Hello. I have been having a hard start issue for the past few months regardless of ambient temperature. If I keep it plugged in, it starts okay though less so now that it is colder at night. When it does start it runs very rough until it either warms up or I "rev the snot out of it." If its not plugged in...it won't start. I was running 15W-40 synthetic but just changed to 5W-40 hoping that might help. And it has somewhat....

I finally took it in to my mechanic this week. They couldn't get it started at first as it sat out over night. The mechanic thought he had it figured out to be

They then ran some tests and came up with:

Fuel Feed Pressure: 40-80 PSI - OK
Injector Rail Oil Pressure: 471 PSI - OK
Cylinder #5 Balance 5 times to get an understanding of contribution per cylinder
Cylinder #5 low 5 times out of 5
Cylinder #8 Low 3 Times out of 5
Cylinder #7 low 1 time out of 5
Glow Plugs OK

They then left it in the shop overnight and then completed I.C.P test and confirmed it is good as immediate pressure up to 2300 PSI
Performed Injector Buzz Test and confirmed that 4 out of the 8 injectors are significantly not available.

When cold 4 of 8 cylinders failed. One cylinder would come and go. When its warm its good.

New injectors appear to be about $500 each here in Canada. Labour is about $700. I could do it myself but for $700....

Does it sound reasonable that the injectors need replacing or should I try an injector cleaner of some sort first.

I frankly don't have access to the $5000 at the moment....

Thanks

Torie

 

Hi Torie,

Sounds like you definitely will need to replace the injectors at some point in the (possibly near) future. I'd switch it back to the 15W40 and get some Archoil in it. Fuel and oil. You might get by for a while on that. I nursed a #5 contribution for probably 25K miles, but eventually became a hard start. Keeping it plugged when cold helped considerably. The only other diagnostic step would be to make sure all wiring is intact and functioning properly.

 

Moved over to the 7.3L PSD forum.

Stewart

 

@VegiePower , when the shop said cylinders 5, 7 and 8 were low, did they mean compression? What were the actual numbers in PSI?

 

And which injectors were not Significantly Contributing? All even,,, All odd? or sporadically placed? I tried 0W-40 fully synthetic once. Truck got to where it would not start. Kendall 15W-40 synthetic blend ever since. I can get it from a buddy at half the price of Rotella.

 

You don’t mention how many miles on the truck or engine? That’s important information, looking at signature I’m assuming you’re referring to the 2002 Excursion in your signature so we’ll assume that you have a 7.3L until you say otherwise.

I had 352K on 6 of my 8 injectors, under 50* I absolutely had to plug it. The 5w/40 will definitely help with the temps you see during the Canadian winters. The Archoil mentioned above may also help, but it was designed for the injectors in the 6.0L for a Canadian mining company. The Archoil helps with stiction normally seen in 6.0L injectors. It may help your situation but if you have HIGH mileage on your injectors it’s most likely worn poppets. If that’s the case Eventually the truck won’t start in 75* temps.

Several things to look at before jumping to conclusions regarding injectors:
TEST GPR, replace with a Stancor GPR if yours is bad.
OHM or just replace all 8 Glow Plugs- ONLY USE MOTORCRAFT!!!
‘Put a LED light in the cab wired to the GPR- Glow plug feed circuit aka the side that’s hot when you activate the GPR. Then you’ll KNOW your GPR is working and for how long.
Keep in mind that the PCM activates the GPR for up to 2 minutes when engine oil is cold. TWO MINUTES!

IF you need injectors now is the time to consider upgrading them if needed. I went with Rosewood rebuilds 140cc, they were $1400 for all 8. Many will suggest buy new, it’s your choice. I would also replace the UVCH when doing your injectors

 

Shim those bad boys to give you a bit more life out of them.

Heres the kit I've used in my personal truck and a couple at work.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/94-03-7-3L-...ss!79821!US!-1

 

There is a video at this site. Is this the same as rebuilding injectors?

 

Nope, close but not a "full" rebuild. With this kit theres no need to remove the injectors you can shim them while in the engine.

 

How much more work for a full rebuild? Dude in the video pulls the injectors and replaces all the O-rings. My fuel filter gets pretty dirty between changes. And my tank was immaculately clean last time I had it out of the truck.

 

Thanks! My understanding is that it was not all even or all odd but some of each.

 

Colorado350 My Bad!!.. Yes it is an 02 Excursion Limited with 7.3L Diesel. It has 283,339 miles on it (455,978ish K). It was a US truck.


"They" told me "everything" in the the glow plug circuit was fine on hooking up to their scanner, glow plugs, GPR etc.


Thanks for the Rosewood option! That seems really reasonable and a power upgrade would be welcome. I have an uploader in it...does that change anything in relation to the injectors?

 

So I did the shim kit as a start. Other than the significant effort getting the valve covers, and particularly the passenger side one, off and on, it went smoothly. The truck is running great and most importantly starting now!! Thanks z31freakify! In removing the driver's side I disconnected the UVCH and cranked it over...for some reason. I also had it running and disconnected the plug for each injector to get a sense of contribution etc. I expected that this is why I have this new code of P1316 which also comes with P1000. I have cleared it numerous times and it comes back on cold start. I even went to my mechanic to get him to clear it with his professional grade scanner. Code came back.

I suppose I will start by taking Driver's side apart again and checking all the connections are tight.

Any other ideas?

Thanks
Torie

 

Your welcome man.
The p1000 is you havent completed the drive cycle give it a while.
The p1316 could be the passenger side 42 pin connector has a a bare wire, since you removed the driver side valve cover it might be the cause ofvyour problem or a loose UVCH.

 

So, I pulled both valve covers today and did the 25cent fix to both sides, thought they seemed fine. I retested all the injectors and when they are unplugged the engine stutters so all is okay there...However the P1316 remains. Is it possible that my uploader for superchips can't clear it. I took it to my mechanic and his scan tool couldn't clear it either. Is it possible I would have to take it to the dealer to get the IDM reset?

Thanks