I hear you on that! I'm STILL working on it. Granted I've only been doing a couple of days a week (for the most part) but 2+ months is a long time between starts. It's gotten to the point where my first order of business is knocking down all the cobwebs on the truck before I start working on it.

 

Ouch

That's one of the reasons to bite the bullet now and go with injectors. We were hoping to get another year, but 3yrs ago we switched to synthetic 5w-40w year round to stretch them a bit longer. It seems to be more about "15 year old orings inside" than miles at this point.

So sometime between NOW and *maybe* a year from now, they will need changed. How will we know? By a failure, breakdown, or some other emergency work needed

Instead...do it ahead of schedule and be done. Hopefully along with the other work so far, this will really add to the longevity, while adding a little pep to her step

What are you still working on now?

 

It's been a slow process. Trying to spend some summertime with the kids, give my wife some time work on her business, and still work 40 hours/week adds up quick. If I had nothing else to do I'd be done by now.

Done so far:
Cut out the factory alarm
New injectors (including new upper and lower hold down bolts)
New cups
All gage sensors installed, wired, and loomed into the cab
New fuel pump
New thermostat
New upper and lower radiator hoses
New batteries
Most of the purging has been done from the cylinders
New power steering pressure hoses

Still to do:
UVCH and valve cover gaskets
New glow plugs
Racor PS 120-02 install
S&B intake (new design) with dry filter
Gages inside the cab
Lower 650 dash
Wire seat heat (installed when I re-skinned the driver's seat with new covers from The Seat Shop)
Get it to start!

Things I thought I was going to get to but probably won't this round:
Wire the 03-07 mirrors (have the pins to wire them to the OEM connectors)
Solder my overhead computer (hasn't worked for at least 5 years)
New ATS rear springs
OUO traction blocks and bars
Assemble relay blocks for switches going into the 650 lower dash (9 switches)
Detroit Locker
Driveline u-joints and carrier bearing (all still original)

My "Done so far" list looks pretty measly for 2+ months. Given the man-hours I've actually put into the project I think it's not as bad as it looks. Plus you have to count all the runs to the parts store for the little things that I forgot, needed, or broke. Not planning on doing the cups from the outset definitely pushed things back and breaking two bolts off in the head wasn't a push in the right direction either.

My biggest concern is going to be starting it up. I took this opportunity to do a number of things because I had it apart or the time to do it. If it doesn't start I'm going to have a bear of a time half-splitting (troubleshooting) to find the problem(s).

I've taken a lot of pictures and mental notes. Once I get far enough along to get it running I'll start compiling everything to post what I've learned from my debacle.

 

That's quite a list

Looks like you are slowly-but-surely getting some important things done. Keep at it!

 

Here's my new thread, looking for a tuner for Hybrids 200 /30% that I would like to get done at Rosewood Diesel

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post17374715

 

I am curious: why are you choosing 30% nozzles instead of and over 80% nozzles? IMO, you will regret it eventually due to EGT's if you are planning on towing heavy anywhere there are mountains.

 

It's what they offer Maybe they can make 80%, I don't know. But I was thinking that going from 140cc split shots to 200cc would be more than enough?

Guess that is something else to talk to a tuner about

 

The injectors I got are 80% nozzles. They didn't advertise it on their website for the injectors I wanted (only showed 30% as an option). I called them and they told me no problem. I just had to order from them over the phone instead of online to get what I wanted.

Personally, after all the reading/researching I did, 80% was the only way to go for me. I definitely wanted larger than stock nozzles (0%). I read posts saying that if you are thinking of going 30% you should go 80% and a number of those that went 30% wished they went 80%. I definitely didn't want to go over 80% and get into the gray area of tuning (hit/miss or live tuning). I've dumped enough cash into this beast over the last few years to have a nice Focus SE/Titanium (or Fiesta ST) sitting in my garage AND PAID FOR. There's enough variables (besides age) in play and I don't need to knowingly walk into a lion's den of potential problems/constant tweaking (I do that enough already). This is my daily driver so it can't sit until I can afford to figure it out. Plus my wife is losing interest in me constantly spending money/time on the truck. She still likes the truck (used to love it until it became a money pit over the last few years) but I need to put together at least a year or so of reliability (e.g. low cost) to get her back on the side of Team 7.3! Just my .02

 

Somehow "my post" showed up under your name. Or was I only thinking those exact words?

Yeah, I thought I had broken out of the chop and into the calm open ocean with the last upgrades and work I did this summer. Apparently I need to check the long distance forecast to see what is waiting at the tail end of a long towing trip

I am looking forward to nailing down this injector + cups issue. They've been hanging in the shadows, but I thought a year down the road.

At least they'll be done and *hopefully* substantially improve towing EGTs and long term reliability.

Like you and many others here, I am REALLY looking forward to actually DRIVING my Excursion without working on it every few weeks

I wish you and all our brotherhood the same good fortune I seek.

 

Did you get your injectors out in the mail today?

 

I wish. I planned to get started on the cups and pack up the injectors.

But...

Tomorrow is going to be a better day. I am rapidly recovering and able to spend more time on my feet, so I simply draw a line on my To-Do calendar with an arrow on Tuesday

Thanks for all your help

 

If you were closer I could lend a hand......

 

That would be cool. Then I could repay a few of the many beverages I owe you

I'll get it. today is looking pretty good. See how far I get.

 

Good news: #2 injector cup is out and I think I have the procedure figured out.




The discoloration is from the torch I used to heat the brass to help removal from the tap tool.

Notice the vertical "vent" LOL.


The Bad news:

I dropped some brass fuzz down the cylinder

I forgot to put the penny in the bottom first and my initial attempt at removal just stripped out like Rich's. I had to really crank the tap down in there to get a good bite on it (see the pic above)

I tried to fish out the brass stuff between attempts and knocked some down in the cylinder hole. I cranked the engine with the pulley to get #2 to TDC (used a piece of wire to feel the piston until it stopped rising)

My plan is to maybe use the Mighty vac and fish around with a tub down the hole....maybe use a shop vac?

Any tips or tricks to getting it out?

How big of a deal is the brass in the cylinder?

It was only one small coil that I knocked it, but no way of knowing if other small pieces get in there....

Thanks.

PS- I captured my ELC coolant. NO petrol products floating on top of it and no discernible diesel smells

 

Do you have compressed air? While vacuuming out through the injector hole, apply compressed air through the GP hole to "stir things up". I did short blasts, but I didn't have anything I knew of to clean out. I used a regular wet vac with the smaller (1.5"?) tube just stuck over the injector hole, so it was also sucking the oil, fuel and coolant passages too. But the shop air was the real mover of debris within the cylinder.