Hi everyone, I posted over the summer about some issues I had with my '02 7.3 and the end result was a new engine (Motorcraft long block, also new wiring harness). Last week I picked it up in Montana where we broke down in July and two things are happening- trailer brakes only work manually now, but the more concerning issue is I'm still getting the same codes- P1280 and 1211. The engine light comes on somewhat randomly- usually when under load and going up a hill or hard acceleration, but there have been times when it came on when neither one of those was happening. If I pull over and let it idle or back off and drive slow, it turns itself off after a few minutes. I put on a Ford ICP sensor today (the 4th sensor but first OEM) and it didn't change anything. The IPR was replaced with the new motor because that mechanic got the same codes but didn't get them again after the new IPR. I am very stumped and can't afford to keep dumping money into this thing. There's no change in how it runs when the light comes on, but I'm nervous about pushing it. When the last engine blew, the same light had been doing the same thing for a while but I was seeing a lot of black smoke on acceleration and eventually overheating and losing a lot of power until it finally maxed out at 20mph. I don't know if the two are related or not but I don't want to kill another engine if they are. I had to ditch the trailer in Idaho but I need to get it back down to AZ before winter hits in the Rockies (unless someone on here is looking for a toy hauler in ID!).

I don't know if it's been tuned or not, but my next thought is to see if there's a chip or not and erase and reset the ECM. Only problem is I am not sure how to do that, or if it might lead to other problems, or if it will even help in the first place. Before we ever left for the road trip that this all happened on, I had to replace the HPOP and put in a CNCFAB stage 1, riffraff 3907 air filter, oil crossover line, EBPV delete, CAI delete, and had all of the injectors replaced because 7 & 8 weren't working right. I don't know if any of these things could cause any of this or not but I've only had a diesel truck since January, so I don't know much. Only other thing I can think of is to put the original MAP sensor back on and get rid of the boost fooler. I don't think that should have anything to do with it and the boost fooler apparently isn't doing anything with my stock turbo, but I am stumped, broke, and desperate. There's probably more I could put with everything that's happened over the past 9 months but am trying to keep it relevant and short, but am happy to provide whatever else might be helpful.

Any help is much appreciated! Thanks,

Rob

 

Don't know much about the boost foolers but unless you're regularly breaking 25# of boost I'm not sure that it's really coming into play. Has anyone checked for boost leaks? I'd put a fuel pressure test on the list to rule it out. The code are related to hpo but you say everything is recently replaced, so probably need to get some deadhead #'s for each head individually and the pump itself. All the test procedures can be found in the tech section but if you got any questions just ask away.

 

How much has been driven since all the work was done? Maybe something simple like air still in the hpo system?
No need to keep tossing expensive oem sensors (oops, just saw it was the first actual oem one) to try and fix the code. The pcm is seeing the sensor reporting numbers out of range and likely isnt a sensor issue itself.

What injectors were put in. Are you running tuning of any kind?

 

Need to monitor ICP and IPR DC and see what’s happening. Most likely, DC maxes out and ICP falls to the point of tripping SES light.

Could be poor injector rebuild (most likely), bad IPR or bad HPOP. Slight possibility the tuning is the cause.

 

Thank you all for the replies!

Thanks, Injectors, sensors, and everything else that was on the old engine but not included with the long block were all transferred over, so maybe something in there is bad and causing all of this. I'll get to digging in the tech section and see what I can do.


It's been driven about 1700 miles since the new engine. Before that, probably 5500 miles between when the old injectors were replaced with new Motorcraft injectors and the engine light came on. Somewhere over the next 1500 miles, a few states, some forum posts, and a few mechanics, the black smoke started and everything started getting worse before failing.

I don't know if I'm running tuning of any kind, which is why I thought maybe I should reset the ECM if I can. I'm the second owner, it had been traded in to a dealer by the original owner with about 160k miles and everything looked to be stock. I'm not sure how to find out if there's any flash tuning or a chip ever put in it, so I can't really answer that


maybe a dumb question, what's DC stand for? Injectors are the same ones as when the last engine blew since they only had a few thousand miles on them. Is the way to tell if it's an injector just to pull them and get them bench tested? The mechanic that did the rebuild said they didn't think anything was wrong with them and didn't recommend the $400 it would have cost to bench test them when the engine was apart

 

This and a laptop will help get a better idea of what is going on
https://www.obdlink.com/products/obdlink-ex/

 

Where did you get the new OEM parts? Reason I ask is because I received a very convincing knockoff ICP sensor from Amazon. It worked ok for many months but then suddenly started causing P1280 codes. It wasn’t until I compared it and the packaging to a verified OEM sensor from the local dealer parts counter that I realized I had been scammed. Just something to think about when diagnosing your codes. Hope this helps!

 

Thanks, I’ll check out the link.

oem parts from napa, so I assume they’re legit

 

Either @DZL JIM or @Bitterroot Diesel will know, but I seem to recall that Motorcraft only has rebuilt injectors now. Here't the deal, there is no way, no way, that I'd spend the money on a long block, have it installed....and not have the injectors sent out for testing....Too much money is involved to "save" $400.

 

Found this if you want to make sure your injectors are good. Listed as "new injectors" not "rebuilt".
https://www.ebay.com/itm/16191109909...3ABFBM9vrExfBg

 

DC stand for Duty Cycle, it's the amount of time the IPR is closed to build the pressure the computer wants to see. You need to monitor what the ICP (Injection Control Pressure) is AND the IPR duty cycle is at the exact same time to know what the High Pressure Oil system is doing.
It's possible, and likely, that if the injectors and HPOP were carried over from the old engine that one of those is having the exact same issue as before. A hard accel or hard run up a hill, etc and sets a SES/CEL then there's a high pressure oil issue somewhere. If the IPR and ICP sensor have been replaced with oem and it still has the same issue, it pretty much leaves the injectors and HPOP.

I agree with your mechanic, it's not worth dropping $400 on just a flow test. This is why we don't offer a flow test service, but do offer an Overhaul that starts at $600 and includes a complete tear down, machining, inspection, flow test, new o-rings and a warranty. $400 is throwing money away on a test for them to tell you "Yup, they're bad, we can sell you a new set for $3400." They typically don't tell you anything more and won't help with where you are at. Whereas our Overhaul is a thorough top to bottom inspection and machining to reset tolerances, replaces all consumables and then flow test. If they don't test correctly then I figure out why and repair as needed. It's near impossible to just flow and repair as there could be 10 different things causing a poor flow, so we start with a fresh Overhaul at least, before flow testing.

I hope this makes sense.
I can't say for sure the issue is the injectors without more diagnostics, as it could also be the HPOP, but you need to start somewhere.

And not to rub salt in any wounds, but if you "can't afford to keep dumping money into this thing" then you should not have bought a 20 year old diesel truck that has been owned by who knows how many different people over the years. I see this every day. Older trucks that have been through the ringer (no way to know if it has been or not) are simply expensive to maintain. Just saying.

 

If that's true that is a killer price. I can't even buy a new set of injectors alone for that price from any of my suppliers, much less everything else included.
But, given whose selling it, one would have to think twice about what you'd actually get due to their reputation.

 

you could give me $2,500 and I still would not install those kits from Pensacola diesel

 

It's about what I paid for mine through WorldPac when I still owned my shop, but that was more than ten years ago now.

 

More then likely they are advertising Alliant remans (aka pure power) as “new”