Hello Everyone,

I hope not to get beat up on this forum if I posted this in the wrong thread. I am very new to this forum but know the general rules of other forums. Boy do people get a flamming if they make a mistake so please bare with me.

I have a 1996 Ford Econoline E350 7.3liter diesel. This van is my work horse and baby and just recently ran into an issue that I cannot figure out. I did try to search the problem and couldnt find this problem. Here it goes

Under low boost the truck is fine, but once I get past 10psi the truck doesnt accelerate any more and make a horrible sound. Backfire, turbo surge, just nasty. Current list of mods, custom intake, Custom Downpipe, and Catless. Thats it, no boost controller, nothing to really make serious power.

If I can get this sorted out, what do you guys also recommend to make some serious power I use this van to pull our trailer and race car. It has been very good to us and very trouble free but just recently ran into this. I am afraid that I will blow up the engine if I continue to drive it this way.

Thanks for all your help
Sam

 

Welcome to FTE . I think you'll find the people here friendly and helpful too. I hope you weren't flamed for posting in the wrong forum, that usually doesn't happen

Does the check engine light come on,? if so get it scanned and let us know the codes.

Does it make boost over 10psi? even if it's running bad.

Is the fuel filter clean? Drain the filter housing and capture it so you can see what's in there.

Watch the EBPV to see if it's stuck shut. Easy for you with a van. It's right under the turbo.
BTW: This picture is looking at it from the front of the engine.

 

Welcome sam to FTE. We all do "oops I probably shouldn't have done that" . We may have to pull your toenails out to get your attention but we won't yell at ya. Fair enough? LOL. Like Jim said get us the codes, if any, and we'll do what we can to walk you through the problem.

 

Welcome, on here if you post in the wrong forum, someone will redirect you, or a moderator will move your post. Any, now to your problem. Start with the basics, the more information that you can give us the better we can help. You said "make a horrible sound", what kind of sound? How long since your last oil & oil filter change? Fuel filter change? Have you cleaned the screen on the FPR? Are you making good fuel pressure? Is you air cleaner clean? Let us know and we will try and help.

 

I recently had the oil changed, funny thing is that it started just after that service. I made sure that all the fluids were topped off. I had the fuel filter replaced less than 5k miles ago. No codes are being shown, I do not have any check engine lights.

FPR, I am assuming this is the fuel pressure regulator? Where is this located and how can I clean the screen? Could I have bad fuel??? Before this issue the most I would boost is up to 13psi and it would go there without any troubles. Once I hit 10psi it feels like I stop getting fuel and the truck bogs out and does not accelerate. Make a horrible sound through the exhaust, I do not push it in fear that I am going to run lean and damage the motor. 1 thing that I didnt mention is that the van has close to 300k on it but would run like a champ. Still drives like a new diesel till this problem occured. 6 months back I had to take it to the dealer for some help and they where telling me to junk the truck and buy a new one, I will not let her go so easy. As long as she starts, she will still be adding up those miles for us

BTW Once I get this resolved, what do you guys recommend to make more power??

Thanks
Sam

 

Do you know what oil was put in the engine? It MUST be diesel rated oil or it may foam-up and make the engine run like crap. If you don't know, change it again, it's very important. The fuel injectors are fired with engine oil and foaming oil will make the engine run bad.

If you are going to attempt to fix this yourself you need to pull the engine cover inside the van, air cleaner assy and decorative cover over the fuel filter assy.

Check your fuel filter. There is a yellow lever on top of the fuel filter housing just for draining fuel. The fuel will come out under the front of the engine. You need to capture the fluid for inspection.

You said:

Does the light come on at all?

 

I agree with Jim, that is why nobody services my trucks. They call tell you that they put in whatever grade oil, but how do you really know unless you are standing there and watch them open the bottles.

Run your van, when it starts to run bad, pull over and pull out the dip stick and see if the oil on it is foamy and full of bubbles. If it is, change the oil.

The FPR (Fuel Pressure Regulator) is located on the left (drivers) side of the fuel filter housing. It is held on by two 10 mm bolts. It has a couple of fuel lines connected to it. Remove the FPR and you will see the screen. Clean all of the stuff off of it and reinstall. REMEMBER the FPR is cast aluminum, do not over tighten the bolts.

There is a schrader valve (looks like a tire valve) on ther side of the FPR. Take a fuel pressure reading there with the engine running. It should be 40-70 psi.

Yes, you could have some bad fuel, but bad fuel usually makes it run bad all the time, not just at higher engine speeds.

Have you unplugged the connector for the EBPV (Exhaust Back Pressure Valve)? It is a two wire connector under the intake side of the turbo (the connector is held to the turbo base with a metal tab and screw). Unpl;ug this and make sure that the EBPV is in the open position (refer to Jim's post above).

Oh yea, simple things first. Check all of the connections on your MAP sensor and the tubing connected to it.

Good luck and keep us posted. With all of the knowledgeable people on here we are bound to have you up and running, and alot cheaper than the dealer.

 

I was going to suggest a bad map sensor as well.

Do as stated, unplug the EBPV

 

Thank you so much everyone, I will play with this tomorrow. Here comes another newbie question. If I remove the fuel filter, wont air get into the lines and need some sort of method of bleeding that out? I had hell when one of my drivers ran the van out of gas, then cranked it till the batteries died and on top of that killed the starter. This is when I went to the dealer for the big rape on the start, fuel filter, and some other crap.

I will keep you guys posted and see which was the real cause of this. What grade of oil should I add to the van? This problem happened after the oil change. Actually I changed the oil and didnt drive the van till 1 week later.

 

Nope, no special bleeding needed. You will get some air in the filter but it won't be as bad as running out of fuel. It will run crappy for a few minutes then clean-up. Fill the housing with fuel it will speed up the process.

 

Ditto what Jim said. Any diesel rated oil with an API rating of CF-4/SH or CG-4/SH or higher. The 15W40 is recommended for normal climates, the 10W30 for temperatures below 20 degrees fahranheit. For temperatures below -10 degees, 5W-30 is recommended. Keep us posted on the progress.