dirttoo,
my truk has seen severe duty in the oilfield here in dusty west texas and new mexico, and I think that has a lot to do with it's behaviour. poor treatment by the oilfield employees, hard work, bad fuel. I'm not sure the history of your truck but the problems sound similar. I have exhaust problems under the hood when it smokes bad as well. I assume a Down pipe leak at a joint or something. mine has gotten better, but it's now getting worse, and i'm inclined to believe the guys on the forum that i'm still in the process of clogging my fuel filter. I can say that I made a small test batch of biodiesel and put it in the truck last night and it stopped 3/4 of the smoking and made the truck run much smoother overall though it still seems like my filter is clogging or partially clogged as it stutters between 1300-almost 2000RPMs no matter the fuel. between the biodiesel and additives, i imagine i'm cleaning a lotta cr@p outta the fuel system that was left in there from the oilfield diesel. when i say oilfield diesel, to my understanding that is equivalent of these crews fueling in the field b4 everything is processed. I'm not technically sure what oilfield diesel consist of but i'm inclined to believe it is a blend of things including drip gas (white gas). that's because most oil pumps around will have a collection drum of this stuff at the well or a pumping station. it's a volatile by-product they must be putting in un processed to help combustion. and I think the engine has ingested some dust, since it had a broke air filter box and was being driven in NM ad TX it's hard not to ingest dust. I just hope it didn't tear up the cylinders. I will probably service the turbo and clean the intercooler, as well as some mods to help with power and economy. I know my warm starts are now taking longer on the order of 10-15 seconds on the starter, and my colder/ relatively cold starts in a west texas spring are HORRIBLE. It starts but has like 5-15 seconds bad detonation b4 smoothing out. wish i could say how long it cranks b4 that, but my wife has cranked it last couple of days. (wish she would leave the truck alone till i work everything out cause I want to monitor it for troubleshooting, but she's anxious to really drive it. I'm not anxious for her to be in the driver seat because we have a solid bench seat in front, she's 5'4" and I'm 6'1", i don't like my knees in my chest. =0)). When the smoking clears a little bit, my smoke goes from a bad fuel smell to smelling more like oil, so I hope it is just my turbo seals. I also think my truck should have more power, although I don't know anyone else with a late model powerstroke for reference. In my circle of friends, I got the "big dog". I hope this thread povides some insight. I'm about to go do some thinking/research for making some larger batches of biodiesel. I'm really surprised at the truck improvement on about 1qt of bio in the tank with 7-8gallons of petro. Like night and day.
Chad
99 f350 7.3psd auto cc lb 208k stock.

 

oh btw,
anyone know the location of the "generic electronic module". I need to take a DMM after it and trouble shoot my door ajar dome light situation. and yes I have tried to lubricate my door latches, no help. removed the connectors at the latch door by door, no change, then crossed the contacts at each latch, door by door. no change. would rather just take the connector off this module and use a DMM and tone probe to track things. Just wondering if anyone knew where this module is. Dash i presume. chiltons electrical $u*ks. also seen a lot of people talking about service CD's. anyone have a lead on where to get one for this truck. I have a reproduction ford shop manual for my 68 mustang and that book ROCKS. would love to find something similar for this truck.
Thanks guys
Chad

 

series of comments which may or not help:

On SCHOOL busses, white smoke means you are lean on air/fuel mix, so suspect fuel delivery system.

WWW helms com makes the factory books, but they are $325 and weigh 30 lbs. CD's can be had on E-bay if you don't mind older versions of software

The oil field guys will burn ANYTHING that is petrochemical, and there are several mini refinaries there for cogen.

tuner cleaner for the throttle pedal resistor.

Good luck, patience perseveres

 

I replaced my fuel filter again today. took less than 2 weeks for that last one to clog. between fuel treatments and small amounts of bio, I'm moving some cr@p outta that tank. I figure it's fuel delivry is most of my problem. That truck runs so much beter on bio, even just like 2% or so. Still smoking today but smoother running overall. still stuttering between 1300-2000rpms. I think that is air filter, when I fixed the hoses the other day is when it started stuttering, so when I order a 6637 from fleetfilters here in a day or two, hopefully that will take care of it. Just couldn't believe the other day how the bio made the truck stop smoking almost entirely except for a haze. Good times and thanks for the info on the manuals.
Chad

 

well,
think I found a problem. MAJOR oil usage. at this rate I think the turbo needs help. refer to pictures in earlier post and you see pooling oil when turbo is off. If turbo is dusted, chipped and off balance, wouldn't that make it eat it's seals and pour oil into the engine. oh and btw when I say major oil usage. 6 quarts in 13 days and 800miles. Checked it today and it scared the $h*t outta me. now I know to keep an eye on it. engine purrs when oil is topped off. beginning to think the oil ingestion is causing the extra labor in the starts, of course the smoking, which has still allievated. If those seals are gone, won't it just start to pour oil into intake at the pump pressure? Local turbo place quoted new turbo or rebuilt same price at $716. found a used turbo that spins with no shaft play and guy said $350. He thinks it came off a 99, but numbers don't match exactly. being new to the p-stroke scene I could use some help with the numbers. my turbo has #182587878C91 (turbo shop guy pulled that one, used turbo I found cheap has 18235602C93. are they compatible replacements? Or how can I find out? also, would it be feasible to get a seal and bearing rebuild kit off ebay with a wicked wheel and tackle it myself? definately much cheaper. Is there a way to tell if turbo shaft needs servicing without teardown? I would imagine that shaft condition would be a prime factor in determining rebuild mine, or buy different turbo. PLEASE HELP, this theory has made for a disaterous day.
Chad
99 F350 7.3 PSD auto cc lb 4.10, bone stock

 

Well i can tell you again your turbine is deffinantly arfed!! I would think the shaft would be fine as the bushing are brass(i think) Brass will wear out before the steel. I would recomend a ww no matter what you do. Its easier to do when the turbo is off the truck. I would think an off balance turbine would cause the seals to leak forsure. Good luck!!

 

so lancer,
you think I may be able to get away with a home turbo rebuild on a WW? is there any way to tell if the turbo shaft is shot? I'm ordering a service CD pretty quick, Hopefully that will help. Please any suggestions are helpful. Should I attempt a self rebuild. I'm willing to tackle it, if someone is willing to offer advice.
TIA
Chad

 

I have done my own ww. No problem. They come with good instructions. I have never personaly changed bushing or seals in a turbo before. Are you mechanically inclined. There isn't anything i wouldn't try once. Does the rebuiled kit come with detailed instructions? If they do and you follow them closely i can't see why you couldn't handle it! Good luck and let me know what you decide. It will take you about an hour or so to get the turbo off. Its not that hard.

 

I fix everything from computers, to cars, to houses and I'll dive into anything that needs fixing whether I've done it or not, and come out on top most time. I am very mechanically and electrically inclined so I'm not worried about my ability to do a turbo rebuild, rather the results given I have no way to check balance or shaft tolerances and such. Not use to working on something that spins at tens of thousands of RPMs. The seal kit is on ebay, here's description........
Complete MAJOR rebuild kit for GTP38 AND TP38 Powerstroke turbos. Incudes: 2 shaft bearings, 1 thrust bearing, 1 thrust coller, 2 seal plate seals, turbine side seal ring, compressor side seal ring &,all new mounting gaskets and seals. THIS KIT HAS EVERYTHING TO REBUILD & INSTALL ALL POWERSTROKE TURBOS. (All years) I've been rebuilding turbos for over 18 years, I will help to guide you through the rebuild or I can rebuild your turbo for you. I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have. I also purchase used Powerstroke turbos. I ship six days a week, I will ship your item very fast, check out my feedback, Ron
Sounds good, that and wicked wheel should make it right I hope, as long as turbine wheel in exhaust is good and so is shaft. I know turbos are simple in concept, but get complicated in practice due to high rate of spin. Not afraid to do it, just want to be sure it is worth my while. Don't want to have to reservice the turbo in 10,000. of course given my money situation, if it last 10k or more, the cheap route my get me by. I'm thinking about diggin up the money for it and going for it this weekend or next if possible. Need a vehicle to make money, and putting in a quart every other day is wasting money, gotta do something.
Chad

 

Well it sounds to me like your up to the task!! Your exhaust turbine should be fine. Its all the dirt that was getting past that broken filter that arfed your pressure turbine. Spinning at thousands of rpms as you say that dirt just sanblasted your impeller to death. Best of luck and let us know how you make out!!

 

I have been trying to follow some advice on this post. Today I took off my air inlet to the turbo to see if it looks like the one pictured and mine does not look worn like that one. What I did find is the rubber boot that connects to the turbo on the filter side is torn open and looks like it has been that way for awhile. Would this effect performance? Or just not filter because of the hole? The truck, when it starts, runs, drives and even pulls my racecar trailer better than my previous gasser. It seems like not as much power as a friends though. I know I need to replace the boot(anyone know the part # or have a used one?) or is there a better option. I need this fixed before the weekend so I can race. Thanks

 

Hey dirttoo hows it going. Believe it or not my boot was cracked right were it goes on to the turbo. I took mine off and filled the crack with a plastic glue gun. If you do that to yours it will fix it. You can also rap it with black tape after the glue set. Mine has been fine for over a year now!!

 

yeah my boot is torn as well, but too late damage done, will get fixed with everything else. Hey anyone know any docs about servicing a turbo. also my 99 has a 6/98 build date. will the wicked wheel work on an early 99, says 99.5+. also do I have a tp38 or gtp38 charger? doing some research on whether I can service the turbo, just trying to get multple opinions not that yours doesn't matter, lancer, thanks for piping in. Just don't want to spin my wheels and spend more money than I absolutely have to on an already expensive problem.
Thanks
Chad

 

well talked to another turbo servicer and got some info. appearently I have a gtp38 turbo and should have the equivalent of a wicked wheel already installed. He said most likely a kit would not fix my problem. most likely there has been mechanical wear since the seals are metal rings. he had a pretty cheap quote for the rebuild and said that it would be a minimal charge for any machining and sleeving that may need to be done. any opinions are servicing houses that anybody can suggest that will do a mail order job. Also I don't think that used turbo I found is for my year. maybe a 99.5, but if anyone knows of a junkyard that might a turbo I can pull, that would be great too. like a yard specializing in p-strokes. I have ordered parts from specialty yards b4 for my classic stang, anyone know of a p-stroke equivilant? TIA
Chad

 

is your truck an early 99 or late 99? is the badge on the door or on the front 1/4panel by the headlight?

i did a complete teardown and rebuild with new parts on my 2002 turbo. check out my gallery

https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...&albumid=21147