Hey everyone. I have a 2001 7.3l F-250. I have an issue hoping someone can help diagnose. I just replaced my fuel injectors (from riff raff) and globe plugs. At the same time I rebuilt the turbo using the riff raff turbo rebuild kit. Truck started up (followed startup procedure for new injectors) and the truck runs as expected. A little rough and smokey but has been getting much smoother. However when driving, I noticed I was losing power in 3rd and 4th (as if my turbo wasnt kicking in), but I could hear it whistling. When I got back and opened the hood I noticed a lot of smoke coming out of the turbo area, not sure exactly where. Does anyone know what could cause this? I am pretty certain it is from the turbo.

Thanks

 

Do you know specifically where it was coming from? Injector replacement and turbo rebuild offer a lot of possiblities since there were a lot of things disturbed during that evolution that probably haven't been touched since the truck rolled off the assembly line 17 years ago.

Could be something with the turbo rebuild, the turbo pedestal (did you re-use the o-rings?), or something else.

Is there oil in the valley? Is it in just the rear "pocket"? (there are 3 pockets in the valley)

New or remanufactured injectors?

You could also have a boost leak which is why you feel the loss of power. It could be related (turbo issues) or unrelated (something isn't tight enough when you put the truck back together).

I recommend that you have a moderator move this to the 99-03 7.3L forum or post over there. Lots of knowledgable people over there that are willing to help.

Since the 7.3L is a dinosaur we are not as relevant over here so most of us 7.3-ers spend most (or all) of our time in our corner of the yard (7.3L forum).

 

I'm thinking of doing these upgrades too, so I'm gonna following along!

 

The smoke appeared to be coming from the back of the turbo. I took the turbo off and noticed one of the o rings between the pedestal and the turbo was lying in the valley. I am not sure if it fell off when I took the turbo off, or when I was reinstalling it. I was moving it around quite a bit trying to get it to attach to the y-pipe. My guess is that it fell off during installation and I was leaking oil (I did notice some oil dripping in the back of the valley). I also think I didn't tighten the v-bands and clamps enough. I could hear a big whoosh of air from the turbo when I accelerated which probably indicated air leaks. The smoke was probably a combination of the oil leak and the clamps not being tight enough. With the new injectors my exhaust was a little smokey so it really stood out.

Injectors are new and I used all new o-rings and gaskets on the turbo.

After taking off the turbo I decided to replace the up pipes, which were so rusted to the exhaust manifolds I had to cut them off and replace the exhaust manifolds as well (not fun). I have the new manifolds and up pipes installed, just waiting on a new v-band clamp for the up pipe to turbo connection. Once I have everything installed I will update.