So we begin w/ another saga for the 7.3l Excursion......

A few months ago it started running like crap, real crap and blowing white smoke like crazy. Well I knew this from a previous episode and I had a bad or multiple bad injectors. I tried to trouble shoot which one it was and maybe just replace the one or two....but no it was worse than that. So Life was really busy it kinda got shoved aside until now.

I pulled all the injectors and had them rebuilt locally for $525....nice. I found this guy Vic right before Thanksgiving and they ended up being with him for a couple of weeks because he went out of town...no problem. Well this entire time my rig was untouched and when I got them back #7 was full of water.....great, bad injector cup. #7 was the only one, the rest were dry. So I drained the radiator and the oil and left it overnight to completely drain and installed the new injector cup in #7. Next day I refilled via both heads because the valve covers were off, 4 gallons of oil and a new oil filter. Cleared the cylinders via the glow plugs and commenced to trying to get her started. Nada......just cranks, killed the batteries, recharged over night and left the box on them and still nada....but the oil was still very milky at this point.

So tonight I pulled all the injectors back out and drained the oil again, still a lot of water. This time I sucked out the HPOP reservoir and got a more milky water/oil out and I'm leaving everything open all night.

In the am I plan to check my overflow water level in the hopes it remains at the same level...if so I will reinstall all 8 injectors and refill the motor w/ 4 gallons of fresh oil and try again.

Oh, while I was attempting get her started I put my buddies Snapon scan tool on it and I got the p1271-p1278 codes w/ the buzz test. (low side to high side open circuit between idm and injector) So I found the pin test with everything connected at the idm pigtail and everything tested good. So I'm back to my not so fresh oil anymore is the culprit to it not starting.

Am I missing something here?

Also....another fun filled fact is that I seem to have a fuel leak somewhere at the rear passenger side. Every time my fuel bowl fills up, if I shut the key off it will drain down. Sometimes I can see fuel dripping quite vigorously onto my starter but I can not see where it is coming from. I have while it was dripping ran my hand along the head and the fuel lines and can not find where it is coming from. Any thoughts as to where in the hell this fuel could be leaking from?

Sorry for the novel and if you read it all, I really do appreciate you taking the time and any thoughts or suggestions are greatly appreciated as I really close to giving up here......and I miss my truck, its been down too long!

 

So, as of right now, the injectors are still out of the engine? If so, pressurize your coolant system and see if any of the other cups are leaking.

Did you replace injector o-rings? Also, maybe consider replacing all eight cups and be sure to let the retaining compound cure.

The fuel line on the passenger side of the engine attaches to a clamp about midway back. This metal to metal contact at the clamp causes leaks after many thousands of miles of vibrational friction. Remove the bolt that holds the clamp and slide it forward or backward and see if the source of the leak is there.

 

I know that on my 2003 F350, the passenger side fuel line started leaking where it attaches to the back of the head. The viton sleeve was worn out and dripped very slightly. It got worse when I installed the FRX and i put some lateral pressure on that line. Anyways, I had a heck of a leak and I couldn't figure it out because I didn't remove that line. It turned out being the viton sleeve that goes on the end of the passenger fuel line. Over time they get really heard and no matter how tight you make the fuel line nut, it will no seal. It will leak down the back of the head and onto the starter too. Not sure if that is your problem, but if its not leaking where jhl3 pointed out, I would check that connection at the back of the head. A telescoping mirror and flashlight is your best friend for stuff like that.

 

Thanks for your thoughts guys. Yes I'm aware of that metal fuel tube as I've replaced it twice since I've owned her. (purchased in 2005 and I've put almost 200k on her) I've checked that fuel line and I can not find a visible source of fuel but once I finally get her started I'm planning on replacing that line again w/ new seals just in case that is it.

unfortunately I've already put all the injectors back in, but I didn't loose any coolant out of the overflow bottle over night so I feel much better about my cups.......

Freshly rebuild injectors with fresh orings. #7 cup has been replaced, injector installed and left for 16hrs or so for glue to dry.

I've had to pause for now as it started raining and I've got the batteries on charge. But I've completely filled with fresh oil including the hpop reservoir but when I'm cranking the heads are emitting some smoke and the oil passes on the injectors are not passing oil. Should they be passing oil during cranking? If oil is suppose to pass thru during cranking then could their be something wrong with the injectors and quite a coincidence that all 8 wouldn't be passing oil......

 

Until the ICP reaches 500 PSI, there isn't even a possibility of any oil coming out of the deflector spouts. The PCM won't send a fuel delivery command signal to the IDM until it sees 100+ RPM and 500 PSI ICP. Do you have a scan tool you can watch ICP with while cranking?

 

I have a snapon scanner, I believe it said 15 when cranking.....going to check that now

I also have torque pro that I loved because it told me all of that stuff, but when I got my new phone I lost all of those settings and I haven't taken the time to figure it all out again. But I may need to

 

key on:
icp (v) .20
icp psi 0
ipr % 0

cranking:
icp (v) .32
icp psi rises up to 72
ipr % rises up to 65

 

How long are you cranking? Give it a good 15-20 second continuous crank while watching ICP PSI. It takes a while for the air in the oil rails to be compressed as the pressure comes up.

 

I try to give it somewhere between 20-30 cranks each try. I don't want to overheat the starter. I've done this many times.....its never taken this long before to start after installing injectors.

Do my pressure readings look ok? They seem low to me.....

 

The pressure is definitely low. 500 psi is about .84 volts. Does it hit the 72 psi mark and stop climbing?

 

well that is about when I quit as its been close to 30 cranks. plus my batteries are week, I have them charging now

 

Yeah, something isn't right. I've never had it take more than 3-4 20 second cranks to start. Did you pull the rail drain plugs? Did they get reinstalled? Was any other work done at the same time that was related to the high pressure oil system?

 

no I did not pull the oil rails and nope, nothing else had been done.

This all started because it started running like crap a few months ago and actually stalled out on me. I was able to limp it home but it was blowing white smoke like crazy....I mean I fogged the neighborhood....lol

Anyways I knew I had injector issues.....so I finally got around to pulling them and having them rebuilt. When I went to put them back in on the last one #7, I got a splash back.....water had leaked passed the injector cup. So I have replaced the cup and now I'm back at trying to start it. I've drained the oil twice now and the oil is completely clear on the dip stick like it is supposed to be....all fresh oil including the hpop tank.

 

I know fuel pressure is low/weak because of the fuel leak, but it ran before I pulled the injectors....just ran like crap. So now with new/rebuilt injectors it should at least run....only difference is the guy put in 30% larger nozels which he said was still safe with a stock tune. I'm running a diablo tune for now...... I've also pulled the tune out of it (ford stock is in it right now) and no difference. considering putting the tune back in and try it again......

 

Pull the ICP sensor out and have someone crank it while you watch for oil to come out. Put the sensor back in, pull one of the oil rail plugs out of the right head and do the same. That will eliminate most of the air in the rails. The pressure should come up pretty quick after that. If it doesn't, I'd start checking for other problems like leaking o-rings, bad IPR, etc.