Long story short, reading showed the EBPS was clogged. Pulled the sensor off, yep - full of soot. Looked down at the bracket, yep - also full of soot.

Had been spraying everything with PB Blaster daily for a week or so before, figured it'd burn off the manifold fitting but whatever. Everything came apart relatively easily, the manifold side was a bitch but it steadily came loose.... And in the process took all the threads off the manifold bung in the process.

Now what...? I've thrown some of the QuikSteel extreme on there for now, but I'm not naive enough to think that's a perma-fix - especially with the back pressure levels under higher boost. That's my main concern is keeping the tube in place under high boost loads (upwards of 30).

I am NOT taking the manifold off, the bolts look even worse than the EBPS tube fitting did, and it's my only rig for now so I need it to be functional on a daily basis.

Suggestions, fixes, etc? I doubt there's enough OD to tap it, plus the external thread cutter won't fit in that small *** space.


Really kicking my own *** for not poking the bracket hole first to see if that was all that was clogged. Ugh.

 

Are you saying that these threads are stripped? The fitting is replaceable.

The end that goes into the manifold is NPT and should come out fairly easy. You may need to replace both the fitting and the tube if the flare nut was damaged. Clay, or Diesel O-rings, should have both. Nothing a little time and money can't fix.

 

I'm worried the fitting will strip out the manifold honestly. These things are covered in surface corrosion, the truck spent 10 years in Ohio with its first owner.

I do have a 'new' tube on it currently thanks to Razzi and his 7.3 needing a flexplate. For now the QuikSteel is holding nicely, when I get back into town I'll order a new fitting and see about replacing it.

Thanks Roland, as usual

 

if it won't come out can you just weld the old one shut and tap a new hole for the replacement. Is the pick up point a specific place in the manifold?? I wouldn't think it would be too critical but I'm not an engineer.

 

That's something I don't know. I'd also have to figure out how to make a new line since it's a rigid tube with bends to fit around the front cover and accessories.

 

That would be the issue right there, that tube is hard enough to hook up when it's made right. I found it hard to get the threads started on the fittings. If you strip out the manifold I would drill it bigger and insert a reducer to get it back to size, it would probably still be hard to hook up. Have you tried heating it with a torch yet? I have had good luck with MAPP gas, heat, spray with PB Blaster, repeat, after about three rounds stuff lets go pretty good.

 

For now all attempts are off the table, had to hit the road this morning. The goop worked great til I forgot about it and punched it to get around a semi. 34 pounds and off came the tube from the bung. For now it's just resting over the bung, so long as I keep it under 12psi it stays in place and the EBP reads normal.

Strictly Diesel is in Phoenix, which is my destination. Probably going to swing it by there Wednesday and see what solutions they offer.

At this point, since the b-nut and fitting are both stainless steel I may just see about having a shop tack the bottom accessible portion on so it holds high EBP.

 

I ran mine for years with a plug in the manifold and a cap on the sensor. Truck ran fine and gauges stayed the same, with/out ebps tube

 

Since cleaning the EBP I have noticed a marked drop in smoke, while getting better power and mileage back as well. If it comes down to it I may plug things up until I can sort out the manifold bung situation.

 

Nothing beats heat imo. Can you get a torch up in there? You may find a bit of heat and that fitting breaks loose VERY easy.

I'd also tap on the fitting side to "wake" it up with a chisel. That + heat I'd say you have a winner.

Also I'd use a 6 sided socket. Less likely to strip.

 

If I can fit one up there it should work. I'm no stranger to stubborn fittings and hardware, working on jets that've been at sea for 10-14 months you learn a LOT of tricks and tips.

The fire potential is astronomical however, it's a 15 year old 7.3 lol. Plus there's some wiring and such around there that makes a pre-lit torch completely impractical.

100% on the hex socket over the 12-pt, too many stripped hardware items due to the "this'll work" mentality. It REALLY sucks when it's a 2.5" 750ft/lb nut holding, oh say... the starboard rudder actuator on the bellcrank. Not. Fun.

I'll see what's what when I get to Phoenix tomorrow. Some more research is showing that I can weld closed the bung and leave the sensor open to atmosphere with no issues. My results after cleaning it are most likely due to it being clogged and reading a constant 28.2 give or take.

 

It's been a while for me but IIRC there is pretty good room to get at it through the fender well, you might want to take the tire off if it looks like that will give more room.

 

I covered some of this in the PM - I'd get on that fitting and remove it. If the fitting snaps off, welt it shut while you're on your trip - then address it at your leisure at a later time. You really don't want that exhaust leak.

 

Closing this thread out.

Found a Midas in El Paso that worked some witchcraft and got the bung out without any further thread striping and then welded the hole in the bung itself shut. Reinstalled the bung and I'm a happy camper with no leaks. There's a dealer in Phoenix that has a new bung that I'll be grabbing tomorrow as well.

Now that the original has been broken loose I feel a hell of s lot better about the R&R.

Many thanks to those that contributed, especially behind the scenes via PM!