I knew something was wrong, it had been ticking for the last few weeks. My gutt told me something was wrong. Three Ford PSD mechanics told me "dont worry - they all tick - just drive it - they all do it - its nothing to worry about - its just the #8 injector crying for fuel"
So I decided to make the 1200 mile drive From Florida to Ohio. It started wednesday morning with a fresh Rotella syn oil change, and it all went south 212 miles into the trip when the ticking finally just stopped....and so did the engine. After countless phone calls to repair shops that didnt want to touch it, I found a shop that would. they towed it, and after a $836.81 repair bill later. (# 1 injector replaced, all rockers and injectors re-torqued) nothing has changed, It can barely idle, blows white/blueish smoke and shakes to all hell.
It wont even make enough power to move over 2-3 mph.
The shops scanner was broke. They unplugged the injectors one by one while I watched and # 1 was the only one that didnt change the rough idle.
They claimed all the injectors were oiling properly, and all had the proper voltage. They have no idea whats wrong, and neither do I.
After spending all day with them all scratching thier heads, I paid another $234 for a rental car to go home.
I left the truck at their shop, couldnt find anyone to tow it back home for less than $800.......
Ive had enough for one day, Im going to bed!!

 

Sorry to hear this, Frank.

Try to get your truck home, try not to go broke getting it there. Once you have the truck back home I have faith the experts here can help you figure out what is wrong.

 

Did they put a new or reman injector in #1? If you unplug an injector and it doesn't change the way the truck is running, then there's a problem with that injector.

When they said all the injectors were oiling properly, did they visually inspect the oil discharge from each injector with the engine running (at least on the passenger side)? How did they determine all the injectors were getting the proper voltage?

Dropping one injector should not keep the truck from going over 3 mph. I've seen a truck drop an entire bank and still go faster than that. One bad injector should just give you a slight miss at idle. If the truck shakes that much, it sounds more like you've dropped an entire bank. Have they tried ohming the injectors to see if they can find a bad injector solenoid? Just for clarification, when they changed the #1 injector, was it the front injector on the passenger side?

 

That sucks Frank. What a bummer. Get to your truck or your truck to you and we can take it from there.


Anyone in the Bradenton, Fl area that can help Frank get his vehicle home?

 

Darn the BAD luck. Like Lisa said get it home and post the issues on here. Some one can help I am sure of that.

 

Yes, they put a new injector in # 1 hole (front pass side) I watched them unplug the injectors one, by one. only # 1 did not make any change in the idle. it would ide so ruff at times, it would'nt stay running.

We also visually inspected oil coming from each injector.
I was not in the shop when did the voltage test, he just commented on how they were all getting 1.5 volts (If I remember correctly) on that bank. The drives side valve cover was back on when they tested the pass side.

 

I'd have them ohm the injectors at the valve cover plug. I've accidentally disconnected one injector when reinstalling a valve cover, and one injector not firing will just give you a slight miss. No rough shaking and not any where near a stall issue. Perhaps you've got an issue on the drivers side causing this, or a loose UVCH plug. Any idea when the shop will get it's scanner fixed? Having codes and a few tests run would go a long way in diagnosing this.

 

I honestly want to get it out of that shop and find someplace/someone more familiar with these trucks.
They were super nice, but I dont want to be nickle and dimed while they learn on my rig 200 miles away.
When it first happened, I drove down the shoulder of I75 for 3/4 of a mile to get to an exit and shut it down. when the wrecker got there, he asked to hear it run, and I would shake and barely idle. When it got back to the shop it would run again? after the injector install, it was back to the real rough idle. it had us all comfused.
The old injector was pretty plugged with carbon also. Im sure the rest look the same.
I need to get it home. I dont think they want to mess with it anymore anyhow.

 

The truck is in Lake City FL. 212 miles from my Bradenton doorstep.
Its a real bummer when the rig you use to rescue others, now needs to be rescued

 

Sorry to hear about your truck laying down on you. If I wasn't on the opposite coast I would come on down and get it out of that shop that seems to want to charge you to learn to work on that truck. Good luck hopefully one of the FTE guys down south can get it picked up for you.

If anyone ever needs something in the Portland Oregon area let me know and I will do my best to help out.

Lance

 

If it is injectors it sounds like you have more than 1 not fireing. I had the same issue at work about a month ago with the same problem on a t444e and the common wire was grounding out in the passthru for the valve cover gasket. But the ticking noise you descripe is odd. I mean all 7.3s tick but i sure you know what the injector tick sounds like. Im almost wondering if you dont have IDM issues with it. Idm failure can cause issues that you descirbed too. Its common to have one whole bank fail and cause all kinds of weird things to happen. Could be a few other things too but its hard to tell. Hope all works out ok. Keep us updated and let us when you find out what happend

 

Subscribing.
No new ideas to offer, just here to learn.
I'll pitch in if something comes to mind.

 

IIRC, Lake City is up at I-75 & I-10. Damn the luck -- when I was deployed to Tyndall AFB in the Panhandle, I used to drive through there every so often. Heck, it wouldn't have been THAT far for me to go on a weekend to help out. Unfortunately I'm back in Texas (No offense to Texans, but I love FL! LMAO!!! ).

 

The first thing they were going to do was run codes, untill they realized their scanner quit working. then both vc's came off to look for bent pushrods or broken rockers. nothing found..
All injectors were oiling before and after the #1 injector install.
They said a very comman problem is the a burnt injector wiring harness, but mine was good. Im really starting to think its electrical.
I have been driving big diesels for the last 12 years, and have lost 3 injectors. I never had a problem driving the truck to get it repaired, and thats a loaded semi. There has to be alot more wrong with my truck if it would barely move.
One more thing strange that happened shortly before this happened. I was leaving a rest area and just after it shifted into 3rd, it did a wierd 3-2, 3-2, 3-2 shift. back and forth from 3rd to 2nd about 3 times within a second or two????? It may have just been a glitch, but im thinking maybe it was the start of an electical short somewhere that is the cause of all of this???

 

This may be WAAAAY off but did you fill up before you left? Bad fuel, or a lot of water in it? 212 miles would move a lot of bad fuel into the system wouldn't it? Check the filter and drain water. I had at one time gotten who knows what from a Miami station, and my truck did the same thing to me between a 1/4 and a 1/2 a tank into it. 20 gallons into jugs and 5 gallon buckets later, new fuel filters etc.. and it started to run slowly at first, a little better and then started to clear up down the road a bit.

But you also changed the oil too right before you left. Any noticeable improvement when you first started the truck AFTER the oil change? Where you running dino before that?

Definitely get the truck home and let these guys walk you through it. They've landed jumbo jets online before .. lol