Hey guys I need help buying a 1993 f250 7.3 idi international. I've replaced the starter glow plugs the glow plug silinoid the fuel filter installed a electrical fuel pump running through the mechanical changed o rings ok the fuel lines to stop leaking took the fuel injector pump out and reinstalled it (same one) **** umm changed the battery's and I can't get it to crank over need help invested a lot of money and want this diesel so bad can't buy it til I get it running

 

Also its been sitting for two years

 

Have you bled the fuel system? My would not start till I got every bit of air out. If you Crack 2 injectors and hit the Schrader valve while cranking till you just get fuel out of them, then seal it back up, you should be good. Hope that helps

 

Well I recently found a leak in the number one injector the adapters o ring had a hole in so we ran it straight into the Line now it will turn over with gas on a rag for about 10 sec and slowly die umm when I fixed the leak in the number one line I was getting more pressure out of my lines should I just keep going

 

Can you turn it over?

Are you getting fuel out of a cracked injector line?

 

Ummm... ok, good chance you screwed up the timing pulling off the injectoer pump. Also, did you pull just the pump itself, or did you remove the gear cover and gear attached to the pump as well?

I'm not sure I completely follow what you're saying there. Did you remove the timing adapter that screws onto injector one, and then bend the line down so it screws directly into the injector?
The timing adapter is needed to keep the engine running smoothly and properly. If you remove it, that cylinder will fire slightly before it should and throw things off.

By more pressure out of the lines, do you mean the return lines, or the injector lines? It does sound like you're close.

Also, you're going to want to change how you installed the electric pump. You don't want it going through the mechanical lift pump. If the diaphragm in the mechanical pump breaks, the electric pump will push the fuel into the oil pan diluting the oil.

 

I agree with tecgod. You probably did lots of bad to your truck with lots of the things you should not have done.

I hope you didn't take off the IP. You probably didnt' need new glowplugs (newbie mistake), cuz they aren't like spark plugs.

If your IDI doesnt' start, it's usually a few things. fuel or power.

If your batteries are low (<12.1V) it will turn over, but probably not start. If <11.7V, it probably won't even turn over.

If you aren't getting fuel, check so see where. You old mech pump was probably fine, but if you arent' getting fuel to the injectors, then it might seem like your pump is bad. Diesel's need air out of the system completely, otherwise the injectors won't pop. So once again: Do you have fuel coming out of a cracked injector line?



Anyway, it's irrelevant, cuz if you really did pull your IP (i hope you were just confused about the terminology), then you got a bigger problem on your hands.

 

I marked the timing when I pulled it out and put it in. How do you be 100% positive it's all lined up? (LONG story behind why u did that previous owner are crazy) yes I am a newbie I'm 19 and this will be my first diesel. Worked on gassers my whole life not diesels. Yes it will turn over with a gas rag some times for 8 or so seconds and slowly die. Cracked the injector lines and diesel does leak out of some more then others finally got the front two to leak a good amount the others are bubbling diesel out sometimes. And the extension piece on the first line is necessary for timing? I took it out because it was stripped and the line wouldn't tighten very frustrated not looking for negative comments just truth and what I can do to get it running getting it for a very good price my pops use to have the same truck and it's been my dream truck for a while thanks

 

Should take off the ethical pump and run it through the mechanical still

 

Let's start eliminating variables.

What is your battery voltage with the engine off? 12.5V? 11.7V?

Are you getting fuel to your diesel filter (crack the input line)?

Is it dribbling out or spraying out?

Once you cracked the injector lines, is it spraying out? Dribbling?

If you crack the injector lines, press the schrader valve, and crank the engine, it should work the air out of the system. Once you have fuel spraying out of the injector lines, reconnect them. Then try starting the engine. With most of the air out of the lines, the injectors will have the pressure required to make them operate properly.

BUT, don't attempt this unless you have proper voltage. You are just wasting your time unless you have a functioning set of batteries, starter, and cables. Glowplugs are pretty much irrelevant unless you are in a cold climate. If your timing is off, you'll need the help of a IDI-jedi. I'm just a padawan.

(Once I had a "bad cell" in one of my batteries, that wouldn't allow me to start my IDI. It would crank forever. It wouldn't even start while being jump started. The bad cell must drain the system or something. And I wasn't chasing fuel gremlins like you are. You might want to get the batteries checked at a AutoZoo.)

 

First off, think a little more positive! We're here to help you and even if you did a few not so great things, we can help you straighten it out.

Also, these trucks can be tempermental and very different than a gasser, so don't feel bad (honestly I can't diagnose a gas engine issue, but can figure out a lot about an IDI...)

For the injector pump, how did you remove it/think you have it lined up? You may have screwed the pooch, or you may just have wasted time, its one of those things thats easy to mess up if you don't know what you doing. If you marked where it was, undid the bolts under the cover at the front of the gear cover and only removed the pump, its probably ok, or at the worse only a little bit off from where it previously was.

Electric pump probably isn't needed, what brand did you install? Some people like to put them on to eliminate air intrusion issues, and good quality pumps can be a decent mod if done properly.

Answer the questions that genscripter just laid out, and we can help you some more.
Good batteries (and fully charged) and a good starter help a lot. I disagree about the glow plugs, they help a cold engine even in decent whether, but if it fires off on a gas rag, it should be able to go normally.

Oh, and as far as the timing adapter, it should run without it, but not optimally. I'm not a huge guru, so take that with a grain of salt. However, if you look at the fuel lines on mechanically injected diesels, you'll notice they're bent all sorts of ways. Thats to keep them all the same length. In an ideal world, when you compress a liquid, it all compresses the same, in the real world, it takes time for the compression wave to travel from one end of the injector line to the other. By making all the lines the same, each cylinder fires at the same delay from when the injector pump pushes the fuel. If you change the length of the line (by removing the timing adapter) then you change when that individual injector fires, and the timing of that one cylinder changes slightly.
This won't keep YOUR engine from running, but it may make it run somewhat rough, like one bad spark plug on a gasser... (kinda sorta..?)

 

OK so I can replace the adapter fairly easily just need to go purchase one. My battery's are brand new and fully charged the injector lines are kind of in between at first I couldn't get much of leak but some diesel bubbles but on the front two it leaked better but it's not spraying out like I am told it's suppose to be

 

And I unscrewed the three bolts in the timing to take out the IP it didn't look like it moved much at all when we pulled it out

 

It can take a while to bleed out the air on these.
Here's an example, one day I was running real low on fuel, pushed it a little past E, but found a station and filled the tank.
Little did I know, I more or less glided into that station. Restarted the truck, pulled out into the road and promptly stalled out (ran out of fuel...). Lucky for me it was late in the day, no traffic was around, and I pulled out into a red light. It didn't want to start again, took a couple rounds of cranking.

Similar thing last week with my new truck, ran the front tank out of fuel and it stalled (guage doesn't work...). Coasted to the side of the road, switched to the rear tank and took several rounds of cranking to finally fire up again.

Another fun story about cranking speed, drove an hour in June on the highway (so the engine was plenty warm). Made like a 15-20 minute stop, but the engine was still plenty warm. Wouldn't start... killed the battery trying to get it to start, got a jump from a friend, still wasn't going.... and I thought it was turning over fine. Got towed home, swapped starters with a parts engine I have. Fired right up..... problem was a dying starter.

I've never had to crack the lines, even the time I changed the injection pump I just cranked it a few times and it started. So I'm not sure how much of a spray versus dribble you'll see. But please don't put your fingers near the ends of the lines, it can be dangerous... If any fuel is coming out, thats a sign the injection pump is pushing some fuel through.
The key on these is crank like 15 seconds, then wait a minute for the starter to cool off. Repeat... Doesn't take long for the batteries to drop when doing this, so never hurts to have a charger hooked up. Problem with waiting.. is the glow plugs cool down. So you need to go through a glow plug cycle each time too.

Oh! timing these engines is done with turning the injection pump, much like you'd turn a distributor. While the input shaft of the pump can only be installed in one place on the gear, the body of the pump can turn several degrees either direction. So, the question is, did you mark the pump body in relation to the gear cover before removing? There is a scribed mark on the pump and gear cover from the factory that shows a rough place to line up the pump and get the engine running. Then fine tuning is done with the proper timing equipment.

 

So you don't think it is the injector pump? I have cranked the **** out of it and cracked some lines and they barley leaked then I cracked other lines and they havnt leaked at all I've blown through old starter and installed a new one learned my lesson to give the starter a break haha and Idk if it's from sitting so long that air is in the lines the schrader vavle will drain like a lot and less and less air is coming out of it