glow plug relay or some glow plugs. What should I look for?

 

Anyone know about either of these issues?

 

The hydroboost is replaced as an assembly. I am not aware of a procedure to replace only the seal. You can check www.partsguyed.com for a price or try and find one at a salvage yard.

The glow plug relay is the usual culprit. You can check for power when your wait to start light comes on. Your truck might have two relays/solenoids (most do). Here is a photo that will help you out. Put a meter on the big terminal opposite the battery power and see if you get voltage when the key is turned on. Should be at least 11.5 volts or so..

Hope this helps.

 

I know they used to sell a reseal kit, and the o rings separately, my mechanic used to repair them all the time, he has not found a place that sells just the seal kits any longer. I know this because the one on my Cummins leaks a little bit. I told him to keep looking because I don't want to spend the money on a new one when all it is is a seal...

 

Wow, thanks Chavez. +1 for you for the informative picture and advice. I will check on that. FYI that website says 347.33 for the hydrobooster. But Rockauto.com shows an "unloaded Reman A-1 cardone for 185.99 and a ACDelco Reman for 217.99. The relays at rockauto are 148.79 and 195.79... Spendy!- Not sure of the difference. ;-) Hrmm.... So the seals are hard to find eh, that means I will probably have to replace the whole booster, it uses half a bottle of power steering fluid a week. Cant really wait.

 

Glad to help.
I have no experience with swapping out the hydroboost so I guess is sorta depends on how easy it is. If it's pretty easy, then I'd probably get one from a salvage yard and cross my fingers. If it's a bear to change out...then I'd go OEM. I'm a little nervous with some reman parts. Of course sometimes budget prevails so I'm sure you will make the best choice for your situation.

If you think your glow plug relay is bad, try swapping it out with the AIH relay before you buy a new one. The AIH hardly gets any use so it's probably in pretty good shape still. They are identical parts so you can swap them in a pinch. In fact, some of us (myself included) have actually removed the air intake heater element so that relay isn't used any longer anyway. I am still running my stock GP relay so I figure I have a spare if I ever need it right there on top of the engine. Hard for me to lose it that way.

If you want to purchase a new relay anyway....a lot of people go with a Stancor instead. It's much more durable and makes a difference in colder climates. Here is a link to a great write up from Robin on the 7.3 forum.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...gpr-today.html

If you find your relay is good then you need to ohm out your glow plugs and see if they are bad. You can do this without removing the valve covers by looking at this thread:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...g-testing.html
This thread also talks about the 50 cent mod which is something you will definitely want to do if you end up swapping out the glow plugs. Changing glow plugs is a pretty simple job actually. I've found that Clay has OEM plugs at a reasonable price.
Riffraff Diesel: Motorcraft Glowplugs

Here is a photo of the harness outside of the valve covers where you can ohm the terminals for the glow plugs. You will want to unplug this connector to expose the pins on the valve cover gasket. You will be testing the pins in the gasket and not the pins in the plug. Do not pierce the wires in this plug as some of them are quite high voltage and it will cause problems later. Best to unplug the connector to expose the pins in the valve cover gasket side and measure the ohms that way.

Hope this helps.

 

My '01 had a weak battery and has one dead glow plug. It's somewhat hard to start, and has a bad case of the romps. It really prefers being plugged in below about 30F. I replaced the batteries, am switching to synthetic oil, and am leaving the glow plug for now. I think the oil will help significantly, and I will find out this winter.

 

Thanks again guys.