havent looked down the intake tube in a while. but it was clear when i put in the 6637 i purchased to fix the broke airbox, but that was before the catastrophe. will check it. kwik, i know you deal with diesels daily, although not powerstrokes. irregardless of this current troubleshooting, i know i really do need to do a compression test. local diesel shop said do it with engine warm, although that would make it a little painfull to remove parts i would think to get to valve covers off. if the engine is warm, would this be considered a wet cylinder? or would i need to wet it with some oil before, or is a dry cylinder what I should check with. i've searched quite a few places for compression testing proceedure. but the only one i've come across is measuring blowby pressure at filler cap with specialty guage I don't have (ford manual). plus that doesn't tell me anything about any one particular cynlinder. any insight would be greatly appreciated. I need to know engine condition, and a test would also let me know if a head gasket is shot. my problem with my guage is that my gp adaptor fits in the hole, but the hex head that a ratchet goes on for tightening is 11mm instead of the 10mm a GP is. that hole in the head is pretty tight to begin with. I found a 10mm deep 1/4" drive that would fit the gp's. but not an 11mm. someone suggested using an old gp and drilling out the center. would a machine shop be able to do that or something? i will then need to figure out how to adapt it to my guage that has a quick connector on it. i keep coming up with ideas for troubleshooting, but in reality i need to figure out my compression readings first to make sure i'm not spinning my wheels. also need to get AE and figure out my scan codes and a cynlinder contribution test. I'm against taking it to a shop, because i know i will need a scanner quite a bit with this turck down the road. plus i wrench on mine and my families vehicles so much, owning one should pay for itself pretty quick. on top of that a 2-way tow and diagnostic session would probably cost me $200+ or so. haven't used a tow truck in a while. plus time from work to oversee it. my wife is too timid to want to do it. she would be scared about whether the mechanic was being honest. just makes more sense for me to try and figure it all out while i have time (after work). now that it's cooling, i'll be more willing to work on it i think. my job has me outside a lot so our recently departed high temps made me want to enjoy the AC when i got home. anyways, any input on the compression scenario would be helpful.
Chad

 

I agree Chad you need to do a compression reading. Then you will know for sure what's going on.

 

the compression test should be done with the engine warm, you dont need to put any oil in the cylinder before. until you add oil to the cylinder it is considered dry. if you have a low reading then add 1 teaspoon of enigne oil to see if the reading goes up. if it does then you have bad rings if not then it is either headgasket or valve guides.

 

well that sounds like some answers. I knew about the engine oil trick to tell about rings on a gasser, didn't know if i diesel work the same way, or if I should start off with a wet cylinder. of course i know i should disable the fuel injection to make sure it doesn't actually fire. now to figure out how to get a gp adaptor in the hole. just wish i could find some numbers on what is considered acceptable pressure ranges, hopefully someone on here can point me in the right direction though.
Chad

 

The numbers that I know apply to the VW diesel. They have a much higher compression ratio at 22:1
Good engine: 435 minimum, I like to see 475.
400psi and it starts to get difficult to start in freezing weather at sea level with all the glow plugs working. The higher up you get the warmer the ambient temperature must be for the engine to start when cold. I can tell you from personal experience that a tired engine that starts just fine in freezing weather at sea level in Seattle, WA. will not start at the same temperture at 6000 feet in Sun Valley, ID. I had to find someone to push me every morning with thier car.
375psi and it will be hard to start in the summertime.
350psi and it will start if you pull it with a rope and another vehicle. Don't shut it off until you get where you are going!
300 and it can be flogged to life if you can pull it down the highway. And keep it revved WAY up until the engine is hot. Extreme danger of diesel runaway due to the excessive amounts of blowby. The old VW's were known for that. 70 mph down the freeway and your foot is completly off the pedal. Fortunatly the old non turbo 1500 engines only made 48 HP in the beginning so there wasn't much danger of getting out of control.
Any lower than that, forget it.

 

glow plug adapter


gauge, they also sell the adapters but i dont know how much you gotta scroll down a little to see it.

 

double post

 

Please tell me someone on this site has the actual numbers. All those manuals and experience? I know on most engines it is not the actual number but the variance given the age of the engine, but there is also a minimum threshold for all. I just don't know it. Somebody give it up. I know it is out there.