Burned my eyes outta my skull reading last night.

I have a 96 F-superduty 7.3 psd 140k runs like it is on 4 cylinders never smooth's out and zero smoke.

I concluded that I need UVC harness but Tech at Ford fleet says they test ok and said 3 injectors are dead no doubt about it (I have doubts)but he wants to replace 3 and told me to get the cheapest possible due to Fords prices on new and I just need to get it running and moved.

I am pretty sure it is a CA truck so I found this part # for a good price F81Z9E527DRM F4TZ9VE527AARM

How do I tell what I need? Don't say ask the shop, I tried that they said just get em for a 96.

I can head over and check for an emissions label but other than that how do I know?

 

$1250 for 8 premium rebuilds from Rosewood Diesel:

Rosewood Diesel Shop.

Don't buy from Pensacola diesel. Absolutely do not.

 

Only need 3 and what 3 AA or what? CA uses split shot so what does that mean? I just need to get it to run so I can move it to it's new home.

 

If you have a Cali truck, you need AB injectors. 49 state uses the AA. I think I would try a new valve cover gasket and under valve cover wiring harnesses. A bad connection can cause the IDM to shut one bank down to protect itself. Also that would be a whole lot cheaper than 3 injectors.

 

I agree but they say they tested continuity and its good but I still feel strongly that that is the issue.

AB are what I should have then. Is that the same as split shot? They say that 2 injectors are dead and one is weak. At only 140k and only 3 are bad??? I thought 140k is very low mileage and I bought it (at 105K) from a city so it had regular maint and I have probably been better than the city on maint.

I'm thinking just do the VCH and see what happens if it still runs funny then I'll cough up injector $$

could it be just the injector solenoids that are bad? Shorted by intermittent VCH?

 

AB injectors are the split shots used in the cali model trucks, and the early 99 superdutys. AA injectors are single shots used in the 49 state trucks. Have you removed the valve covers to check the harness, and checked the engine side of the harness for melting? This is where things melt and short out.

 

I'd do a VCH first then if the issue is still the I'd send all the injectors of to rosewood for premium stage 1s

 

I'm pretty sure the ABs weren't used in CA trucks until the 1997 model year. The OP's truck is a '96 and should have come with AAs. In either case, I'd check all the wiring and valve cover gaskets, and probably also the armature plate clearances before I spent the money on injectors. I've done those checks on my truck. I'll be spending money on injectors

 

This is where confusion sets in AA AB 96 97 seems to be a grey area. I personally have not pulled anything apart to inspect, just no time. Pulling the engine cover is as far as I got before I was pulled away so I limped it over to a Ford fleet service center a mile away.
So the connections at the valve cover and where else in the harness do I need to look?

 

Good catch on only the 97 Ca model using the AB injectors. I wasn't sure when they started using them.

 

Assuming that all "dead" injectors are on the same bank...
Unplug the outer/engine side of the harness and inspect the plug that goes in the valve cover gasket. 2 plugs per side. There are 5 pins in each plug that run 2 injectors per plug. the pins are Gp-Inj-common ground-Inj-Gp. The Gp pins are where the melting starts, and if it gets bad enough it will melt into the injector pin. If this is the case, a new pigtail will have to be spliced in, along with the valve cover gasket replaced. If the outer connections check out, pull the valve cover and inspect the inner harness for the same melting. You might want to check the main wiring harness where in drapes over the drivers side valve cover for any worn threw spots on the wiring insolation also.

 

+1,000,000

 

Ok thank you. They said they tested all connections and have good continuity. I believe the weak/bad injectors are the same bank as that's what they initially recommended was to replace one bank and this led me to thinking it has to be the UVC. If it does not throw a code they don't know where to start troubleshooting but me and the internet do!

 

'96 CA trucks did have AB's too.
You can look for the fuel dampener the AB's had between the fuel pump and turbo down in the valley, a disk looking thing. If there's no dampener they should be 49 state AA's.

I can say most of the '94.5 to E'99 injectors are in pretty bad shape when we get them regardless of mileage.

 

AB's started in 96