Hi all. About 3 weeks ago I had just bought myself a 94 7.3 idi turbo F250, as my first vehicle. It was running pretty well until a few days after I got it. It became really hard to start like it didn’t get fuel when you cranked it. And it would smoke white with some blue on startup and idle rough until it either warmed all the way up or you put it in gear and force it to warm up that is if you get it started. Recently I discovered oil in my radiator. Not lots but enough to worry me (a thin layer on top)
I hear a hissing noise around the turbo but I smell nothing so it’s not an exhaust leak I don’t think. And this truck has honestly got me stumped. I had wanted it to be a relatively good first vehicle given that it has only 158,000 or so. But now it’s sitting in the yard not moving. Any help or ideas or even post shared would be greatly appreciated. No money left over to really get this thing worked on and neither parents are mechanical.

 

welcome to FTE. oil in coolant could be a failing oil cooler.
and hard start when cold is classic sign of return line cap o-rings leaking air into the return system, letting the fuel drain from filter back to tank.

 

Thank you for your input on this one! I’ll check out the return line and fuel system, as I have to anyways in the near future to work on making my rear fuel tank function. Are there any other symptoms you know of that would indicate it’s the oil cooler failing?

 

If you're engine compartment smells like diesel fuel when you pop the hood, then you need return cap o-rings.
BLown head gaskets are pretty rare in the IDI series engine. Leaking oil-cooler are much more likely the source of the oil in your radiator as mentioned before.
​​​​​​

 

my engine bay rarely has an odor, except for the 1 odd time there was a little exhaust cloud coming from the turbo area when I cold started it. But it never smoked again

 

a sure sign it is return line o-rings would be dampness around the caps and injectors.

 

You should be able to rent a diesel compression gauge from your local auto parts store. If ñot, Horrible Freight has a decent one.

https://www.harborfreight.com/diesel...kit-58801.html

When you do the compression test just remove the glow plugs and use the adapter to hook up the gauge. Verify the glow plugs are Motorcraft or Beru when you do this. If they're cheapie Autolites make sure you replace them.

Once you have the compression gauge hooked up it's a good idea to have a car running with jumper cables hooked up to the truck so you don't drain the batteries. Crank each cylinder at least 4 or 5 seconds so you get a good reading. Report back with the numbers you get. They should all be pretty close.