Where to begin? 7.3 IDI sitting for a year.

[icanfixall]

Ok you have the truck home safely. Lots of good ideas posted here. What I think is the most important thing to do first is drain some oil out of the engine. See if its oil or water. No water then hand crank the engine at least 2 full turns. Cranking it 2 turns tells you the valves are not hitting a piston and there is no water in the cylinders. An electric lift pump from any can of diesel will work fine. Now reasons for not staring might be it has a failed mechanical lift pump or some air intrusion. An electric lift pump solves many of the sir problems. So if it has a new fuel filter may as well crank it over once you know its not locked up. Hopefully the shop that "knows all" did not remove the pump with the gear and the housing as one piece. If they did its probably lost the gear timing. Thats an easy fix too.

 

[marmot]

First thanks for all the good ideas. Here she is at 5below, the lens on my camera fogged up.

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The "shop that knows all" is an unknown...they are a busy shop in a podunk little ranch town that is smack in the middle of serious ford country tho so they should know a bit about these trucks and there were a few idi's in the lineup outside. Since the pump and injectors were installed no one has ever tried to start it. The IP housing has not been fooled with, the bolt cover was missing but IDIoit is hooking me up with a spare(thanks). The timing mark on the pump is advanced 1/8" toward the pass side which should be 8-9 btdc from what I've read. IP bolts are tight and lines on the pump end are tight I have all the injector ends of the lines finger tight waiting to purge. I am really not concerned about water, for the same same reason the ranchers there are concerned...there aint much. I will start working on it after work tomorrow as the temps are forecast to hit 35. I'll take a video tomorrow if I get a chance.

 

[aiyana7.3]

Lot of great ideas being posted here like always! When you do get ready to start it I suggest this idea;
My truck has been sitting for about 6 months outside with non winterized diesel in it at -10 degrees at night. So when it came time to start it, I threw a couple of tarps over it and placed a large propane heater under it for about 2 hours on low. When I came back the thing started in about 2 seconds of cranking it even with out the glow plugs (due to the fact I haven't wired them yet at the time.) I was amazed at how quick it started.

 

[marmot]

Lot of great ideas being posted here like always! When you do get ready to start it I suggest this idea;
My truck has been sitting for about 6 months outside with non winterized diesel in it at -10 degrees at night. So when it came time to start it, I threw a couple of tarps over it and placed a large propane heater under it for about 2 hours on low. When I came back the thing started in about 2 seconds of cranking it even with out the glow plugs (due to the fact I haven't wired them yet at the time.) I was amazed at how quick it started.

That is an idea I have been kicking around. I'm a mason so heated tents are second nature during the winter. I am going to take a closer look at everything today and make sure no parts are missing or loose, I am also going to vacuum the interior so I can work on it without choking on sheep dog hair. Also I am planning to install the batteries, lube the cylinders as best I can and turn it over a couple times by hand and then check the starter and collect some fuel from the tanks to check out the fuel condition.

 

[aiyana7.3]

Besides all the engine lubrication, batteries are a great idea too. Also fuel pressure as mention above. It took me months to get my truck to run right. I replaced the return system, glow plugs, lift pump, glow plug controller and relay and a lot more and still wouldn't run. After every mechanic I talked promised me it was low compression, I finally bought two spools off fuel lines and replaced every line in the truck. When I was done it started right up and has been running strong ever since.
Got to love those IDI's

 

[marmot]

Had to work late setting up for a 7ft stone mantle in the morning so I did not get much done on the truck. I did go over the motor and all I could find missing was one possible line clamp on the passenger side. Anyone know how many clamps were on the passenger side injector lines of a 7.3 idi turbo motor? I have the 4x and 3x clamp on the drivers but none on the passenger side and it looks like a 2x or possible 3x clamp is missing.We have one scrap yard within a reasonable drive now and not too good of a chance they will have one if it's missing.

 

[IDIoit]

i have a stock 94 7.3T, i have 2-3line clamps.
one under the throttle cable hold down, that holds the front 3 injector lines, and one under the turbo inlet that holds the back 3 injector lines.

im supprised noone has mentioned this before, but does your truck have a block heater?

your IP bolt cover will be there wednesday

 

[marmot]

10-4 I will try setting up the clamps like yours. I do have a block heater and I am going to plug it in tonight and let it warm up good. As soon as the bolt cover arrives I will install it and try starting the truck. My facet pump is waiting at napa and I am picking up batteries at lunch tomorrow. I have a five gallon can of diesel in the shed all I need is a few feet of fuel line and a clamp or two. I do have a question about purging air with an e-pump, will the lines purge thru the injector return lines with an e-pump or do I need to crack the lines and crank the engine to purge? If I can just run the epump for 5min till the air gone I'll tighten the lines tonight and install the airbox and filter.
Thanks

 

[icanfixall]

With an electric lift pump fuel will flow thru the injection pump and out the return on top of the pump. Sadly it can't flow thru the hard lines and out any cracked injectors. That requires the pump turning to make enough pressure. Remember most injectors need 1850 lbs to pop open. So you have to compress the air or purge it out. Mel taught me a neat trick. All lines tight and crank for say 10 seconds. Stop cranking and crack loose the lines at the injector. LISTEN carefully for an air hiss noise. Tighten and crank again. Loosen and listen. Once you have a good show of fuel at the injectors when you loosen the line nut tighten and prepare to start. It may run ruff for a few minutes as the remaining air is pushed thru but it will smooth out. Then happy running down the road but please.... Stay out of the ditch. Way too slick and cold up there to ruin a nice rig.

 

[typ4]

Marmot, uhaul store on ebay has new line clamps.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1802796C91-...Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item259c4fe13a

 

[marmot]

Thanks Icanfixall I figured that would be the case. I like that idea for purging, it makes good sense. and type 4 I just ordered 2 clamps thnx for the heads up. I will let yall know how it goes.

 

[marmot]

Well I had to work late again tonight due to a particularly finicky super rich "lady" who did not like the color of the beautiful stone arch I built last week which was identical in every way to the picture of the arch she wanted....yes the color of the stone...? So today I demo'd it and made the same arch out of a shade darker stone, same damn arch...she now said it was too small. All these judgements were of course made from california via the pictures texted to her. So I demo'd that arch and then demo'd a good portion of the chimney (this is stone set in cement mind you) and made a THIRD arch that was ridiculously huge and looks like it belongs on a bridge not a fireplace and of course she thought it was perfect....so I missed lunch and got home after dark and did not get a chance to work on the truck. The construction manager and I waited two hours this evening for her to finish yoga and send her approval...he had a different name for her but it did rhyme with rich Tomorrow I get to start work at 6am so the place is ready for her when she arrives this weekend....so I will probably not get to the truck till the weekend. IDIoit I got the part you are a good man, thank you kindly.
Marmot

 

[icanfixall]

Rich people suck to work for. In my life I have worked with very rich and very poor people. Some of the rich did not wear it on their hats. And some did. We did not hire them. They came with the job. Hard to find good people any more but here. This forum tries to help all comers find the correction or find the door. Its that simple.

 

[IDIoit]

anything i can do to help.
working for the public sucks. period.
i am a machinist by trade. everything is in black and white.
my customers send me a print. i make parts to the print.
simple as that! the only thing i have to worry about is being on time, and with brain dead employees, i usually end up working odd hours.
i have been mechanically inclined all my life, and ill tell you whats worse than working for the rich.
its working for a engineer that does not know how to convert metric to standard...lol
i want so bad to call him up and say " LISTEN 1MM = 0.03937777777777" YOU #$&*(% MORON!!! WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO BUY YOU A CALCULATOR?"
but i just end up biting my tounge, because he signs off on top dollar purchase orders..lol

 

[marmot]

ya this is a classic bad egg, I did the stone on a 7.5M house for a gentleman a while back and he was always positive and nice even if he wanted changes he was exceedingly polite and would show up and bbq steaks for the crew. I guess it is the same mix among the rich as at the corner bar there always has to be an a-hole.

What type of sealant do folks use for installing that bolt cover? RTV?