ok hopefully i can pick some brains apart and really start learning these diesels. im very good with gas engines and have ran my own performance shop on the side for 6 years now and build anything old school up to modern muscle so i know how to swing a wrench and tune a pcm. so with that said here is what i got myself into lol. im trying to expand and learn diesel tuning and building, i found this 99 F350 dually speed manual 2x4 crew cab for a grand and thought well this will be the perfect truck to learn on. ive heard nothing but great things about the legendary 7.3 turbo diesel. when i picked up the truck it was very hard to get it started, i sprayed starting fluid in it to keep it running and it finally ran on it is own after a few tries. it has what it seems like to me a dead hole or two. it has a really rough idel and no power when going down the road. also if i plug the block heater in and let it warm up, it will fire off no problem and run, but still runs rough. the truck is coming up on 300,000. doesnt smoke. the story on the truck is the kid was driving it and it started to run hot so he pulled off the road and had it towed to a shop where i found it. i havent run it long enough to see if it runs hot, i figured it would be best to get the misfire figured out and get it running then go after the cooling issure if it exists. what i would like to know is how do i trouble shoot which injector is bad and where can i get a kit to rebuild them or is their a person i can trust to send them to and rebuild them for me? where can i get scanners to read the codes on the computers? and lastly i want to make a 500hp 7.3 not looking to go all out, just enough to pull on a stang or camaro yet still have the ability to tow and pull a dyno to events. i want to build it up for a shop truck/tow truck/ street truck. any and all advice on how to get there will be greatly appreciated. any and all known faults to look for and correct would be great to. thank you to all who read and respond!

 

At least you're not asking much...

Try the diesel forum (7.3 sub forum), you'll likely get more info there. Good luck with your truck.

 

moved to the 7.3 forum

 

First, no more starter fluid. If your glow plugs are working the ether will fire as soon as it gets in there, not when ignition is designed to start. Since it started easier when plugged in, the GPs are prolly not working. But ether is still a big no-no. See the GPR in te pic below? Bridge the two big terminals with a screwdriver for maybe 20-30 seconds. Assuming you have voltage there it will energize the GPs and make it easier to start.

At the top of this forum is a sticky thread titled "FTE Guidelines, Gen Info, Tech links" which has some good info on no start situations. Great reading to start your education and see where the truck's symptoms lead you.

BTW overheating is very rare in these. Possible to simply run it dry and get hot, of course. If the truck is chipped (performance tune on the PCM) then the "overheating" may have been EGTs (exhaust gas temps). Too hot for too long can hole a piston, among other bad things. If you can get it to idle pull off the oil fill cap, turn it over and place it over the filler hole. If it blows off from strong crankcase pressure, that is bad. If it just vibrates around ad falls off, that is normal.

Lots of acronyms for sensors etc so here is a handy pic.

And welcome to FTE.

 

thanks alot for the tips, ill try them out and let you know what it does. and yes sir no more starting fluid. also the guy said the computer was locked from a tune a previous owner put on it. do i have to take it to ford to get the computer reflashed or does sct sell the softwear to do it myself? is there a box that controls the glow plugs that could of gone out that i can check?

 

also the injector issue. how do i trouble shoot which one is bad and what is the cheapest way to go about fixing it for now and get it back on the road?

 

ok im sorry but i had to use starting fluid to get it to start. it will not do it even if i leave the block heater plugged in. i got it to run and did the oil fill cap trick and it didnt blow off, it does how ever have smoke coming out of it when i pull the cap. i bridged the gpr and it still would not start on its own. after getting it going it smooths out and gets some power back like a injector or two started firing again. it is running hot, i ran it all down the ranch and it finally started running hot. got it back to the house and shut it off. the water that was in the resvor tank was cold put shooting out? pulled the cap and old faithful shot out and towards the end it was hot water. thats new to me, when a gas motor is hot all the water is boiling hot. ok so thats where im at now. i saw in other threads that most people are buying AE scan tool. would this be worth the investment to start figuring out my problems?

 

Yes, AE is great. You probably have a stuck thermostatic or plugged radiator. Its common. Most change everything then have to change the radiator. Get a heat gun and shot the exhaust manifold to see if all cyclinders are warming up. Usually a cold cyclinder means a bad injector. Stop the e starting fluid unless you want to change pistons or head gaskets. These are high compression engines with glow plugs and you will damage your engine. If you have 12 volts going to the main side of the GPR and it don't work change it. Change the glow plugs also. Then go from there.

 

You can ohm out your glowplugs pretty easily to verify they're ok. Another "never"...never use autolite glowplugs. Only OEM. If your glowplugs are OK, it's just as easy to troubleshoot your glow plug relay. [assuming you don't have a California truck with a glow plug module]. Just ohm out the coil and check the voltage in when activated and out...to verify you don't have fried contacts. Then, use search to find how to t/s any remaining problems.

 

ok is there something else i can use to get it to start up besides starting fluid that wont damage the engine?

 

Plug it in for at least 3 hours and while you are at it, change over to 5w-40 synthetic oil. If the injectors aren't too far gone, you will get some time out of just doing those 2 things, but if that helps, it is a good indicator that injectors are in the near future.

 

AE is great but I don't see it helping these issues. Overheating could be stuck thermostat, clogged radiator, rotted waterpump blades, etc, all the usual stuff. Thermostat housings tend to rot away but a new one is like $25. As mentioned fixing hard starts can be as easy as new GPR and GPs. If you are handy with a multimeter test those components as mentioned above to narrow down the problem. If you have more money then time or tech savvy just replace them all. X2 on the advice of NO Autolite GPs.

Btw, where are you located? What are the temps? Is the CEL on?

Many cheapo code readers will not read 7.3s. Short of AE you can get the Torque app for your android phone to read codes.

Get a new thermostat and coolant in there, play with the glow plug system a bit, and let us know how it's going. Plenty of guys willing to help here, just keep whacking at it.

 

thank you, ill do that this weekend for sure and let you know how it turns out. im located in kerrville texas. so depending on which hour of the day it is, its hot, really fing hot, or nice out lol. ill pick up an ae just because i plan on having the truck for a while. ill post pics and progress along the way and let you know what i find out. thank you again for all the help and ideas. sorry i posted alot of questions. im new to this kind of forum stuff and saw afterwards to post only one question at a time lol. does anyone know of a good 7.3 engine builder in texas that i can have go through this motor later down the road?

 

I know you said you bridged the GPR. Did you turn the key on first, then get out and bridge it? Just want to make sure your doing it right before you rule it out.

Welcome to FTE.

 

Key on, key off doesn't matter if you jump the two large lugs. What would matter though is if the truck is a late '99+ (and not CA emisions), there are 2 relays, and the forward one is for the Intake Air Heater, not the glow plugs.