I've had my 7.3 apart for the last 3 years. (Small problem that just kept getting pushed off)

The time has come now that I need the truck again, so I spent the entire weekend getting the engine back in the truck and ready to go.

I got it back together and fired up. But After these 3 years, I lost track of what I did and where I was on the project. I know I had the turbo rebuilt, did injector cups, up pipes, and did something to the HPOP. (I can't remember what)

Problem number 1
I'm getting a good amount of oil running out of the downpipe. I figured it was a bad turbo seal, so I pulled the turbo off again. But I'm also seeing oil in the passenger side up-pipe.
Now, could it be an issue with the injector orings? I don't see how raw oil would get into the exhaust from the injectors, but I know strange things happen.
I pulled the valve cover to re-check/torque the injectors. They were all tight. So, turbo problem right?

Second problem I'm having, is a long crank time before oil pressure builds. I found two large orings laying loose on top of the HPOP, that now I'm thinking I put there because they needed to go inside of it? ( after 3 years, I don't remember what I was doing) I don't think it's an air pocket issue. I've started it about 5 times and it has ran for about 2 minutes each time. 10-15 minutes total. (Still in "testing" stage and I haven't refilled the coolant yet) But it has a long crank (probably about 7 seconds) each time before the oil pressure gauge comes up and it fires.

So, if those orings are supposed to go somewhere in the pump, would it be able to run at all without them? Definitely cause a bleed down situation right?


I'm trying to figure out what I did and what I need to do before I just start ripping the whole thing apart again.

 

In this sort of situation I find that starting from ground zero is best. You don't know what you forgot and you'll always be second guessing yourself if something else goes wrong. Start all the way from the beginning and be sure that everything has been put back together properly.

 

And get a notebook and write it down with dates. That way, you don't have to remember. Its crazy what few words helps to recall.

 

Yep. Exactly the current situation.


Good idea. Originally, I had planned on only having it apart for a week or so, I'm kicking myself for letting slide for so long.

 

Reading about things at work and I'm 99% sure that the oil in the downpipe is just the turbo seals. So that should be an easy fix.

Still questioning those Hpop O-rings and the long crank time.

 

Check a parts breakdown of the HPOP and see if the o-rings you found match anything in there, not definitive, but at least it'll give some idea as to whether they could have come from it.

The long crank time for oil pressure: Is it the low pressure side or the high pressure side that is slow? I'm assuming high since you're correlating it to the slow start, but checking.

 

I just re-read and saw that you said oil pressure gauge so low side. That shouldn't matter since the HPOP has a pretty good sized reservoir. After it's sat for a while and you would expect a slow start, check the oil level in the HPOP reservoir before trying to start it. If it's low that'll explain the slow start, then it's a matter of figuring out why it's dropping. It should sit around an inch, maybe less, from the top plug.

 

Oil in the exhaust manifolds and UP-PIPES is normal after changing injectors. Depending on where the pistons and valves were when oil from rails ran into cylinder when injectors were pulled.

on edit: The oil goes through turbo to downpipe. Nothing to worry about here unless it doesn’t stop.

Long crank time is also normal. It can take 50 miles with some aggressive driving to bleed the air out.

 

I was just about to make another post on this.

I do believe you are correct about the oil in the pipe issue. There was a hydro-lock situation when I first reinstalled the engine and was turning it by hand, but I was able to work passed it and it spun freely after that. So that oil probably was sitting in the exhaust manifold and was just getting blown through.


I will put the turbo back on when I get home today and get it going again. Hopefully it clears up. I'll fill the cooling system and run it for a couple of hours. Hopefully that will get rid of the long crank as well. I know it's common, but it didn't seem to be improving at all in the time that I had it running so I wasn't sure if I had a problem there or not.

 

You’ll need to drive it to get air out of oil AND cooling system. Dont fill degas bottle more than 1/2 way and leave cap loose until it burps. Or you’ll get a volcano and spill a bunch of coolant.

 

Been there done that a time or two

 

Feel your pain brother, I forget stuff all the time, shoot I forgot what I was going to post.......

 

Well, the "oil leak" from the turbo no longer exists.

It was another long crank to start today, but once it started, I filled the coolant, and drove it around for a good hour. When I shut it off, it started again after a few minutes. But we'll see what it does tomorrow after sitting overnight.

So, I might've cried wolf a little too soon on this one. Haha

 

Good to hear. The starting situation should improve the more you run the engine.

 

i am with you guys about needing to drive it for awhile, make a store run across town, you will feel it just all of the sudden run better!