I have a 1988 F350 with a 7.3 IDI. For years it dies at stoplights or while exiting the freeway offramp. It always restarted by popping the clutch or just using the starter. Finally, it was dead in my driveway and would not start.

Just picked it up from the shop with a $2,100 bill. They replaced the injection pump for $1,300, plus about $400 to diagnose...and a new fuel filter. Now I'm wondering if the whole problem was a clogged filter or was it really the injection pump? What does it sound like to you?

 

How was highway performance? Any unusual smoke at start-up? Did they say anything about your lift pump or injectors? How many miles on the truck?

Roy

 

It ran just fine at highway speeds, but recently has stopped or sputtered when coasting downhill or approaching a stop sign. It has smoked some on startup for years but when warmed up, no smoke. They did not say anything about lift pump or injectors.

It runs great now. I'm just trying to figure out if it was really the $1300 injector pump or the $65 fuel filter. I had not changed the filter in years.

 

Well, the up side: any number of people think 100 to 125k is about what you get on one of these injector pumps. If you didn't do the IP now, you would eventually.

I hope this has you changing your fuel filter every year. I don't know about the 6.9, but the 7.3 filter is easy to do and reasonably priced.

For 400 bucks, maybe they pop tested your injectors and measured the lift pump fuel pressure. I would go over there, and talk to the tech...ask what they actually did. You really want to know if they tested the injectors.

Roy

 

At this point I'll just have to trust them. I talked to the tech after he did the troubleshooting and he said fuel was getting to the injector pump but not beyond.

You are right about the fuel filter. It would have been cheap and easy for me to change in my driveway as a possible cheap fix. Oh well. Runs great now.

 

Yes, that's right: it's water under the bridge at this point.

But, I tell you what...if all they did for the 400 bucks was to determine there was fuel pressure into the IP, and not enough fuel at the injectors...I would find a new shop for the next repair.

Roy

 

I had a truck that did that when I first got it. Fuel filter/separator was full of water. Drained the water and it was a lot better, changed the filter and the problem was gone. Just FWIW since it's a done deal already, but always do maintenance before repair.

 

I went through a cheaper shop on a couple of other squawks. They eventually found and fixed the problems but always broke something else. Anyway, I still like the truck and the $50k+ it would cost for a new one.