I'm no expert on this matter. If you possibly have a bent rod I would be cautious about dumping a lot of money on new injectors. Maybe replace the cups then do a compression test? Just my .02 cents.

 

You are definitely right. I was getting ahead of myself with the "I am under here so might as well do it now" mentality. Alright, the plan is to buy 4 new injector cups, three sets of o-rings, and one new injector with o-rings. I can't put the old injector back into #7. There is too much of a danger that it will hydro-lock the engine again. I don't have a way to check my compression. (no gauge). Would a cylinder contribution test suffice or does it have to be compression? If not, any recommendation on a gauge / fitting?

Also, don't I have to drain the coolant to change the cups? I am due a flush, but before I spend money on more coolant wouldn't I just save what comes out and put it back in to test for the bent rod?

 

You shouldn't have to drain the coolant.
Ask Swamps about tips for using the injector cup tools.
A steering wheel puller has been used for the #7 & 8 cylinders.

EDIT: Use this search string in Google for some more info injector cup site:ford-trucks.com/forums/

 

Checked with Swamps. They said to definitely drain the coolant.

 

Ok. I would like to thank the folks at Swamp's. They took time to listen to what was wrong with my truck today. They eased my mind about all the concerns I have. They basically told me that they see a lot of trucks and have seen this issue quite a few times of a bad injector leaking fuel and hydro locking the engine. They stated out of the last 20 or so trucks they have seen with this condition, NONE have had any engine damage at all. Except for the only one with major damage was a particular truck in which the owner decided to try and tow it with another vehicle in order to get it to start. I can see that. That makes me pucker just thinking about it.
I also told them about me way over torqing the injector hold down bolts. They stated that they have seen bolts that have been literally broken off with no injector cup damage or any injector damage. They actually told me that 120 in lbs was really not enough and that there is usually more damage and problems from not having the injectors tight enough to get a good seal with the copper gasket and the cup. Their advice was to replace the #7 injector cup and #7 injector based on what I described. Put the truck back together and move on down the road. They were confident enough, that they said they would not go out and buy a compression gauge and they would not bother checking the compression. So tomorrow, they are shipping me a new cup, injector, and the tools to install the cup. They also stated to drain the coolant prior to replacing the cup. Also, when I described the indentation in the bottom of the bad cup, they thought that there must have been some trash, possibly part of a copper washer from the previous injector, etc. that was left there when the dealer installed the injector and ultimately it resulted in the injector failing and the problems I have now.
Now, with the advice they gave me, and what you guys have said, I am going to shoot for somewhere in the middle and hope for the best. When I do buy a whole new set of injectors, I will definitely get them from Swamp's. That's pretty awesome that they give their customers advice and loan them the tools to do the job. BIG THANK YOU!
After several nights with no sleep, worrying about it, I think I will sleep a little better tonight. I'm leaving to go hunting and I will worry about it when I get back. Although, it might be bad luck to ride in my friend's Chevy to the woods, I'm going anyway, rain or shine.

 

The opportunity to get out in the woods trumps brand pride any day.
Given the chance, I would go in a Yugo, if that was the only way to get there.

 

Amen to that Dan! I'm glad your feeling a bit better about the situation. I was waiting for the mail to deliver my new boot for my intercooler and had to go riding in a Chevy Duracrap yesterday to go hunting. But hey, it was storming good and pushing the deer around, couldn't miss that!

 

Hey, I would walk if I had to, just to get into the woods. So any brand is good enough for me to ride in!!

 

HOT D@MN! I FIXED IT! I FIXED IT! I FIXED IT!

So, I finally got the injector cups, the cup tools and injector from swamps. I pulled the other three injectors on the passenger side. The number one injector had not been tight enough and had allowed some seepage of exhaust gas into the cup. I knew that one was going to probably need to be replaced also. So I pulled all four injector cups. The problem #7 came out and after looking at it, I am convinced that someone (dealer) replaced the cup without telling me. They put it in with a screwdriver and hammered the thing in. The bottom of the cup was all wrinkled and dented from being hammered.
I began cleaning the holes in the head to install the new cups. The first three cleaned up very nice. The number 7 would not clean up and appeared to have something in it. Using a mirror and a flashlight while trying to clean out that hole was a real pain in the ... I finally realized whatever was in the bottom was not coming out. To make a long story short, after about 4 hours of trying to clean it out, I determined it was some sort of sealant or glue in the bottom of the hole. I ended up having to take a long screw driver and carefully chiselled it out of the bottom of the hole. I really believe that the dealer put the cup in with JB Weld. It ranged in thickness from 1/8" to almost 1/4" thick! I am amazed that it was not leaking coolant. I am uterly in shock with how the cup was installed, the fact that they did not even tell me, and that they just hammered it in with something and tried to glue it in with what appears to be JB weld!
So, after getting the #7 hole shiny clean, I then degreased all the holes with a little acetone on a gun cleaning brush. I then took a scotchbrite and cleaned the new cups and degreased them as well and installed the four new cups using red loctite. I let them sit for 24 hours, installed the new injector in number 7, installed the other three injectors in the same exact holes they came out of, along with new o-rings. I then turned the engine over by hand about 15 times to make sure the engine was not hydro-locked. I then disconnected the harness on the driver's side and bump started the engine a few times to clear any remaining fluid and oil out of the cylinders. I then reinstalled the glow plugs and put everything back together. I turned the starter over for about twenty seconds. Let it rest for 30 minutes, another 20 seconds of starting and then reconnected the harnesses. Then I tried to really start it. After about 15 seconds, it fired, sputtered a few seconds, and then started running normally. While it was running, I looked over the engine and all under the truck for anything unusual. I figured I would have a little oil coming out of my muffler but was surprised when I got nearly two cup fulls on the driveway. I then shut the truck off, and changed my oil, including the top end oil. I siphoned the top end oil out of the resevoir and put in fresh oil, started the truck for a minute, and repeated the process until all they oil looked fresh and clean. My oil was contaminated with diesel fuel and coolant and this had to be done.
I then took the truck on about a 25 mile drive to test it out and work all the air out of the system. HOLY COW! MY TRUCK HAS NEVER RUN THIS GOOD! It did not even run this good the day I bought it. It purrrs like a kitten and has a lot more power. It smoked like crazy at first. After all the oil burned off, it does not smoke at all now. I then hooked up AE and did a cylinder contribution test to see if there was any damage to #7 from the hydro-lock caused by the bad injector. AE showed .4 -.7 on number 7 and all the rest were about what they had been.
I went outside this morning to start it while it was cold (42 degrees) and it fired immediately and there was no big cloud of smoke. I couldn't believe it! My truck has always smoked, but not anymore. I am happy and pissed all at the same time. I am happy because it is finally fixed and pissed because all of these issues were caused by terrible quality service from the dealer.
HOT DANG! IT'S FIXED!

 

That's awesome!! Never ceases to amaze me what people will do to other folks' vehicles. This is why nobody touches mine but me!

Glad you got it all together!

 

Man I am really happy to read this post. Congrats on the fix. Leave it to a stealership to jack things up like that on you. Patience paid off in the end for you though,

 

Kudos to David and Jonathan. Those guys are the bomb. Glad you got it fixed up. Good job. Can't beat that loan a tool thing.

 

Glad to hear you got it fixed.

 

This one earned you a rep point.
Congratulations on a job well done.
Still dreaming of that new Toyota?

 

Thanks! AND A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU WHO HELPED BY ANSWERING MY QUESTIONS!

No, I am no longer dreaming of a new toyota! I plan on driving this truck until the wheels fall off and it can't be driven any more. Most importantly, this has been a huge learning process for me. I knew absolutely nothing before I started. Granted, I am no expert, but I now feel comfortable taking a wrench to it before it goes to the dealer. The water pump and alternator are next in line to break and I am not the least bit worried. They will be a cake walk after all this. Sometime next year, I plan on buying a whole new set of injectors from Swamps and replacing them all. Hot dang! Now I can go hunting in my own truck. Better yet, I now have time to go hunting instead of being up underneath the hood wrenching on that big ***** till all hours of the night and on my days off.