Air Leak Probs

[dementinator]

A quick hi! I am new to this Forum ,I live in the UK and normally mess about with Land Rovers and Range Rovers ,including my 1955 Series one Landy ,However I have just taken delivery of a wonderful 1988 F250 XLT Lariat Truck with a 7.3L IDI Diesel Engine.

Just one problem ,the thing doesnt want to start ,before I bought it it had a injector pump overhaul by Diesel specialists and a rebuilt Starter Motor fitted ,since then ,its beed a ****** to start ,there were some popped Glow Plugs which I have replaced and at least now the Heater System is functioning well.

The Engine is basically leaking air into the fuel system ,once the system beld and the engine finally started it runs like an absolute dream ,I am sooo suprised just how smooth these big diesels are ,and pretty quiet too ,ther eis no probs when running.

However ,stop the engine for even just half an hour and its diffuclt to restart ,more than a couple of hours and thats it ,no go, not without a re bleed and a burst of naughty ether spray ,which I HATE using ,gotta be very careful with it.There are no pools of Diesel around the vehicle ,but the fuel heater in filter head was leaking ,thats been temporarly sealed ,the return lines look dry ,but maybe they are letting air in ,if you get a gallon container of fuel hanging from the hood to bleed the system ,it all runs away in minutes.

If anyone has any info on this engines fuel system ,I would be really greatful.Dying to get this beast running properly ,the poor thing has spent almost all its life here in the UK and has hardly ANY rust on it ,shes done 128,000 miles which I see has hardly run in on an engine like that.

Once again ,sorry for the long post ,and a big hi to everyone!!!

 

[reklund]

Welcome to oilburners!!!

The most common source for fuel system problems on these trucks is the return lines and injector caps. As the age, they'll dry and crack, allowing air into the fuel system on the return side.

You'll need a new set of caps and new return line. If they look old (Still painted grey?) it'll be a good place to start. Also you'll want to check the rubber lines that connect to the lift pump.

Check this out, its a great article on the fuel injection system on these trucks. More involved than just return lines, but good to know anyway.

http://oilburners.net/brian/idi/FuelInjectionServicing.htm

Ryan

 

[dementinator]

Many thanks ,will go check em as soon as poss!

 

[Exekiel69]

Welcome to the site. I agree with Ryan, it looks like air leak. Also when You replace glow plugs make sure they are beru/motorcraft (zd-9). Since You just got the IP rebuild, what type of fuel do You have over there? do You use any additives for it (power service)?

 

[dementinator]

We have the usual low sulphur stuff ,at ,wait for it , around $8 a Gallon here.. I visit the US every year since 1992 and hire a 38foot RV from my friends at Elmonte RV ,and go tooling around the states for 3 to 4 weeks and although its plain to see the price of your gas has gone up ,to me ,its a hoot only paying the Equivalent of about £1.60 a gallon instead of the £4.20 odd I normally pay. I drive another Ford Diesel as my daily driver ,a 1 ton panel van called a "Transit" it has what you guys would think is the most weedy Diesel engine ever ,a 2.5 Liter 4 banger ,but it does return 36+ Mpg and good for about 90mph believe it or not.. hehehe.

Someone has butchered the wiring somewhat on the F250 also ,the cold start solenoid has been disconnected ,athough winter temps here in the UK rarely ever fall to freezing very often ,temps are about 50 degrees or more at the mo ,so I dont think cold weather is the problem. I did put a 12v supply to the cold start solenoid and it operated as well as advancing the throttle slightly ,but made no diff to starting.

The Engne is sweet as a nut once running ,so i will have to check all pipes for leaks ,I read something about where the return pipes go to the rear of the engine ,there seems to be a block and the pipe is loose in the fitting there ,maybes that wont help..

Heres a pic of the old girl by the way...

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[dementinator]

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[reklund]

Shoot, it's even got good ol' Yosemite Sam mudflaps! That's an American Truck for sure!!

I guess it's due to my own ignorance, but I never really thought Ford exported their heavy-duty trucks overseas. I know they went throughout North and South America, but haven't heard of them in Europe until now.

Let us know how the return line repair goes!

Ryan

 

[dementinator]

Shoot, it's even got good ol' Yosemite Sam mudflaps! That's an American Truck for sure!!

I guess it's due to my own ignorance, but I never really thought Ford exported their heavy-duty trucks overseas. I know they went throughout North and South America, but haven't heard of them in Europe until now.

Let us know how the return line repair goes!

Ryan

Theres quite a big following of US trucks etc here in the UK , more now than ever despite our silly fuel prices ,we have also owned a couple of class A Rvs ,one fitted with a Non Turbo GMC 6.2 Diesel ,dear oh dear ,slow wasnt the word! Quicker to have walked! . There also seems to be a large number of huge 42foot $500,000 Dollar RVs too ,goodness knows whos buying them ,but I see many going up and down the freeways.

Well I have just ordered a Fuel return Kit from one of the suppliers mentioned in this Forum ,so hopefully once it arrives and is fitted ,it will solve this annoying problem and the truck will fire up on the key!

The Trucks previous owner has obviously looked after it ,its in good condition for its age ,although the wiring has been bodged quite a bit ,which always annoys me ,people take a lot of risks with Auto Wiring ,many a good vehicle has gone up in flames due to faulty wiring and bad taped up connectors ,So I am slowly working my way through it.

 

[Agnem]

Welcome to the site! Always exciting to have another off shore friend here. Yes, our fuel is cheaper, but we have farther to go! We have states the size of European countries, and as you know can go 3000 miles without a passport. There are a few Austrailian and South American posters that have made there way onto the boards here, and we are always impressed with their resourcefullness given the difficulty in getting parts sometimes. I'm sure if you start with a return line refit as metioned in the link that was posted, you'll be off to a good start. Next time you plan your 3 or 4 week vacation over here, consider making the annual IDI Weekend a part of your visit. Just click the link in my signiture. Last time I was in England was 1975. I'm sure London has changed a bit since then. I was in France in 2002. If you get your truck across the channel, you could probably terrorize the French with that beast!

 

[norve8c9]

Along those lines, anybody know what size o ring I need to get to replace the one on the line between the filter and IP. The top one is missing.

 

[highest_vision]

Along those lines, anybody know what size o ring I need to get to replace the one on the line between the filter and IP. The top one is missing.

Are you talking about the steel line? It isn't an oring exactly, you could sort of describe it as a square cut oring (not really though). I guess the tech term is olive? Ford p/n is E3TZ-9K260-A, comes as a pkg of two.
James

 

[gunnie]

i just bought a package of them from the stealership, first time i ever got outta fords for less than 5 bucks

 

[dementinator]

Right does anyone remember this thread?

Well I promised I would give an update as soon as something new happened.

So ,lets see then ,I ordered a return line kit from Ebay and once it arrived got it fitted ,bled the system and low and behold ,it DOES seem to have improved matters ,the truck did start once bled and it did start the following day ,however ,it was reluctant to start and churned over for a little while before catching ,temps here in the UK are mild right now ,even if it is January ,above 50 degrees so cold is not a problem.

One thing I have noticed ,depsite the rebuilt starter is that the engine is not turning over as fast as I would like to see ,seems a tad sluggish ,the batteries have been pro tested at a local depot and passed with flying colors ,but I still have my doubts as they go flat after only a few attempts at starting.

The cold start solenoid and throttle advance had been disconnected so i temp croc clipped a live lead to the terminals ,there is a "sender" located at the front of the engine on passengers side near the heater plug ,this seems to me to be the temp switch for that solenoid ,theres two terms so I tried re connecting to them ,hey ,guess what ,I got smoke! Seems he terminals are both shorted to earth ,is this why it was disconnected? Anyhow ,seems I may need a new switch ,anyone got any ideas where i may order one that can be shipped to uk?

Well It seems I have made some progress and I am pretty sure there is no air leak probs now ,but somehow doubt the motor would start in cold temps ,need to get that 7.3 turning over a lot faster I think.

One other thing ,the fuel guages ,on rear tank ,now I put £40 of fuel in ( $80) which is only bout 10 gallons ,its gone from reading half way to right off the peg and almost back round again! ,the Front seems a little strange too ,any ideas?

thanks guys for reading all this! I trust everyone has a great Christmas and fantastic new year Celebrations? heres to a great 2007s trucking!

 

[Exekiel69]

If I understand this Your problem may be the glow plugs, they are 8 and You need beru/motorcraft (zd-9). I don't know what solenoid You said on the pass side but sounds to Me like the starter relay maybe if You take a pic of it and post it here it'll be easer or someone else knows better.

Now on the fuel gauges I can't help but I tell You for $80 at 10 gallons they can stay pegged to the E all the time , any chance to run wvo there?

 

[dementinator]

iI have tested the glow plugs and replaced 3 popped ones ,so they all now seem to be working ok.

The sender / switch I am refering to is mounted on the cylinderhead ,the passenger side one towards the front near the first glow plug on that side.
It looks like the switch that operates the cold start solenoid on the IP ,there are two spade connectors on it ,its directly opposite the one that operates the temp gauge.When I checked it AFTER I got smoke ,yes yes a bit late by then i know ,the two terminals were both earthed ,so I think its defo gone to a better place.

well fuel here in the UK is riddiculous ,Diesel is slightly more expensive than gas at around $8 or more per gallon and gas is slightly less ,maybes $7.90.

I also run a range rover with a 4.4 v8 gas engine ,I have to go very light with the right foot ,so I can get almost 20mpg out of it ,I am hoping for about 16mpg or so out of this truck ,is that reasonable or am I being over optimistic ,UK gallons by the way are slightly larger than US ones.

We do have Bio Diesel here and LPG conversions on Gas egines are popular too.