Chasing the great white whale (new owner)

[idif250]

Aloha,
I was lucky enough to come across your forum and learn from your experiences. I can see there is alot to learn and I can see this forum keeps us from learning the hard way. Unfortunately the many previous owners of my new project (84 f250 idi) didn't read your posts and have had a hard time finding what the original configuration of the factory vehicle was.
I got the truck from a sailor who was shipping out to sea and couldn't get it in gear (for $300) while it was stuck on the side of the road. He said he just wanted to get the money back for the stereo he put in. It was that plastic bushing on the clutch pedal and loose fasteners on the new master cylinder... a 15 minute fix and I drove it home but not over 35 mph(died out at speed). Since then I've dropped 1 fuel tank put in a Racor h20 sep(the original was bypassed), new fuel lines ,filter, Electric pump and she runs strong. That was over the last 5 months. Everytime I look inside there is something wrong or bypassed and I want to thank you all for showing me in the right direction your forum is a Big $ saver.
At this point I've read most posts to the 6.9 idi fuel/glowplug threads and have ordered the tech man from BISHKO.... great stuff lots of pictures
I got the wiring schematics too but they are pretty much what you folks have posted throughout the forum and after reading the post and the struggles with glow plugs and electrical theory I can see many concerns.
1) glow plugs don't work, truck wont start in morning below 70 degrees f.
2) battery drain overnight (below 12.3V and loss cranking amps)
3)glow plug relay unenergized from battery(for a reason)
4)original glow plug relay snapped off in block (later model hose clamped to lifting padeye)
5)5 of 8 glow plugs read around 1.2 ohms the rest below .8( with harness disconnected)
6)several wires melted broken to and from glowplug harness (inside the cab too )



All of which I think I can fix but after reading your posts I am hesistant to do anything if I cant get the glowpugs ( which I cannot identify manufacturer other than they are orange) out without pulling the heads.
I backed them out until threads were clear but they wont come out and I'm paranoind about breaking them off.
My plan was to go manual GP with Berus.
Any advice as to how to get them out without breaking would be appreciated.
Thanx for your time.

 

[icanfixall]

Welcome to the forum. This is about the best site for asking and fixing any issue with these rigs. Your glow plugs can be stuck for many reasons including just carbon on the ends. But it could be swollen tip too. Its nearly impossible to know whats going on. Loosen them up and spray some carbon disolver in the threads. Mercury outboards made a carbon cleaner and it might still be available. Carbon is a tuff material to soften up or disolve. About the cheapest thing I can think of to use there is Areokroil made by Kano Labs. I just bought two cans of it. They have a offer. Buy two cans. Try it and if you don't like it send back the unused can and keep the used can.. You will never send anything back to them.. It works plain and simple way better than its supposed to. Somehow I got a bill from them telling me I didn't owe them for my cans... Sometyimes you can start the engine with a plug loosend up and it will blow out but caution is needed. These engines make 500 lbs of cranking compression.. A running engine will make more. So a piece of wood and some rags covering the plug should be used. The plug will come out like a 22 caliber bullet and do some damage. Jst try one at a time.. If the engine is not turbo charged the broken tips can just blow out the exhaust. There is only about 42 thousands clearance between the piston and head so there is going to be some piston damage done no matter how they blow out the exhaust.

 

[OLDBULL8]

There is another way to remove stuck glow plugs.
After backing out as far as possible, hook a drill motor to it and spin in the reverse direction ( so it don't thread/screw back in) while pulling up on it. You can do one at a time at two different cylinders. When and if they come, pull the injector so you can do as below with a shop vacuum. As fixall says, use a something to soften the carbon when it is backed out. Be sure and rotate the engine for each piston to be at TDC.

The engine rotates in a clockwise direction as seen from the front of the truck, and for every 1/4 turn of the engine(crank) each next piston will arrive at TDC. So, When the line on the vibration damper is at the 2 oclock position, cylinders 2 and 5 will be at TDC. When the mark is at the 5 oclock position, cylinders 7 and 6 will be at TDC, 8 oclock has cylinders 3 and 8 at TDC, and back to 11oclock, 1 and 4 will be at TDC.

Cylinder numbers are assigned 1,3,5,7 on the left (passenger USA) bank from front of truck to back, and 2,4,6,8 on the driver's side (USA), front to back. Firing order is 1,2,7,3,4,5,6,8.

If you have it at TDC then a vacuum on the injector hole and spritzes of air into the GP hole should clear the precup area of any debris but not liquid on the piston top. If a large piece of GP breaks off, it can't get out of the small hole in the precup. If you can't vacuum it out the head will have to come off.

By the way, Welcome to the OB. Aloha.

 

[OLDBULL8]

To address your battery drain overnite, it could be a bad diode in the alternator, sometimes you can feel warmth by feeling the alternator before trying to start. Don't know your location, but AZone and others can check them out, or check voltage while charging after a start, should be at least 14.5 VDC . Another drain is one battery has a bad cell, you can only check that with a hydrometer, each cell should be 1250 gravity or higher on a charged battery.

Use only Motorcraft/Beru glowplugs, others have had good luck with other brands, but stay away from Autolite and Champion.

There is new updated GP controllers on Ebay at a reasonable price. I think this is what you need.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-9L-Glow-P...Parts_Accessories&hash=item337119e986&vxp=mtr

 

[riotwarrior]

Welcome to Oil Burners and thank you for the compliment on the forum. It's not my forum, but it is my forum....I think you get the pic...it's all of our forum and the combined talent here as said by Gary is far more than any shop or dealership bar none.

I'm pleased to hear that through your reading you have saved yourself $$$ and likely time too.

The answers are all here and if not, the combined talent is to solve any issue.

I'm grinning thinking of the combined hours of talent available...more like years...I'm sure we are well into the hundreds if not thousands of years of combined talents...funny when you think of it that way...

I can't speak to the power drain, it's just a matter of locating the load causing that issue, could even be a chafed wire.

As you mentioned not much is stock on your truck...or original, it's been well changed by previous owners whom thought they knew how to fix it.

Please read if you haven't the FAQ's the tech and sadly HALL of SHAME before making purchases...just to be safe and not become another victim of a bad retailer.

Also if you could please fill in your signature, that would be great, along with some pictures of your fine ride!

Glad that your issue with shifting was so simple, often that ******** bushing is a simple fix as are mounting bolts.

How many miles on the ride? Sounds like a fuel deliver issue for lack of speed. Maybe time injectors and IP hard to say at this point.

Again,

Welcome to OB

Al

 

[idif250]

ok you asked to see it lol

Like I said not much sense in fixing the harness if I can't get them glow plugs out.
Looking for some good carbon dissolver that wont be flammable versus combustable for contamination and saftey reasons. Seafoam may be too much volitile.
When i do i think I'll try the reverse rotation drill action and then the compression method. I'll youtube it so we can get a good laugh.
Thanx for your warm welcome and timely response!

You must be registered for see images attach