Just bought a 99 f350 w/175K on the odometer. It looked like it was using oil and I noticed a slight oil leak, so I decided to have a local Ford dealership have a look at everything on the truck.

Got a call from them today and one of the things they said the truck needed was new injectors. I was hoping i would just need new O rings. They also said that it looks like it has aftermarket injectors installed. I doubt they dug down into the engine and removed the valve cover for the $150 I'm paying them to give it a once over. So my question is this, can they tell via computer if the truck has aftermarket injectors? or do they have to dig in to see what's installed?

They are saying the truck is going to need about $5k worth of servicing done to it, so looks like I'll be posting here a lot for advise as I tear into things.

Thank you very much

 

If it's a reputable dealer I would trust there opinion. I can tell you from my experience that I just had that if it needs injectors, hpop and all of the the other little things that go with them 5k sounds about right for a dealer to do it. I just put a new set of alliant Injectors ( they make the injectors for ford) and an hpop on my truck at 125k. All said and done I spent about 3k doing it myself. But the truck runs great now.

FYI to pull the driver side valve cover it only takes about 30 mins or less depending on how much experience you have. I do not think they could tell what injectors it has with a scanner.

When you say it uses oil, how much per 1000 miles?

If its external leaks you may need injectors but they wouldn't be the cause of an external leak.
If you want a second opinion get an obd bluetooth scanner, and a app like torque pro or forscan and drive the truck around and collect some data. You are probably the only one that will take the time to diagnose the truck if you don't have any good diesel shops around you. Its possible that it could be just the injector orings but you need to run a buzz test, a cylinder contribution test. I did orings first and then ended up needing injectors to fix my problem. Every truck is different though so you need to collect some more data or find a another reputable diesel shop to get a 2nd opinion. It's hard to track down leaks in the oil system if they are internal. without doing alot of test which the dealership is probably not willing to do so I bet they gave you the replace everything price since they want to be confident that they will be able to fix it. Good luck and bring back some more data and maybe some of the others here will be able to help.

 

Thank you very much. I appreciate the info on how to actually test the injectors. I'm sure you are right...the dealership is just covering their butt by actually replacing them. As for how much oil the truck is using. I really don't know, I just bought the truck from a guy last Wednesday. Yeah! for me.

 

You are starting down a rabbit hole that may not have a bottom.... these trucks will drain your wallet if you let them. And the worst part is once you figure one thing out it is rewarding and then there is the next thing. Repairs and upgrades never seem to stop. There is a wealth of knowledge on this site about your truck. The tech folder at the top of the page is a good place to start. I think there is a thread on there about common oil leaks. It would be a good place to start.

Edit: Check your coolant for oil and the fuel filter to see if its black. If it's either one of those then you at minimum need injector orings. Good luck

 

Rabbit hole with no bottom. Ain’t that the truth. But usually it’s just because you want the next mod. Known as PMS around here. I swear I can stop anytime I want.

You’ll find the guys here at FTE love to spend your money. Seriously though the folks on here are an awesome resource and will do whatever they can to help you out.

Poke around in the tech folder and consider getting a scan tool as rs mentioned. They can be purchased fairly cheap. I’d do some of my own investigation before throwing injectors at it.

 

Is it performing poorly?

Oil consumption may be sign of need for an oil change.
HEUI injectors is hard on oil,because motor oil is used in hydraulic system.

Dig a little bit more before doing injectors.

 

Unless that dealer works on lots of 7.3 diesels, there tech's probably have know idea what they are doing on these 20 year old trucks. If it is just using oil or dripping that doesn't mean new injectors to me. If there after market, ask the guy you bought it from what's in there. May of went to single shots which most guys here are doing.

 

good advice.

 

Personally, I'd get your truck towed back home and let us help you find out what is wrong. My truck is still running original injectors... think about that...

 

I'd like to know how the dealer knows the injectors are aftermarket.

 

‘Looked like it was using oil’ ???

You see smoke? Had to add oil to keep it between the lines on dipstick?

How much of an oil leak? Most leaks are cheap and easy to fix.

‘Aftermarket’ injectors require a chip to run. No idea how they could tell what injectors are in the truck....

Reman injectors are $1300/set. Lots of moderately mechanically inclined people have changed them themselves.

 

$5k I’d hang onto your wallet first and around here and do some free/cheap troubleshooting in your driveway. If it starts and runs there is quite a bit of things you can look at yourself before spending big on new injectors. I’d change the oil myself and do some other basic maintenance and get a better idea what it’s doing first. Worst case you can pull the injectors and re-ring them yourself for not that much.

 

I wouldn't say it's performing poorly, I don't "know" the truck yet nor have I ever owned one, so I'm kinda just keeping my eyes open for obvious signs. I'm going to keep an eye on the oil now that I've had it changed and see what happens. Thanks!

The guy I bought it from went MIA, that's a whole other story. Good advice re: dealer service dept

I do see a bit of white when it's in the process of warming up to operating temp. It was about 6 qts low when I added oil to it.

I'm guessing thats what is going to happen. I'll keep posting. Thanks!

 

6 quarts? The motor holds 14. That's a little low for sure. Doesn't mean your injectors are bad or an o-ring problem. Has that oil loss been since you've bought it, or was it low before? You could have a look at the fuel filter, if it hasn't already been changed. If it's dark or the fuel in the bowl isn't just clean diesel, o-rings are likely. Otherwise keep an eye out for drips and on the dip stick.

 

I've only owned it since last Wednesday. As I was driving home I realized that I didn't even check the oil when I bought it. Next morning I went out and to my delight there was nothing on the dipstick. I then got the oil changed and now I'm going to drive it and keep checking it.