7.3 liter issues

cgrnh

New member
Hello All,
I have a question about my truck, It is a 2000 Ford F250 with the 7.3l Power Stroke. My issue is this, If I do not let the truck warm up it falls flat on its face and stalls and then becomes very hard too restart. Once it restarts it runs rough and smokes for a couple of minutes. Once the truck has come up too normal temp it is fine. I had this problem a couple of years ago and took it too the Ford dealer and had them replace the CPS which at the time took care of the problem. It has started again so I purchased a CPS from the local parts store and that did not fix the problem. After doing some reading I found that with the local parts stores it was a crap shoot as too whether or not the CPS would be good. So I purchased one from the Ford dealer. I just put the new sensor in and that did not fix the problem. It did get rid of the rough idle issue I was having. I read somewhere that it could be the warm up valve on the engine that could possibly cause the issue. Unfortunately I have been unable too find this valve and try wiring it in the open position. I am also unsure if that would actually cause the issue. I would not normally care but I am a Volunteer Firefighter and when a call comes in I need too be able too get in the truck and go. Any help would be greatly appreciated.



Thank You
Chris Robinson
2000 F250 7.3l Power Stroke
 
The warm up valve is in the turbo exhaust housing but I dont think that it would cause that. I could be wrong.
 
Define warm up? Is there a difference with the way it behaves cold during summer vs now that it's cooling off? Do you have access to a scanner or a scan gauge? How long has this been going on?

Given the amount of stuff that has to be working correctly to simply get these motors to fire off, there's a lot to narrow down.

Welcome to CompD. You will probably get more feedback here, powerstrokearmy.com. It's the sister site to this place that has lots of good info and knowledgable folks, dedicated to Fords.
 
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You may have a low pressure oil pump going south. When the truck dies, watch the oil pressure gauge while cranking. If the truck starts when the oil pressure gauge comes up then you likely have a worn lpop.
 
When I say warm up I mean come up too operating temperature. It has been doing it on and off for the the last 6 months. Other than it taking it longer too warm up now that it is getting colder out, I do have a scan tool, well actually it is a programmer. It is the Diablo Sport I believe. How hard is it too replace the low pressure oil pump if it is the problem. Something tells me that I am going too have too remove the oil pan for that. I would not think that an oil pump would cause a stalling issue when the motor is cold, but I do not know alot about diesels. This is only my second one and the first one that is turboed.
 
It is not in the pan, it is bolted to the front of the motor and drives off the front of the crankshaft. The reason that it can cause it to stall is that there is oil setting the hpop res. that the truck starts on, but if the lpop is worn and does not get oil pressure up the res. quick enough it runs out of oil to feed the HPOP and thus the injectors have no pressure to fire off of. As far as removing it, we usually pull the radiator and fan assemblies to get them out of the way. Then you will need a harmonic balancer puller to remove it and the oil pump housing is held on by four bolts behind the balancer.
 
Hello phale, I started the truck tonight and ran it at about 1500 rpm until it stalled, only took about 3 minutes at the most. Just before it stalls it smokes and runs really rough and has absolutely no power. I then cycled the glow plugs and started too crank the motor over. The oil pressure came up and after about 5 seconds or so it was starting too fire but not starting. I recycled the glow plugs and turned it over again. The oil pressure held. Eventually the truck did start, started really hard and ran rough as all get out. So rough that the truck was twitching a lot. I appreciate all the help everyone. Really just gets too me knowing that my truck is not right at this point. Also I do not know if this helps but the truck only has less than 66000 miles on it.
 
Check your oil level. How many miles are on this oil change? What brand oil and what weight do you run?
 
Hello phale, I started the truck tonight and ran it at about 1500 rpm until it stalled, only took about 3 minutes at the most. Just before it stalls it smokes and runs really rough and has absolutely no power. I then cycled the glow plugs and started too crank the motor over. The oil pressure came up and after about 5 seconds or so it was starting too fire but not starting. I recycled the glow plugs and turned it over again. The oil pressure held. Eventually the truck did start, started really hard and ran rough as all get out. So rough that the truck was twitching a lot. I appreciate all the help everyone. Really just gets too me knowing that my truck is not right at this point. Also I do not know if this helps but the truck only has less than 66000 miles on it.

We really need to find you someone local to you to get the truck on a scanner or AE. You need to be able to see what the oil pressure really is, and what the High Pressure Oil Pump is doing to help narrow things down. In my mind with the info provided so far here's the rough list of things that could be going on;

1. Intermittent electrical issue, either a short, sensor issue, wiring issue, or ground.
2. Voltage issue with the batteries and/or alternator not charging enough to fire the injectors.
3. IDM is going bad.
4. LPOP is bad
5. HPOP is going south
6. ICP sensor is bad
7. IPR could be bad
8. Injector O rings could be due to be changed
9. Not getting fuel to the motor.
10. Back pressure flapper on the turbo could be stuck in the closed position (that wouldn't account for the starting/idling issue)

I'm sure others with their experience could add to the list. Getting the truck on a scanner and being able to see Oil Pressure, ICP, IPR duty cycle, among other things will be able to assist the members help you.
 
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If it started and ran for 3 minutes at 1500 then my theory of LPOP is busted. Most of the time they will crank and then immediately die.
 
You need to check fuel pressure, there is a plug on the back of the fuel filter that is a 3/16 allen head. take the plug out and have a auto parts store rig you a gauge to fit into the filter housing, if the fuel pressure begins to drop off as the truck begins dieing then I would look at replacing the lift pump on the frame rail.
 
Check fuel pressure... i just had one in the shop that would run real rough , shaking real bad . Checked fuel pressure an it barely had enough to run. The regulator was bad!
 
You need to check fuel pressure, there is a plug on the back of the fuel filter that is a 3/16 allen head. take the plug out and have a auto parts store rig you a gauge to fit into the filter housing, if the fuel pressure begins to drop off as the truck begins dieing then I would look at replacing the lift pump on the frame rail.

Lol! Looks like we posted at the same time...
 
First thing I would check is if the motor has oil. Then go from there. If there is no oil in the pan the lpop can't supply the hpop since it doesnt have enough oil. Sounds like that may be the issue. And if not then check your pressures of everything.
 
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