I purchased a 1988 f250 7.3 IDI a few days ago. Couldn’t get it to start and trailered it home. Has 360,000 miles on it, owner claimed it ran when he parked it 3 years ago but the last inspection is 2014. Was not able to get it started in my driveway with two new batteries. But cranking sounds even and it spins pretty fast.

Oil level is good. I checked the fuel shutoff solenoid. It clicked when I unplugged it. I had pretty good pressure at the fuel filter shrader valve. But i attached a Bosch electric fuel pump so that I’d build fuel pressure while I’m not cranking. Connected the electric fuel pump to a 5 gallon bucket of fresh diesel with a hotshot diesel additive. I disconnected all of the lines to the injectors and placed paper towels under each line i cranked until one would become soaked with diesel than connected that line. All 8 lines got fuel to them though it really was not much fuel. I disconnected all of the glow plugs and placed a gas soaked towel over the intake. The truck started up and sounded good but it only ran for 20 seconds before dying with the throttle halfway open.

I’m not sure if this is a injection pump issue or a injector issue. Previous owner mentioned he had run this engine on vegetable oil but the fuel in this tank is definitely only diesel. I’m thinking of removing the injectors and cleaning them incase the tips are clogged? Not sure how to diagnose a bad injector pump.

 

you should have around 4-5 psi at the output of the fuel filter, and 1/3 cup of fuel in 10 seconds crank time from filter.
that will tell if the lift pump and filter are good or not.
if you see air bubbles in the stream, that is indication of a hole in the fuel line or cracked pickup tube in tank.
these year trucks are known to break of the pickup filter in the bottom of the tank, and the pickup tubes often crack.
those two issues make the truck seem to "run out of fuel" between the 1/8 and 1/4 fuel level. but i have seen trucks run out of fuel at 1/2 tank on the gauge.

 

Thanks for your reply. I went ahead and had the injection pump rebuilt at “fairview diesel inc” in fairview New Jersey. The two guys there seemed very knowledgeable and professional. (They discouraged from bringing my pump there until i was sure my pump wasn’t working right) Also very reasonable pricing. $400 for the pump freshly painted as well

i have a 7.3 PS that has the same fuel pickup issue in the tank!

The builder showed me pictures of the inside of the pump. The internal filter screen of the pump was clogged up with all kinds of big debris! Also was lots of rust probably from the pump sitting dry for years. Should have the truck back together tomorrow if the rain doesn’t ruin my motivation. Was gunna flip this truck but the fact that it only has one solenoid to start/ kill the engine has really been turning me on lately

 

please keep us updated on how the reman injector pump works out for you. good IDI pump service is few and far between these days.
i have not heard of Fairview diesel before, but they are only 1 hour north of me.