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So I finally got my first diesel truck!! After hunting for a truck for quite sometime I finally picked up a 76 F 350 6.9. Man I love this truck but it dose need a lot of work but that's why I got it so I can learn. That's where you guys come in because I am going to need a lot of advice. lol Where to start. I picked up the truck last Thursday and it has been burning a good amount of oil which after doing some research I believe to be the CDR. But since picking it up it has been starting to run pretty ruff. The whole truck has started to shake at idle and its having a really hard time starting up. I havnt had the truck that long to be able to say whats normal or not but it dosent seem to rev as smooth now either. any suggestions?
Burning lots of oil is generally due to lots of blowby. It can be worsened by a CDR valve, but the CDR valve is designed to let blowby through... and that blowby carries little oil droplets with it.
The engine is probably just getting old; you can help it some by throwing in some Lucas Oil Stabilizer; it tends to help oil consumption.
It'll run for years like this, though, so don't worry too much about it... it just means that you are burning some percentage of engine oil along with your diesel. :P
Idle problems/running rough is *usually* fuel system -- injectors are the most likely cause.
Hard starting is often IP, and/or low-pressure pump.
Chances are, IP's probably near shot, injectors are failing, and the low pressure pump needs replacement as well soon.
I'd be looking at what it would take you to come up with around $1000 for a new set of injectors and a newly rebuilt IP -- it'll make that(or any) engine run a *ton* better.
hard starting might be glow plugs, Id start buy checking out the controller then each individual glow plug. Also does the truck leak any fuel? if you are getting air in the system it could cause hard starting and a rough idle
first thing i would do is get a new fuel filter.warm up the engine then shut it off. fill the filter up with automatic trans fluid, and put it on. start the engine and let it idle for 30 seconds or so, then shut it off and let it sit for 24 hours.
this will clean the injector pump and injector nozzles.
it should run better after doing this.
for the hard cold starts, try plugging it in. if it cold starts easy, then you have glow plug problems.
if it still hard cold starts, you have air intrusion problems.
but not to worry, post your findings one at a time and we will help you get them fixed and rolling smoothly down the road.
and one other very important thing. pictures. we really really like pictures!