7.3 Won't start...
 

I have a 1999 PSD, It was hard starting last couple of times and now won't start at all. I got a code of P1211 (Fuel injection pressure), I looked around and found it may be the Injection Pressure Regulator or it's O rings. I opened the High Pressure oil pump reservoir and it ony has a little oil in the bottom. How much oil is supposed to be in there?? What kind of oil is it just engine oil?? Any help would be appreciated. :argh:

Plain ol engine oil. Believe you can fill er to the top.

I agree with wild bill. Although if you fill it too the top when you drop your oil filter back in it is gonna dump oil all over. If your oil on the dipstick is good then leave the top alone. Might be A quarter full when you pull the filter out of it anyway. Your fuel problem...... I would check your transfer pump first. If it went first and the injection pump was running the whole fuel system then it could be baked as well. If your lucky it is only the transfer pump and the injection pump is still happy.... Good luck... Rhino.

The high pressure reservoir is supposed to be about 1 inch from the top with oil. If it is low there is not enough oil to feed the injectors to fire them. Low oil in the crankcase or a bad low pressure oil pump are possible problems causing it. The first thing I would do is check the dipstick to make sure you have enough oil in the engine.

OK I had low oil in the crankcase when this happened and now I went ahead and changed the oil, so now I'll go ahead and fill the HPO res. and truy to start again and pray for the best. Thanks guys.

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I filled the reservoir and the truck started I let it run for a little bit and it had like a slight "miss" feeling kind of shuttering from time to time. I took it for a spin around the neighborhood and it did fine. Turned it off and started back up and it cranked for a long time and then fired up. Could this be the IPR o rings?? Any feedback is appreciated.

It could be the ipr o-rings or the injector o-rings. You could remove one of the plugs from the cylinder head and put a test gauge in to test your HP oil pressure. I used a high pressure gauge and hose from a dive regulator set to test ours. The head has 1/2 inch o-ring fitting threads. You could probably also get a hose and gauge from a hydraulic hose repair shop. the eratic running when you first started most likely was because of trapped air in the system that will clear with a a good run.

I've now found that the High Pressure Oil in the reservoir is gone again. So it must be flushing back. I have brand new oil in the crankcase and it's full. What could this point to?? The HPO pump or is there a fix for it?? The fittings on the pump and the lower plug are not showing sign of oil at the fittings?? I'm at a loss.....:argh:

my neighbor had this problem he ended up switching to a chevy

Thats out of the question, but thanks for the helpful info....:booo:

The oil in the reservoir is fed directly from the engine oil gallery. If it is leaking out the only place it can get out is through the high pressure oil galley to the injectors or the IPR valve. Bad o-rings in either of these places could be the cause or the valve might be jammed open. Does it run O.K. when you get it started? The high pressure oil pump is a wobble plate operated multi piston hydraulic pump. Ours went bad in away that the engine would run O.K. part of the time and then lose power going down the road. I used a dive tank H.P. gauge to test ours. The port in the head is 1/2 inch straight o-ring threads.

It runs fine once it gets started, but it's cranks abnormally long. I have a brand new IPR on the way and was hoping to take care of my problem but if it dosen't then I guess I have a new IPR. When it's idling I can feel a slight "miss" like feeling. But no loss of power going down the road.

I found a website that has an in depth description of the workings of the 7.3 high pressure system that might help you some. Diesel-Central.com the technical source for Diesel Truck information, Truck Pulling, and Drag Racing

Thank you. Anything helps. I also have access to Mitchel On Demand and will be on there tomorrow.

Most of the problem with ours turned out to a bad H.P. pump but we also had one cylinder with low compression and the pump from ford is over $700 and an engine kit with no pistons was over $800 so we got a used engine and changed it out. The plan is to rebuild the old one and have it ready as a spare.

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I just found another sight that has some more good info. Trouble Shooter | Motor | Find Articles at BNET

I just got my New IPR and put it in, and still have long cranking. I haven't checked the HP oil resv. to see if it drained back or stayed but with my luck it's drained back. I may have to take it to a local shop and have them hook their scan tool to it and give me a diagnosis. The HP oil pump is kind of a spendy guess. I've asked the local shop if they could test my HP oil pump and they explained the way they test and it sounds exactly the way y'all suggested.

Took my truck to the local shop today and he put it on his scanner. He says there is a high pressure oil leak somewhere, but he didn't have the quick disconnect block off plugs to diag. it further. He showed me the graph while he was monitoring it and upon cranking the IPR went to 56% before it fired up. He said his best guess would be the Injector o rings. He also told me his scanner told him that my #8 cylinder failed the cylinder balance test.... not too sure what that means, but he said that he thinks thats where the problem is.

it means # 8 is not putting out as much power as the other cylinders. The injector o-rings might be leaking or a bad injector or low compression. if you take off the valve covers and start the engine you would be able to watch for oil leaking around the injectors and proper flow from the injector oil outlets. #8 is supposed to have a different injector than the rest because of what ford calls a cackeling problem whatever that is supposed to mean. at cruising speed the high pressure oil should be about 1000 to 1500 psi. the o-rings get hard and flatten with heat and time so leaking o-rings at these pressures is a real possibility.

What did ya get figured out??

Well I'm replacing the o rings on the injectors today. I got almost all the way done and was tightening the oil deflecting retainer bolt and it snapped!!! I think it crossed threaded and when it came tight it gave. I took the injector out and am now looking at how I screwed up. Pondering what to do??? How important is that oil deflector, I'm looking at drilling it out and tapping it or buying a new plate and getting it installed on the injector is theis even possible??:argh:

The oil deflector is mostly important if you want to watch for leaking o-rings by running it with the valve covers off You don't have to remove the deflector tubes to get the injectors out. The only other concern is that the oil outlet aims at the valve cover gasket so if the gasket doesn't seal good enough you might have a minor oil leak. It will run without the deflector. Drilling and threading is a good fix for the problem.

I wasn't sure if the deflector had to be removed so I took them off to get the injectors off. I was thinking it 's going to be a lot of work to get that deflector back on so I'm wondering if it's worth the hassle. I'm going to take it to the machine shop in the morning to see if it's an easy fix if not I may leave it off.

With the injector out it should be easy enough to put the deflector on once the hole is drilled and taped. Next time you will be able to save one step. If they can't drill it easily just make sure the gasket is sealed good and you should be fine

Thanks bro. This website is most helpful. Thanks for the knowledge.:c:

You are quite welcome.

Replaced my Injector o rings, fixed the oil deflector bolt that I broke by taking it to a machine shop. The guy backed out the remaining piece and gave me a new fastener. Fired up the truck and it's still hard starting. The truck still cranks abnormally long. I replaced the IPR the o rings on the injectors and the glow plugs. What could it be now??? The high pressure oil is remaining in the reservoir, so I fixed that issue, but it still is hard starting. What the hell do I do now......:argh:

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I think next is going to be the Glow Plug Relay.....:humm:

You could hook up a voltmeter to the glow plug side of the relay and see if you get power when you turn the key on. If you have power there changing the relay won't help. Did you ever try to check the pressure in the high pressure ports?

No, it takes a special connector to attach a gauge, I think, right...? I went out and drove the truck to get some fuel and when I got home I shut the truck down and fired back up and it fired up perfectly. The truck has never ran so smooth with the new o rings. I used to notice a small tremble or shutter with no change in RPM, and when I'm running it now it doesn't do that anymore. So even though it still hard starting it needed to be done. I'll look into checking the pressures in the HPOP. What pressure should I see??

It varies depending on rpm and load. At idle it is usually around 500 psi. It can go up to 3000 under heavy load and at highway cruise it is between 1000 and 1500. I made an adapter to test the fuel pressure out of fuel line repair snap fittings from the auto parts. The test port in the head for the high pressure oil is 1/2 inch straight o-ring threads.
Since I work in the dive industry I have access to dive hose adapters that fit the head perfectly but any hydraulic hose company also have fittings that work. A standard dive regulator has a 7/16 hose end on the gauge hose and adapters are available to go from 7/16 to 1/2.

Alright. Fixed her all up. Replaced the Injector o rings, IPR, and the glow plug relay. Oil is staying in the Hi Press Res. and the truck is firing right off. Had the hi Press Pump tested and it checked out, thank God. Truck has never ran as good as it is now. Thank you to all you Bombers that helped me out. We can put this thread to bed!!:yeah:

Good deal!! :U: