I have purchased a 97' F-350 7.3L about two weeks ago and have ran into some issues. I'm hoping you guys can verify the mechanic's quote that he has given me. I have done work with him in the past and I know that he does good work.

When I bought the truck, it was running great. I say great, but it is also the first big diesel truck I've ever owned so it just seems to have been running great to me. I was driving into town to pick up some feed and I just had a total loss of power. I had the pedal to the floor and it would just not accelerate. I pulled over and it got worse, started running rough and then shut off. After sitting for a few minutes, it would restart but still run rough and NO power. I checked the Fuel filter (for the first time since I bought it) and it was dirty and black. I replaced it and after a little rough idling, it smoothed out and I was able to make it almost home. About ten miles down the road it lost power again and did the same thing. So I had it towed.

It's at the mechanic's shop and he has ran a buzz test and cylinder contribution test on it. At first he told me that two of the injectors were bad and that the oil was in MAJOR need of changing. The two bad injectors were based off the buzz test. He then ran the cylinder contribution test and it is showing 1-7 as being bad. He's recommended replacing all of the injectors.

The truck has 240,000 + (odometer broke) miles and has the original injectors so I know it is well overdue.

Here is what he's quoted me:

He told me the Motocraft injectors would run about $350/ea but he could get some other ones for for $196./ea.

Here is the total quote:
Diagnostic/Testing - (buzz/cylinder contribution) - 1 hr labor @ $70.00
Labor to replace injectors:
Right bank - 4.20 x $70 =$294.00
Left bank - 3.20 x $70 =$224.00

Fuel Injectors - 8 x $196.97 =$1575.76
+shipping =$49.00

Valve Cover Gasket - 2 x 98.68 =$197.36

Oil Change Labor =28.00
Rotella 15W40 4 x 22.99 =91.96
Motocraft Oil Filter 1 =12.88

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Labor Total: $665.00
Parts Total: $1877.96
+ tax

$2759.12


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Okay, I'm not really questioning his labor rates. I do trust his as a mechanic and am willing to pay for a job well done but I am more interested in the parts.

I understand their are cheaply made/reman injectors out there and of course I don't want those. I believe in quality parts.

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These guys have alot of positve feedback on Ebay: How does this kit compare to what my mechanic has quote me. He does not have glow plugs on his quote to me (should they be replaced as well)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-7-3-7-3L-Powerstroke-Diesel-Fuel-Injector-Superkit-/330605811530?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories &hash=item4cf9a4574a


I appreciate anyone and everyone's feedback and I am freaking PSYCHED to own a Ford Powerstroke. I just can't wait to get it back from the shop and put it to work on my farm. I just want to make sure that my money is being well spend. If I can save 6-700 dollars on the parts, thats ALOT! I'm not exactly rich. I'm a 27 year old farmer so I have to stretch my pennies


Thanks Guys and Gals.

 

If you can do the work your self you can get it done for 500 to 1000
call jim
Performance Injectors for 7.3L Ford Power Strokes

 

for the 2700 you can have one bad azz FORD if you do the work your self

 

I got a smoking deal on the truck for $2500 bucks:


And I had a wooden flatbed off my old 75 F350 gas burner that I swapped on:

 

yeah. injectors are way overpriced, and..
Well, like they said, you can have a badass truck for 2700 dollars.

stage 1's, chip, IC, T-500 and trans upgrades.

Plus more.

 

Thanks for the quick reply Fordpride. I've been trolling these forums all day, since I got the $2700 quote. I've never worked on diesel engines but I have no problem with trying. I've rebuilt the engine in my old Jeep and tinkered around with heads and whatnot on most all of my vehicles.

I've very tempted to to attempt this myself. I'd love to hear from anyone that's done this themselves. I don't have any type of diagnostic tools although I would be able to afford the one everyone's recommended on here. I have all the hand tools but not if theirs any type of specialty tools.

 

If I were to do it myself, I would do it to be saving money. I would prefer to not spend the full $2700 on other upgrades that I don't REALLY need. I might want them, haha but don't really need them. This is a work truck that I will be using strictly on the farm. I'll make a 200 mile roundtrip trip about 3 times a year to pick up and haul hay.

You all got my head spinning now...

 

Yeah, sounds like you need some stage 3's and a h2e....

haha.

is it a stickshift or automatic?


The work isn't hard to do, just have to take your time.

You can pull the VC's and inspect the gaskets yourself.

Send the injectors off to jim for a rebuild. bout a 2 week turn around on that, but your looking at under 1000 for the injectors.

if the UVCH's and VC Gaskets are bad, you can pick those up from Clay at Riffraffdiesel.

The injectors are going to come with fresh o-rings on them ready to go for you.

While your waiting on your injectors, you can clean the cylinders out of oil by removing a few fuses/relays and using the starter to turn the motor over and blow the oil out.

Dont wanna hydrolock it. Thats bad.

with a deadblow hammer, you can reinstall the injectors in no time.

While your in there, do the Glow Plugs as well.

Slap all the parts back together and after a couple short cranks and air purging, you'll have done it yourself.

 

Why was the fuel filter black? Sounds to me you have low fuel pressure, bad injector O rings and a bad fuel pump.

Need to do some more digging before throwing injectors at something.

Black fuel filter tells me oil in the fuel. Which means injector O rings or an internal injector issue.

 

Cool, Well I think I'm going to give it a shot. I'll call Jim Tuesday Morning and get everything rolling.

I've read a couple guides on replacing the Injectors on here and it def. does not look like something hard to do.

Any other recommendations of things to replace while I'm going at it. The truck is 240k + miles and I don't know about it's complete history. The guy that I took the truck to to weld the flatbed on, gave me a funny look when I pulled into his shop. He was the original owner of the truck and he bought it new. He used it as a welding truck, removed the bed, and sold it to a fella in town. He told me that he took real good care of it and serviced it regularly. He owned it for three years and I assumed never did any maintenance to it (including oil change)

 

Yea, I figure the injectors O-rings are def. leaking which is where the oils coming from. I don't doubt that the injectors need replacing considering they have 240k + miles on them.

 

CSIPSD is probably correct on it just needing injector O-rings.

Jim is easiest to get ahold of by email, but you can call as well.

All the work is easy to do.
Glow plugs are the biggest thing to change, and checking the UVCHs to see if they are burnt.

 

Cool, So once I pull these out and send them to Jim, he'll be able to bench test the injectors to confirm if any need rebuilt?

 

yeah, Thats probably the best way to go.

You'll just have to wait in line for your injectors like everyone else though. He's a 1 man army. So he has a bit of a wait.

I really love my 160's from jim.

 

I've owned several 7.3's over the years...

All but this one and the 97 have gone over 270k on the factory injectors. I have worked on trucks with 350k or more on the factory injectors.

If your set on injectors I would do some more digging before sending them off.

Check the fuel pressure, check the coolant pressure, check the compression...

When you do the injectors one or more of the injector cups are more then likely going to come out with the injectors. I would recomend replacing all the injector cups at this time.

I would also recomend new glow plugs, harness's, UVC gaskets, Relay.

But before any of that you need to see what shape the motors in to begin with.