2000 f-350 7..3
went to town and it was running fine, one time on the way it ran rough for just a bit.
went to wallyworld, and got our stuff. started back home and truck started running real rough and was lossing power. got to thinking fuel filter was stopped up and went to parts store and put one on it.
motor was really hammering bad cut it off and waited a bit the started it back up and tried to pull out of parking spot, no go no power and was hammering worse. call two truck and now i am trying to figure this out.
took filter cap off and had wife turn key on so could see if getting fuel to the bowl, filled up and overran in a few seconds. been told is maybe injector pump and/or injectors.

Was she "jumping"? Did you bleed the fuel line? How low was the fuel BEFORE you filled up? . . . one other question, did you smell anything burning?

3/4 tank of fuel in it, was filled up the day before, fuel looks clean and dry.
jumped some for sure

If you lost "go power" when in gear, possibly a tranny problem. Had a similar sounding problem in a '99 F250.

Likely injectors. A little tip for a cheap fix. Take the valve covers off, on top of the injector there is a poppet screw. This has a funky looking head like a reverse torx head, I can't remember the actual name of it, but it is often called a "Nintendo screw" because apparently the only thing that uses them are Powerstroke injectors and Japanese video games. It can be a bit of a pain to find a bit to fit it, probably have to order it, or you can grind the walls of 4.5mm socket real thin so they fit in the recess and sometimes get enough of bite with them to tighten the screw. But these screws have a habit of backing off when the injectors get some mileage on them, and when they do the injector doesn't pump fuel. tighten those down and it will inject fuel again. Had to do this to several of my injectors a couple times on my 94 7.3 It'll run on 7 cylinders, just a little rough and losing a little power, on six it gets great fuel mileage but it doesn't hardly have enough power to climb a hill and is real rough. Let me tell you on five cylinders it will about rattle you right out of the cab, and that is if you can get it to start!

A $.50 bit to tighten them poppet screws is a lot cheaper than $1500 for new injectors.

Sorry BC2, can't resist . . . "but it is often called a "Nintendo screw" because apparently the only thing that uses them are Powerstroke injectors and Japanese video games.

Is that the same thing as a knuter valve?

Check the plug ins under the valve covers. The original design of the plug ins were notorious for coming unplugged just a bit and loosing a whole bank of cylinders. Also check the plug ins on the outside of the valve covers also. The 99-03 trucks have a high pressure oil pump that relies on high pressure oil to fire each injector. Also check the oil level and let me know if it has went up on the dipstick. Check those items outs and report back and we can go from there.

The valve cover gaskets have wires running thru it for glow plugs and injectors or plug ins could be bad.$50.00 per side at rockauto

This

Diesels are such wonderful fun. First things first......don't start replacing things on a hunch, that'll get really expensive really fast. Dish it properly, and replace what's broke. You'll need proper tools, including a scan tool, to dish it properly. Check fuel pressure from the left pump, and check fuel pressure in the high pressure system....you'll need a scan tool for that. If it runs fine after sitting a while and gets progressively worse, you may have a torn o-ring on a fuel injector. It's a bit of a process to figure that out though. If it runs like crap when cold but gets better as it warms up, you may have a "sticktion" issue. They get gooped up, and there are various lotions and potions that you can run in your oil to try to fix it, the best did is to replace all the injectors though. You'll need a scan tool to perform a "buzz test", it clicks each injector and you can tell by the sound if they're okay or not.

will check it out in the morning

thanks guys

I never had that problem personally, but that is why I first pulled the valve covers. Heard of lots of people having that problem. When you pull the valve covers check both the plug ins and the poppet screws.

If the oil level goes up. Don't drive it! It is dumping either diesel or antifreeze in the oil.

I’m wondering what you are calling the poppet screw. The only screws I’m aware of are the four that holds the solenoid to the injector. Then there is the small bolt that holds the oil deflector on. Are you talking about the four screws under the solenoid that hold the injector body together? Maybe it was just on the 94 model trucks. I’ve had several of the 99-03 trucks and I swore I’d never buy another one of the junk pos but low and behold I got a good deal on a 96 crew cab long bed 4x4 so I’ll be in the same boat again.

Low on oil will shut em down as well. Those valve cover gaskets suck and go south when unplugged part way from arcing.

On top of the motor block there is a yellow valve handle to drain water. I would try that first.

Ive had it happen on everyone of the 7.3’s I’ve owned. International/Ford re-engineered the new ones to solve this problem. The last set I bought was about 85.00 a side buts it’s been a few years. Never tried the aftermarket ones.

Have somebody turn key on while you listen to the injectors cycle. If one side cycles and the other side is quiet, then the quiet side has come un plugged.

Happened to mine two weeks ago. My driver's side was shut off, driver's side is the easier of the two to fix.

Gaskets you can get at napa or advance, with wires or without.

Change the oil, new oil and filter. Power stroke is a HEUI engine. It uses high pressure oil to accomplish the injection. Dirty oil and they will run rough. May not solve the problem, it many times it does. Get a infrared thermometer and look at the exhaust manifold runners where they bolt to head. A bad/not firing injector will show cold compared to a properly running cylinder. Same can be done with welders heat chalk on the runners. 250’degree chalk will work. Try to identify where the problem is before tearing things apart.

I have a 2000 7.3. Lost track of miles hauling hay in last fall. Started knocking and acting up. Checked shop books and it was way overdue. Changed oil, doing perfect again. Also, I use nothing but Rotella 15w40.

mine did this it was the turbo ,

I would check the oil level. If that is good I would do as others said and change the oil (unless you just did this). Then I would look at the more expensive things. My money would be on the oil level too low to work the hpop or too dirty to work the hpop.

You said hammering heck I thought that's how diesel motors all sounded.

I never had that problem personally, but that is why I first pulled the valve covers. Heard of lots of people having that problem. When you pull the valve covers check both the plug ins and the poppet screws.

If the oil level goes up. Don't drive it! It is dumping either diesel or antifreeze in the oil.[/quote]
I’m wondering what you are calling the poppet screw. The only screws I’m aware of are the four that holds the solenoid to the injector. Then there is the small bolt that holds the oil deflector on. Are you talking about the four screws under the solenoid that hold the injector body together? Maybe it was just on the 94 model trucks. I’ve had several of the 99-03 trucks and I swore I’d never buy another one of the junk pos but low and behold I got a good deal on a 96 crew cab long bed 4x4 so I’ll be in the same boat again. [/quote]


the poppet screw goes through the armature plate (square w/ grooves). The screw head can be tightened with the infamous 'nintendo tool'.



If you take the valve cover off and start the truck, injectors should squirt oil. The inj requires a signal to move oil. The poppet valve is a 2 way shuttle valve-- the solenoid receives a signal and its magnet pulls the armature and valve up, then releases it, pushing the valve back down. The oil you see is the 'exhaust' from the work it does during the injection event.

Aargh! That is in reply to Ohiowoodchuck, the quote work right.

Ok I know what screw your talking about. The reason it needs adjusted is because the injectors are wore out and need replaced. People adjust them and get a little more life out of them. Ford will tell you there a 250,000 mile injector but there not. With today’s oil your lucky to get 75,000 out of a set. I quit running rotella oil a long time ago.

Let’s us know what you did to get it fixed. Thanks. MD

While you are in there looking for stuff dont forget to check the oil and look in the coolant bottle, check coolant for oil or diesel. Pop the intake hose off at the turbo and try to move the wheel in and out. up and down is ok and look at the wheel to see if its messed up. Those trucks had a bad stock airbox that would break and let dirt in. Unless it has an aftermarket or homemade one on it.

I run Rotella T6 full synthetic in my 2000 Excursion. It has over 280,000 miles and, knock on wood, I haven't had any injector or wire harness problems. I have always heard it will start being a little harder to start, as kind of a warning they are going bad. Rather than just leaving you walking all of the sudden. I hope that's the case.

Did yours give you any warnings before it shot craps cotton?

I bought my new injectors from full force diesel and a chip. They sent me one injector that was bad and knocked out one side of the injectors. talked to them on the phone a bunch of times, replaced a couple parts that they said would fix it because they said it wasnt their injectors fault. They wanted me to have it towed to a shop and get it fixed but they were not willing to pay. I ended up swapping the the injectors from pass side to drivers side figuring out the issue. I also made a high pressure oil gauge and saw no pressure on the bank that wasnt working. I cant remember now how I figured out which one it was but they sent me a new injector after i sent them the bad one back. No call back at all to see if my truck was running good after that and they wouldnt give me any $ for diagnosing the issue or for all the new injector o rings i replaced.
So if it is injectors dont use full force diesel!!!!

With the old injectors it would smoke on startup and not start when its cold. Had to cycle the glow plugs a couple times or keep it plugged in.

didn't get to work on it today, will try again tomorrow.
gonna pull all the air cleaner and intake plumbing off then maybe pull the valve covers off and see what it looks like.
did check the oil today and it's right where it should be.
only warning it gave was running a bit rough now and then on the 18 mile trip to town.
dang truck only has 296000 miles on it

Still has some life in it, mine has 480,000

I would check HPOP and lines.

Cotton pull value covers and remove all glow pugs and crank it look for fuel in a mist injector is good liquid its bad. Start there some good videos to watch is diesel Ron on YouTube.

Cotton, check your PMs.

might be the cam shaft senor

Cam sensor going bad on mine made it die and then possibly start up again and then die.
But they are $30 and go out often. Buy one and throw it in the glove box, i think u need an 8mm socket. front of the engine, 5 min job along side a busy highway rush hour pulling a camper!

Is the check engine light on?

No sir it never came on.

This.

I think it is a 10mm though. Course it is possible the size of the bolt head changed on different years

The camshaft sensor causes a no start when hot and usually when they cool off they will start back up. Not a fan of the aftermarket ones. The seem to get interference from the windshield wipers and cause a stumble or die.I don’t think I ever got a cel on when the valve cover harness came unplugged. I very rarely ever got a cel when a injector went bad. It takes 30 minutes to have both valve covers off where you can see the plug and if it’s loose or not. Another problem could be the ipr valve but I would start with the valve cover harness. You have to unbolt them them to know.

should be able to get the driver's side cover off tomorrow. got to work on it a bit today and will get back after it tomorrow after turkey hunting/mushooming

Any luck cotton?

been down a few days with the danged bad head aches, hope to get back to work on it tomorrow.
it wont start now so thinking is a fuel system booger

Any updates?Curiosity killing me!!!

Still fooling with it.
Tried to start it today, thinking maybe is air in fuel system. Will do more checking tomorrow.
Any know how to do the buzz test on the injectors?

Your high pressure oil pump ok Cotton? There is a sensor in there that will kill the engine and not let it start too.

I cycled fuel pump many times today, trying to get all the air out from putting a filter in it. It did start and ran really rough for a minute.

I cycled fuel pump many times today, trying to get all the air out from putting a filter in it. It did start and ran really rough for a minute.

When my high pressure oil pump went bad the check engine came on.Cotton doesn’t have check engine light but never know.

I have learnt one thang for sure. Is alot goes into making a powerstroke stroke.

To do a buzz test you need a scan tool.

is what i figured, them scanners are too spendy..

"I cycled fuel pump many times today, trying to get all the air out from putting a filter in it. It did start and ran really rough for a minute."

So did the problem show up right after changing the fuel filter?

If so I would definitely check to make sure the filter gasket ring didnt roll or kink. Also check and make sure filter housing cap didnt cross thread or go on crooked.

no it started running really rough on the 18 mile trip to town, i figured a filter couldn't hurt and put one on it at the parts store, things went down hill from that point on.
truck would start but man it was running dang rough and sounded like was gonna fly apart. shut it off and called a tow truck. after sitting in the driveway a few days tried starting and no joy. now will start but only runs a minute or less then dies.

Junk in the gas tank?

We had one that it was an issue with the high pressure oil pump, and never would throw any codes, and finally had to take it in to figure it out, turned out it was the hpop.

Look into the Forscan software, you can download it for free. Then get a obd adapter either Bluetooth or wired (Amazon)
This will allow you to do the “buzz” test.

cycled the fuel pump 3 times and didn't try to crank it over prob 4 times yesterday and she did started and run late in the day!!
ran pretty rough tho.sounds like i got at lest one injector not working, going to try doing the same deal today and crank it over later. still got most of the intake plumbing off so can pull a valve cover off if need to.

I'm not a diesel mechanic but years ago at work we had big problems with the sales powerstroke truck dying unexpectedly. Turns out the low sulphur diesel while it sits in tanks can grow bacteria that eventually plugged the filter(s). If you fueled up at a station that has sold low sulphur diesel and never had the underground tanks pumped, cleaned, the fuel filtered an put back in the tank with a biocide added you my have picked up junk in YOUR fuel tank. Not saying that's the problem, but if it flows through a filter until it plugs shut it's already made it to the engine.

Cotton pull both values covers and pull all your glow plugs and get someone to crank it over if you get liquid you have a bad injector.

figure i will end up doing just that travis, trying real hard to dogde it tho
can't see putting just one injector in it and a set of em is danged spendy

How’s that going to tell anything. Now you got a 1/8 diameter hole in the cylinder. The pistons won’t be able to compress the fuel. So diesel fuel is just going to blow out the holes. If you can get the truck running, you can look at the oil deflectors. If oil is coming out, usually the injector is good. A few members and myself mentioned the wiring harness under the valve covers and he still hasn’t checked it yet. It’s not going to fix itself. You have to take a few things apart to see what’s wrong with. If he had a scanner and could do a buzz test it would tell if it it’s unplugged or not.

Yup. Cotton, it isn't a big deal to take the valve cover off, and that is what you are going to have to do. You are going to cuss the one bolt in the back next to the firewall on each valve cover, but you can get it off without a problem it is just tedious. If it wasn't for that bolt it wouldn't take five minutes to pull a valve cover and then you could work on figuring out what is wrong

Any updates? My 96 7.3 has all it can do to get to 55 in about a mile stretch. Showing check engine light but haven’t takin in yet.

The best thing you can do for those older 7.3 Diesels ,the ones in good running condition, is put a Turbo Down pipe on them. The factory one is flat shaped.
Put a Banks Down pipe and it wakes those Garret turbos right up. She will Accelerate good then.

What's the transmission cooler look like on one of those ?
Saw some upgrade to aftermarket types on the Ford. !7" high x 34" wide Trans coolers!
How much payload can the truck handle ?

got forscan to work and buzz tested the injectors, all 8 sung out loud and proud.
it did show a code for the ecm and i got on to put on it tomorrow. truck will start but it's missing pretty bad.

Bent push rods? Seen that lots on them.