My son just got a 98 7.3 powerstroke F250. It's throwing a code P1247, low turbo boost. checked the boots to the intercooler and checked for gasket leaks at the turbo, My question is; should i be able to move the wastegate lever by hand? I grabbed the lever going to the wastegate and it doesn't budge. Any other advice on this issue would be appreciated.

 

Welcome to FTE. No you should not be able to operate the waste gate lever by hand. (you can if you really, really push on it).

Next, tell us more about the truck. Ford didn't offer a 98 model year F250. The 98's were called 99 model since that was when the switched to the newer body style. The 97's had the old body style.

Does the truck have any mods on it? (chips, tuners, etc.) Have you inspected the hose to the Map sensor to see if it's damaged? Any gauges in the truck where you can monitor boost pressure?

 

I'd say check for boost leaks. You mentioned an Intercooler which leads me to believe its a 99 F250 unless someone added an Intercooler to the truck.

Here is a video I made on how to make a boost leak detector. Hopefully you find it of use.


I also have a video that addresses fixing various boost leaks using parts from one of the sponsors of this forum. Go ahead and look that one up too, if you so desire to go that route. Might help to watch it to get some ideas anyway.

 

Boost leaks are one possibility, pre-turbo exhaust leaks are more common. Look for soot anywhere under the hood (except after the turbo). There should be none. Zero. Nada. Where there is soot, there is escaping turbo-driving force. Bad EBP might confuse the truck... I dunno. Bad MAP will do this. The last link in my signature may be of more use than my speculation.

 

It's my sons truck, he just bought it, it is definitely an F250 with 7.3 and intercooler. Already checked the MAP hose and all the boots to and from the intercooler. There is one bolt missing from the turbo with a tiny bit of soot around it, that will be remedied soon. Oddly enough, my son texted me today that the check engine light had gone off. This truck does not have a boost gauge but I went out and bought a $25 piece of junk one just for kicks. I tapped it into the map hose and we took it for a drive, accelerating up a slight hill by our house it was reading 8-10 lbs of boost. I know this is a little low but to get max boost readings do you really need to be putting a serious load on it?

 

That boost range founds fairly normal for a stock truck without too much of a load on it. Did the light come back on when you were testing? What are you using to pull the codes?

 

The light actually went out the day after testing it when my son was driving to school. I have a cheap Centech Harbor Freight code reader but it does pull diesel codes no problem.

 

Most scanners cannot read our trucks. Invest in a AE it will save you money in the long run.

 

As mentioned, many scanners can't read the engine codes on the 7.3 since it is not an OBDII compliant motor. The rest of the truck is, and you can pull generic codes, but the engine was designed as a medium duty truck engine so those codes don't always show up.

Try this. Unplug the ICP sensor at the front inboard side of the drivers head while the truck is running.



The check engine light will come on and it will set a P1280 code. See if your scanner can read the code, or clear the code after you plug the sensor back in. If you can't see the code, then you're likely chasing your tail using that scanner since the real code is hidden from you.