Ceosspost as I didn't see a forum dedicated to the 7.3L. Sorry.

Bought a 99 F350 recently. Farmer traded it in when buying a new vehicle. He had nothing but issues with it since about 2014.

Issues: excessive smoke mainly white, randomly dies once in awhile.

He had all new injectors put in at 124000 miles (vehicle is just over 126000 now), CPS sensor changed twice, fuel system flushed, random other sensors changed, glowplugs changed, relays changed.

I recently did a oil change 5w40 rotal purple, flushed and filled the transmission(automatic) flushed and changed the coolant. Drove it to 265 miles today, no noticeable fluid loss (a bit of oil but less than a quart). Haven't had any issues with it dieing. Did have a issue of it not starting or turning over but put foot on brake and went to nuetral back to park started right up.
its still smoking for 30-40 minutes and when going from a stop. Is it a good assumption to think it might be a Injection pump issue? I looked through all the maintenance records and theyve never touched the IP not once. But did switch out about everything else on the engine ($7691 worth of repairs lol).

Any other ideas or info?

 

Get a compatible scanner and pull codes first.

 

First thing I would recommend is the quick compression/blowby check. Place the oil cap on top of the fill tube upside down while the engine is running. If it just sits there and shakes around a little you are good to go but if it blows off with pressure then you have a major engine problem. My 184,000 mile engine uses no oil at all and I'd suspect that there is an O-ring issue on one or more of your injectors. There is a test for those too where you apply air pressure into the high pressure oil hoses to the heads and listen for oil gurgling past compromised O-rings. You could also have a seal leaking in your turbo though.

 

Check turbo shaft for play.

 

The starting in neutral is a good sign that the TRS (transmission range sensor located on the shift cable on the driver side of the tranny) is bad. These engines dont have IP they relly on high presdure oil to fire the injectors. One thing is the 5w40 oil rated for HD diesel engines?
and as these guys mention check for blow by, if the oil cap flys off=bad engine.

 

Yeah the 5w40 is HD diesel rated.
Blowby was hard to do with a cap due to vibrations but with hands around it to keep it from vibrating off it wasn't really lifting the cap. There is quite a bit of smoke that comes out(white) when the cap is off but its not enough to lift the cap off and it stays consistent. I am going to get the codes pulled today or tomorrow. If injectors have recently been replaced, could the HPOP system be what is causing the excessive smoke etc.
If it ends up being blowby, that would mean worn or damaged rings and excessive crankcase pressure?correct? In which a overhaul would fix that issue.
Also there isn't a powerdrop etc, I checked fluids again and they aren't going down?

 

White vapors out of the oil fill is normal and it sounds like you don't have a blowby problem. No, the HPOP itself won't cause smoke. What color is the smoke?

 

Smoke from exhaust & from oil cap area is white. When smelling from the exhaust it smells super rich diesel. I might take a video here tomorrow, but it may be a blowby issue. I've never worked on a 7.3L or most non-agri diesels.
how hard are rebuilds on the older 7.3Ls? I'm assuming if it ends up being blow by(not sure it is), more than likely its rings. Thinking I could snag a overhaul kit and do it when I grab some non-remanned/used injectors.

Trying to find someone who can run the codes on it. So far I've only found a dealership capable of doing it thats open and not booked out. And depending what shows up, I may just pull it and go over it and the rest of the engine area to see whats all messed up on it.

 

Get yourself an OBDII adapter and you can do it yourself for cheap. Bluetooth for Android and WIFI for iOS. You could also use WIFI for Android but for some reason the guys don't do it. Then you can get ForScan cheap and it will help you diagnose it.

 

Any recommendations? Looks like RiffRaff has a AE combo for around 350ish. The adapters stc look like the decent ones for mainly code reading are 100+. I'm not opposed to throwing down $350 or so if in the long term it will be more beneficial.

Also i fell a bit down the rabbit hole reading about the pressure system used on powerstrokes and probably reaf more than my brain can handle so i may not be processing it all. But would a bad or failing IDM cause excessive smoke since it deals with the injectors etc?

 

Get a dongle or and get FORScan from https://forscan.org/download.html

 

AE is a good tool, but you can do most of that for a lot less $$ with Forscan, etc.

Yes, the HEUI system is unique. Up to 3000psi of oil is used to move a plunger and intensifier piston to get ~20k psi fuel injection pressure.

The problem you describe could be a problem with the injectors that were replaced, but could be as simple as a fuel supply problem. IDM or other ‘electrical’ issues generally produce codes.

Its easy to check fuel pressure. You can use any cheap 100psi gauge (air, water, etc ) and a piece of 5//16” Fuel hose. You’ll attach the hose to the water drain valve on fuel filter housing and if pressure is good (~55psi) at idle, run the hose up to behind a windshield wiper or side mirror so you can see it while driving.

I greatly prefer and highly recommended installing a fuel pressure gauge on these trucks. This is one parameter that is NOT monitored by the PCM and is otherwise difficult to attain.

 

Ran a diag on the engine today using forscan & mx+. The following popped up.

Code: P1209 - Injector Control Pressure Peak Delta Test Fault Module: Powertrain Control Module
Code: P1212 - Injector Control Pressure Lower Than Desired (engine crank or run) Module: Powertrain Control Module
Module: Powertrain Control Module Diagnostic Trouble Code details CMP circuit fault. This DTC may be caused by : CMP sensor circuit fault Open circuit in wiring or component Poor connections Sensor Previously disconnected. For additional information refer to: Faulty or damaged PCM.
Code: P1211 - Injector Control Pressure Higher/Lower Than Desired (engine running) Module: Powertrain Control Module

outside of those the airbag sensor is out(we pulled the airbags the day we bought it so thats a given).


Going to assume the above codes are probably related to bad injectors.??


Ran a cylinder test and P0275 came up(cylinder 5) ran it a second time after driving. This time 5 & 8 popped up. Going to assume pull injectors and check them is probably the first best step. Input appreciated. I can't see it being a cylinder issue itself or a ring issue im still not losing oil, coolant or trani fluid. Nor has any fluids increased.

My mpg even with a bad injector or two is hovering around 13 i believe.

 

I see a lot of HP oil system related codes. Monitor ICP and IPR Duty Cycle while engine is running. IPR DC should be between 10%-13% at idle with ICP between 470-600psi.

 

Agree with this.

Also, unplug ICP sensor and see if there’s oil in the plug.

The complaint is smoking until operating temp. I’m leaning toward internal injector issue.

Lets quantify 5&8 by monitoring Perdels. Then maybe swap those with different cylinders and see if problem follows the injector.