Diesel Engine Owners

[flyfishingmonk]

I don't know if this will generate much interest or not, but I would like to have a thread to discuss any topics related to diesel engines in trucks.

I have a 7.3 Power Stroke and have replaced the water pump, glow plugs, cam shaft sensor and starter myself. Not a long list but they were all successful repairs. I also do my own oil changes, all 14 quarts, and radiator fluid changes.

I am getting ready to replace the o rings on the fuel assembly in front of the fuel filter. Does anyone own a 7.3? Has anyone made this repair? It doesn't look to difficult.

I will check the diesel forums as well, but thought I would ask.

[gstanfield]

I'm a member on http://www.competitiondiesel.com and a moderator on www.thecumminsforum.com (not that it helps you) There's some really good info on comp diesel, even if you're not wanting to hot rod it

[timoub007]

I've rebuilt the fuel bowl assembly on my 7.3 before and as you expect it really isn't that difficult. Of course I also put in one of the fuel pressure "fix kits" that reroutes the fuel so all the injectors should see the same pressure. As the engine is designed, the #8 cylinder will get a slightly lower pressure of fuel, thus a smaller shot. This causes what some have termed "cackle". My 2000 model didn't have it bad, but being the engineer and tinkerer that I am I had to fix this. You can't regulate pressure properly the way that Ford is doing it with the fuel bowl. They are trying to regulate the pressure in the rails with a pop-off type valve before the engine/injectors. The "fix kits" that are available tap in to the fuel rails and add an external fuel pressure regulator to keep the rails at a constant pressure no mater the injector sequence.

Anyway, I tinker a little.

Tim

[callyb]

I don't have a 7.3, I opted for the 6.0, because of the pilot (quiet) idle, which Ford quickly took away, and all things considered I guess I've been pretty lucky with it. A few years ago I was considering replacing the truck about the time the turbo went out (the fourth one and 3,000 miles out of warranty of course) so I kept it since I had to put $3,600 out for the new turbo. This seemed a lot smarter to me than spending the $50-60,000 for the current version of the same truck!!! Anyway had been contemplating a new one here recently and the FICM went out, which of course took out 6 injectors so $5,000 later, after replacing all 8 injectors, I guess I'm going to keep the truck for a little while longer. But in all honesty, even though this may seem bad, the truck is a very early '03 and if you are a powerstroke fan you know that I haven't had any problems with this engine at all compared to what I could have dealt with.

So, anyway... Since I just just made a significant investment back in the old girl I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on the "bullet proof" kit; head gaskets, arb studs, egr delete, oil cooler, a tuner since this last trip to the shop took me from 18mpg to 12.5mpg after the re-flash (THANKS 2010 emissions laws!!!!!), plus an aftermarket exhaust. I figure I got 200,000 miles out of it, so I should do what I can to make sure I get my money out of it and go for another couple hundred thousand.

Most likely not very productive to the original post, but the FICM/injectors just happened, so it was on my mind when I saw this thread.

Carl

[flyfishingmonk]

I've rebuilt the fuel bowl assembly on my 7.3 before and as you expect it really isn't that difficult. Tim

I just had that fixed when I broke down in Colorado. I wasn't sure what was wrong with it so I had the dealer fix it. As for this repair, it consists of 5 o-rings that are in the same general area.

I wasn't aware of the fuel pressure kit and the problem with cylinder 8. Is this something you have a link to?

you know that I haven't had any problems with this engine at all compared to what I could have dealt with.

I figure I got 200,000 miles out of it, so I should do what I can to make sure I get my money out of it and go for another couple hundred thousand. Carl

I'm hoping to get another 200K out of mine as well. I will soon be turning over 190K. The body and interior are both in excellent shape.

My buddy has the 6.0 as well and I hear the bad news with that motor from him. It's a bummer they followed up the 7.3 with the 6.0 the way they did. Now I understand their latest motor is doing well. If I had my way, I would run a Cummings in my Excursion matched with an Allison tranny. I just got a new tranny and skipped this mod because it looked like a bunch of extra work and expense when dealing with a 4x4 transfer case. That would make for one nice fishing SUV.

[thb]

I got tired of buying the super- expensive diesel for my 2007 gmc duramax with the LMM engine so I traded the mother in back in Sept and got a gas 5.3 GMC 1/2 ton 4x4. The ride is much smoother and I just don't need 10000-12000 lbs of towing capability. In the 4 years I owned it, had only 2 issues with the motor. Initially a problem with the turbo sensor which took the dealership 10 days to sort out and get the part. Then in August it had a glow plug issue which caused the check engine light to come on.

It is ridiculous that diesel cost 30 cents a gallon more than gasoline since a lot less refining is required to make diesel. Also try to find low sulphur 15 ppm fuel everywhere is not real easy.

What is that saying about FORD ( fix or repair daily ).

Regards
Tom in Steinhatchee

[Mad Dog]

It is ridiculous that diesel cost 30 cents a gallon more than gasoline since a lot less refining is required to make diesel. Also try to find low sulphur 15 ppm fuel everywhere is not real easy.
Regards
Tom in Steinhatchee

That does seem ridiculous... one thing about diesel is that it is one level higher than home heating oil. Every year at this time the price of diesel goes up about 10 cents because (I am told) the suppliers are building heating oil supplies and reducing the diesel supply. That let's them continue to supply the usual volume of gasoline. The bright side is in the spring when gas prices go up diesel prices remains more consistent. I wish I could find a reliable supply of spent cooking oil. Then a home bio-diesel processer would be worth the investment.

MD

[flyfishingmonk]

I wish I could find a reliable supply of spent cooking oil. Then a home bio-diesel processes would be worth the investment. MD

I use to own a backyard design company in Oklahoma, as well as three hot-shot rigs (which we never made any money at) and most of the vehicles we purchased were Cummings Turbo Diesels for this very reason. We set up a small bio-disel and ran a 40% blend of filtered vegetable oil with an additive, 10% gasoline and 50% Diesel. The trucks ran fine we just kept having troubles with clogging the filters. The procurement was a total pain in the neck!!!! The time involved in procuring the veg oil making your own blend made it much more costly endeavor than just purchasing the fuel. But we didn't give up. We then brought in a chemist and had him teach us how to cut the oil down into actual real deal Bio-Diesel fuel. This ran fine but we still had the same problem, to much work and to much time.

With all that said, aftera wasting a few thousand dollars in time and equipment, we simply went back to regular diesel. However, all the work may be worth it to some people who like messing with nasty veg oil and stinky diesel.

What is that saying about FORD ( fix or repair daily ). Tom in Steinhatchee

After owning several Dodge/Cummings, Fords and Chevys, I have come to the conclusion that they all break down, and they all have their pros and cons. As for the Powerstorke, well I would prob have a Cummings but they didn't put one in the Excursion body. I owned several Chevys over the years and after owning Fords, I like Ford a little better. The body's and frames seem to be a little stronger. However, I loved my Z-71 when I owned it.

[thb]

Casey,
My new one is a Z71 and I sure like the ride. Went down to Dunnellon yesterday and picked up a broken 50 hp Yamaha which I picked up on e-bay. Got about 20 mpg on the trip. That is as good as my old duramax.

Why does the top one cylinder on these yami's seem to go out??? Maybe when I tear down this newly acquired one it will become clear what went wrong.

Regards
Tom in Steinhatchee

[flyfishingmonk]

Casey,
Why does the top one cylinder on these yami's seem to go out??? Maybe when I tear down this newly acquired one it will become clear what went wrong.

Regards
Tom in Steinhatchee

I sure don't know. Piston ring maybe? I wish I could help. You will have to ask somebody more knowledgeable about boat motors than me.