Just another newbie with some questions

[Fordman75]

Hey, I just recently bought my first diesel powered truck. I've been working on my own cars/trucks for the past 20 years. So I know my way around a gasser. But when it comes to diesels I'm just newbie.

I was told about this sight by M.L.S.C. the day after I bought my truck. I wish I would have known about this sight before I bought the truck!!

The truck I bought is a 1991 Ford F-Super Duty with a 7.3L, 5spd with E-brake, Disc brake rear diff with 5.13 gears, hydro-boost brake booster and a 14 foot flatbed. The odometer says just over 26,000. I'm not sure if that's 126 or 226,000.

It's not real pretty but I'm hoping once I get it fixed up mechanically it will be a good tow rig. Here's some pics of it.

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When I drove the truck home I noticed the engine got quite a bit louder when I revved it over 2500 rpms while going thru the gears. I was just wondering if this was normal? And if not any ideas what might be causing it? A guy my dad knows says it's probably weak springs in the injectors? I was wondering if it might be a timing issue? Or is it possibly the DMF?

I'm going to be parking this truck for the winter. I was wondering what if anything should be done to the truck before I park it. Does a diesel truck need anything special done to it for long term storage? Should I dump in any kind of fuel additive? I plan to disconnect the batteries.

Thanks in advance! I'm going to keep reading and learn everything I can from all the diesel masters here!

 

[redneckaggie]

a good dose of fuel treatment will help the fuel stay good and not gel up.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Hey man, glad to see you made it over here!

On your questions - when you say the engine gets louder over 2500 rpms, is it exhaust noise you're talking about, or is it the rattle from the engine itself? IDIs are very loud when the engine speed starts to climb good, but this is mostly exhaust noise, I haven't really heard much of engine noise from mine even when running it against the governor (3800 rpms). Then again I do have a locked fan that makes lots of 747-like whine, and drowns a lot of the engine noise...

For parking the truck, give it a double (or tripple) dose of fuel additives of your choice, I personally use Howe's but there are other good ones as well. If you think it's gonna get cold over there to the point where fuel may start freezing up, the "Diesel 9-1-1" soup by Power Service may be a suitable choice. And then you know your basics on the coolant antifreeze concentration.

By the way, why you say you wished you knew about this side before you got the truck - did all those tech articles scare you? If so I'm sorry, I didn't mean that, just wanted you to be aware of some potential issues that may arise if left untreated, these are actually pretty good trucks and honestly I think my rattler is the best vehicle I've had so far, and you know I've been through quite a diversity in that department.

 

[Fordman75]

Hey man, glad to see you made it over here!

On your questions - when you say the engine gets louder over 2500 rpms, is it exhaust noise you're talking about, or is it the rattle from the engine itself? IDIs are very loud when the engine speed starts to climb good, but this is mostly exhaust noise, I haven't really heard much of engine noise from mine even when running it against the governor (3800 rpms). Then again I do have a locked fan that makes lots of 747-like whine, and drowns a lot of the engine noise...

For parking the truck, give it a double (or tripple) dose of fuel additives of your choice, I personally use Howe's but there are other good ones as well. If you think it's gonna get cold over there to the point where fuel may start freezing up, the "Diesel 9-1-1" soup by Power Service may be a suitable choice. And then you know your basics on the coolant antifreeze concentration.

By the way, why you say you wished you knew about this side before you got the truck - did all those tech articles scare you? If so I'm sorry, I didn't mean that, just wanted you to be aware of some potential issues that may arise if left untreated, these are actually pretty good trucks and honestly I think my rattler is the best vehicle I've had so far, and you know I've been through quite a diversity in that department.

The noise I'm talking about is the engine "rattle" not the exhaust. It gets very loud. It makes me wish I had a huge stereo in the truck! It gets pretty loud in the cab. I just want to make sure it's not a serious problem with anything.

Cool, I'll see what I can do to hunt down some Howe's and dump it in. And I was definitely going to check the coolant to make sure it won't freeze.

The tech didn't scare me. I was just completely in the dark about these diesels when I looked at and bought the truck. I basically just checked it for any major leaks and made sure it ran. I didn't know about checking it to see how it started when it was cold. When I test drove the truck and the day I bought it there was no starting issues. I hopped in turned the key on, the light went off, cranked it over and it started right up. Now I go out and try to start it and it cranks over and puts out some puffs of smoke but it won't start. So now I have to test the glow plugs and most likely replace them. But atleast now I know how to check them and I know to get Motorcraft or Beru ZD9's thanks to this forum.

Thanks again for telling me about this place! I registered the same day you told me about it and I think I've read thru a couple hundred threads so far. and there's only 570 pages of threads. So I've got plenty of reading to.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Haha, yeah, I get carried away and forget to log in for a day, and then there are two pages with new threads - but that tells you why we have so many people coming over from other sites and staying here.

On your hard start issue, does the light come on and stay on for as long as it should (10-15 seconds), or does it just flash with the relay up front clicking madly? That's a dead giveaway you lost some plugs... And do yourself a favor and install a manual glow switch, I have that and last year was starting on 5 glowplugs till weather got too cold and I had to buy a new set - trust me, this switch is a good thing to have.

 

[Fordman75]

The light comes on for the 10-15 seconds the first time I try it. But if I try to double cycle the glow plugs, the second time the light only stays on for a second or two. If you turn the key off and wait a minute or two and then try again the light stays on like it should.

The longer you crank the engine over the more smoke and the darker the smoke gets out the tail pipe. But I didn't want to crank it over more then the 20 seconds or so.

I'm a little concerned because there was a new off brand glow plug in the glove box of the truck. So I'm thinking about just picking up a whole set of Motorcraft glow plugs. If I do I just hope I'll be able to get the old ones out in one piece. I really don't want to have to pull a head off the engine.

I'll most likely install manual switch too.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

If plugs get stuck soak them with some PB Blaster, then be gentle while trying to wiggle them out. 10-15 seconds of glow time sounds good, and there should be no need for a second glow cycle unless temperatures are below 10F... When you crank it, does it feel like the engine's trying to catch and fire? I'm thinking you may actually have a fuel delivery issue there... Tell ya what, plug the block heater in for a few hours, then go and try to start, if she fires up right away it's a glowplug issue, if she still acts up then it's the fuel system trying to give ya hell.

 

[Fordman75]

Yep I read about the PB Blaster trick on the glow plugs. And I've got plenty of it around here.

Is it possible for the light to come on but the gp's not be working?

I know you don't need to double cycle them. I was just trying it to see if it would make any difference. I use to have to do that on my old money pit diesel rabbit that had crappy glow plugs.

It pops like it's trying to fire. And it seems like the more you crank it the closer it gets to running.

I'm going to plug in the block heater today and see what it'll do. I have a feeling I'll be adding a IP and injectors to my parts list for next spring.

 

[Fordman75]

Here's the update. Due to weather reasons I only had the block heaters plugged in for about an hour which didn't seem to make any difference( for that amount of time ) .

I had to crank over the engine for much longer then I should have cranked it but it was the only way I could get it to start. while cranking it was putting out grayish colored smoke ( longer I cranked the more smoke ) . But I did get it to start. I ran it for about 15 minutes. While it was running it was just like the day I bought it. It ran great with very little if any smoke. If you step on it hard it will put out some black smoke. But at a steady rpm not much if any smoke.

So I shut it off and go work on something else. 2 hours later I decide to try it again and see if it will start. So I hop in turn the key, once the WTS light goes off I crank it over and it starts right up.

 

[85ford]

My guess it that she doesn't like you very much yet.... lol I was trying to bleed my truck after a new fuel filter and I was under the hood with a buddy cranking it and there was nothing but fuel comming out but it won't start. So I walk over to the key and turn it and she fired right up. She will always start for me, because she likes me. lol The truck that is....

 

[RLDSL]

Here's the update. Due to weather reasons I only had the block heaters plugged in for about an hour which didn't seem to make any difference( for that amount of time ) .

I had to crank over the engine for much longer then I should have cranked it but it was the only way I could get it to start. while cranking it was putting out grayish colored smoke ( longer I cranked the more smoke ) . But I did get it to start. I ran it for about 15 minutes. While it was running it was just like the day I bought it. It ran great with very little if any smoke. If you step on it hard it will put out some black smoke. But at a steady rpm not much if any smoke.

So I shut it off and go work on something else. 2 hours later I decide to try it again and see if it will start. So I hop in turn the key, once the WTS light goes off I crank it over and it starts right up.

Sounds a lot like a leaking injector( or 2 or more), causing you to loose prime when parked for an extended time. Any chance those injectors still have gray paint on them?

 

[Fordman75]

Yes whats left of the paint on the injectors is gray.

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Guess I can add injectors to the list of parts I need to get.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Agreed with Robert, sure sounds like an air intrusion (which is a fuel delivery issue, so I was right, haha!) but you don't need new injectors for it - what you need is a new return line kit, it's those plastic caps with the hoses attached to them, they have o-rings under them that dry out and start letting air in when the engine is shut off. You can buy the kits from several places online, but I suggest you support our fellow members and get a kit from either Russ (username: typ4) or Mel (username: Agnem).

 

[RLDSL]

Yes whats left of the paint on the injectors is gray.

Guess I can add injectors to the list of parts I need to get.

the appearance of those injectors along with the age and apparent mileage are telling that those injectors are past their service life. About 100k is about all they are usually good for, then it is time for new ones anyway.

The smoke while cranking when it isnt starting is more like slobbering injectors than an air leak at the return lines . With slobbering injectors you get smoke from the fuel pooled up in the cylinders but no fire since no fuel pressure ( aside from the possible couple of second cough from a big pool of fuel if it was parked long enough followed by smoke with no fire with excessive cranking till it finally fires and smokes like crazy till it clears it's throat )
With air intrusion from bum orings , the fuel usually just drains back to the tank , so no puffs of smoke at all, just endless cranking till the fuel finds it's way back up from the tank.

The other symptom that points to slobbering injectors is the hard knocking. That "rattle" is most definitely a sign of one or more slobbering injectors, Usually noticed most in mid range and up at mid range throttle and up

If those were Bosch injectors, I'd say, run a couple of cans of Diesel Purge through them and go, but those are Stanadynes and they are past their service life. PM type 4 here and get ahold of a set of new ones and an install kit and you will be good to go.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Ha, good point, I forgot about the exhaust clouds - that makes perfect sense.