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Hello, I recently got FORD F550 2000, with 180k miles. The reason why I bought it just because it was exactly what we were looking for a long time, except that it was not running very well, however it was cheap. Anyways, I have some mechanical skills as my dad was a professional mechanic all his life, however I didnt deal with these trucks alot, I just had one F250 in the past, which had the same 7.3L engine.
So, when we came to pick up the truck, it was sitting on the lot for a while, nobody drove it for sometime. When we first started the truck, it started right away, however it had a lot of smoke, and the engine noise was rough, unstable on the low APRs. after a min or so, it was less smoke, and the engine was running a lot better. So we drove it for about 20-30 miles, after that the smoke disappeared, however it still starts pretty rough and the main thing, it DOESNT HAVE ENOUGH POWER! Its very slow and weak. The CHECK ENGINE light is on.
I connected my ScanTool, its powers up, I start read the codes and then it throws me an error. I checked the Scanner on my other truck, it works OK. I went to Autozone, they connected their Scanner and it give it an error, cant read the codes. I started to read, and found put that many times the fuse is bad, however my cigarette lighter socket works, and my tool powers up, so I assume that I have the power in the OBD2.
Now Im stuck, I cant read the codes and I dont know the other way to check what is wrong with it. It has some oil leaks under head caps. When I start it there is some exhaust smoke coming out of the rear side of the engine, somewhere between the engine and firewall.
If you have any ideas, I would love to hear them from you.
In the mean time I need to change serpentine belt, tensioner, and water pump just in case.
Sounds like your scanner is not designed for these trucks. As far as I know, the scanners from auto parts stores will not work on these trucks. Most of us have to use AutoEnginuity, Ford scanner or the android app to read the codes on these trucks.
Most of the oily dirt looks good to me, normal stuff in normal places for a well used truck. Except the ICP sensor, top front of driver side head, can barely see it in one of the pics. Pull off the harness, if the connection is oily the sensor is bad and it needs replacing. Clean any oil from the harness with contact cleaner too. OEM Ford or IH strongly recommended for that sensor. New one will look different from that original unit, it was redesigned to be easier to install and remove.
Further to what Greg said, if you have an android phone get the Torque Pro app to read codes and sensors. Some really good threads on this forum on that subject, google'em up.
Thank you so much for advice. I almost went and bought this scanner ( Bosch OBD1300 - Scan Tool | O'Reilly Auto Parts ) , they told me it works with DIESEL. So I guess I'll try with some cheaper way, and get myself Bluetooth OBD2.
The exhaust you are seeing at the rear of the engine sounds like an exhaust leak to me, due to this your boost will be low which in turn will lead to it running like a dog. New up pipes or a new gasket sounds like it is in order. I personally would go with new bellowed up pipes, the gaskets are going to fail again, whereas the up pipes are a far more permanent fix. As far as up pipes go you have two options, get the IH ones at $400+ or the Dorman at about $150.
Some will say the Dormans are just cheap Chinese parts and will fail also, but many have been running them with no issue as far as I know. They did have some build issues in the beginning where they didn't leave enough space in the collector to run the bolts through enough to fully tighten, but that issue seems to have been remedied on their end now.
It is definitely looks like the exhaust leak. Im uploading video right now on VIMEO, once its there I'll share the link. Thank you so much to TUGLY, I watched your signature, and ordered Bluetooth OBD2 and USB OBD2. I want to do diagnostic myself, as mechanics want to charge me 75-125$ HR, so I dont want to pay that much, I have time and tools, so I'll try to do it myself.
It is definitely looks like the exhaust leak. Im uploading video right now on VIMEO, once its there I'll share the link. Thank you so much to TUGLY, I watched your signature, and ordered Bluetooth OBD2 and USB OBD2. I want to do diagnostic myself, as mechanics want to charge me 75-125$ HR, so I dont want to pay that much, I have time and tools, so I'll try to do it myself.
That is one of the best things about these trucks. They are simple enough that even a first time diesel owner (like myself) can get in there and with the help of FTE figure out what the problem is and the best course of action to fix it.
When you see all that smoke at the back of the engine blowing up like that, it is indicative of a HUGE up-pipe leak. Get a set of Dorman bellowed up pipes and think seriously about ditching the stock air filter box. It's is a known weak point on these trucks. It has a lid that doesn't seal very well and allows unfiltered air into your turbo. Very bad things happen if that is a regular occurrence.
Just as Jason said, you have a fairly large up-pipe/collector leak right where they meet the turbo. Look at the picture below. This is a shot of my turbo during a recent rebuild and you can see where there is soot on the compressor housing that was between the carrier and compressor. I could not see it very well when it was mounted on the truck, but could smell the exhaust in the cab at times and was not surprised to discover it.
Jason also mentioned Dorman bellowed up pipes. A lot of us have had great luck with these, here is the link.
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Most of the oily dirt looks good to me, normal stuff in normal places for a well used truck. Except the ICP sensor, top front of driver side head, can barely see it in one of the pics. Pull off the harness, if the connection is oily the sensor is bad and it needs replacing. Clean any oil from the harness with contact cleaner too. OEM Ford or IH strongly recommended for that sensor. New one will look different from that original unit, it was redesigned to be easier to install and remove. 
