Newbie to the 7.3L PSD

[mudxtc]

Howdy OBN! Well I finally found me a truck! I bought a 1999 F-350, CC,Longbed, SRW, 4x4, Auto. It is a beautiful truck and I bought it for a really short song......

Now the questions:
1 How do I know if I need to replace the glow plugs?

2 The power door locks are inop. I have heard that there is a really cheap fix for this but I can't seem to find it?!?

3 The Cruise Control doesn't work, is there an easy way to diagnose it?

4 Does anybody have a good-looking set of wheels for sale near Knoxville? It has the factory "bullet-hole" wheels, I don't really care for them, I like the 5 spoke aluminum wheels.........

 

[BleednBlue68]

Welcome! You've joined a great group of knowledgeable and awesome people! Im new to diesels too so i probably cant help you too much. Id say if its hard to start yer glowplugs are bad. They get the combustion all warmed up to fire. I heard the door locks are expensive to fix. Like 150 bucks for the set or individual regulators. I have no idea on the cruise. Might be a fuse or sensor bad? If those are the original alcoa wheels i dont think you will have a prob sellin them. Very sought after and actually are built stronger than the aftermarket wheels.

 

[Double-S-Diesel]

you can test the glow plugs they are the outer 4 pins on the valve cover harness, hook a test light to the pos bat and touch the pins if it lights they are good

as for the door locks they can be fixed for free, I have directions on another sight.


cruise not working see if the sensor on the mc is plugged in, or leaking , ford has a recall on this.

wheels always come up for sale on different sights or craigslist

 

[mudxtc]

DSD, where can I find the fix for the power locks?

 

[Double-S-Diesel]

http://www.thedieselgarage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50702

 

[mudxtc]

DSD, thanks! I now have a weekend project!!!!!

 

[Double-S-Diesel]

worst part is taking the assembly out then when I took the thing apart I drilled the plastice rivits out, then taking the actual motor apart is a pain, bend the little tabs, then reinstalling the white piece on the motor watch the brushes.
then to reaseemble the thing I used the soldering iron and melted what was left of the tabs together.

 

[mudxtc]

Thanks DSD, Hopefully I won't have any issues this weekend while doing this......hopefully

 

[Fishin76]

Most of the glow plug problems on the PSD's are Relay related. The are lots of articles on how to check the GPR. I just had to replace mine, wouldn't start in the cold. NAPA GPR-109, 26 bucks. Fixed it.

 

[mudxtc]

thanks for all the info, I haven't had any issues.......

Remember, I came from the spark plug world and just wasnt sure about the glow plugs.

So basically, there isn't a routine replacement time or mileage for the glow plugs like the normal 30/60/90K intervals of spark plugs?

 

[Fishin76]

Nope, when you experience hard starts in the cold, You'll know. Normally if you have some bad, your engine will smoke white out the tailpipe upon startup. the white smoke is raw fuel, and it smells like fuel too. Also, you'll have a very poor idle at startup until you give it some pedal to heat up the cylinders.

 

[mudxtc]

well, I spent 3and a half hours yesterday replacing all the bulbs in my newly acquired truck, all the instrument cluster bulbs even those tiny little turkeys, plus all the interior lights and all of the exterior and topper lights, the old gal lights up like a Christmas tree now!

Then after all that, the interior lights wouldn't shut off till they timed out...... I started taking door latch switches out and checking them and 3 out of 4 were sticking. A little brake clean and some WD-40 and all my lighting issues are GONE! (now I know why all of the interior bulbs were burned out or just missing!)

 

[NJKen]

Funny how you figure out the little things like that! You also figured out what the problem was too~
Ken

 

[mudxtc]

many moons ago, I was a line mechanic at a Lincoln Mercury Stelaership.........but never worked on diesels...