Diesel Questions and Problems in General (non specific makes)
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I'm surprised he even got the nozzle to fit the diesel filler neck.
Anyone out there that has any advice it would be much appreciated. I have been working on cars and trucks for a while so I know what to look for, but I have never seen anything like this.
Thanks much, take care.
There's really no other possibility.
Has anyone tested for combustion gases in your coolant?
Have you done a pressure test on the cooling system and looked for coolant on the glow plugs?
Is it an automatic? Have you checked the fluid for coolant intrusion?
Thanks for the help.
- Mark
(My problem turned out to be that cooling system had some air or something in it after I had done a routine coolant change. Added a half gallon and haven't lost a drop since.)
if not, drive it around until it' hot and then re-park it under the paper and shut it down and see what drips.
If you get no visible leak hot or cold, overnight or after a hard run, then you are burning it. There's no place for it to spill out in the radiator---the reservoir tank captures it, or should.
Most likely, you have a spot leak that may only be found during actual operation. I had one engine seal go that my master tech found only because he saw oil spots where they shouldn't have been on a crossmember... it never actually dripped on the ground.
In addition to Shifty's suggestions, you may need to get the truck in the air and "drive" it while someone observes.
kcram - Pickups Host
I am original owner '92 F350 7.3L diesel dually crew.... and never got a recall notice on the tranny many years ago.
Kept taking to dealer with complaints during warranty (they kept telling my no problem), until after out of warranty. Then said a computer chip needed to be replaced. A number of years later tranny problems continued, when to a private guy 3 different times. The last time was 11k miles ago, for an rebuild.
Over last 5 months have been redoing as much as possible, getting my old Black Beauty ready to haul a 13k trailer (@142k miles),,,, re-did just about everying except the tranny, thinking I had just had it done. The tranny blew the first day. I was very very fortunate that I broke down in Spanish Fork, AL near an incredible tranny shop. (The tranmission was smoking and probably close to catching on fire; the metal was "blued" it was so hot.) I found out that many many moons ago Ford put out a notice to fix/update a bunch of stuff on that transmission, and NONE of it had been done by either the dealer or the other tranny shop. (I had given copies of all the tranny work I had had done to the vehicle the the AL shop.)
Fortunately, the rest of my trip was uneventful, albeit a bit slow going up some of the steeper small mountains. Passed the tranny inspaction for the warranty on arrival at my destination.
I even blew the outside cover, basically everything between the drive shaft & the crank shaft. (The rangers who helped rescue me basically gave me a heads up on how bad it was before I was towed to the tranny shop.)
Anyone with a '92 7.3L really needs to find out if their updates were made on the tranny if you're going to do any towing, before a super expensive repair and getting stranded.
I can't believe Ford didn't send out a recall on this one - the tranny shop didn't have anything nice to say about the Ford dealer (based on the receipts) or the other tranny shop.
Here is the one possibly real benefit of biodiesel: "Biodiesel has excellent lubricating properties. Even when added to regular diesel fuel in an amount equal to 1-2%, it can convert fuel with poor lubricating properties, such as modern ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel, into an acceptable fuel."
http://www3.me.iastate.edu/biodiesel/Pages/biodiesel1.html
See
http://www.biodieselmagazine.com/article.jsp?article_id=2231
thanks jerry
Jim
I would test before replacing. I almost just replaced mine. After testing found all were good and that was over a year ago.
Jim
The big question is why am I not getting 18 MPG? Is there something I am missing?
Is there that much of a difference between engines? It does have a lot of power to tow the trailer. This last week towing the trailer I hand calculated the MPG and it was 10.2 MPG. The onboard computer showed 13.
Your reports on chips and K&N and fancy mufflers only confirms my skepticism that while these things might make the car run better they are not likely to increase fuel mileage.
kcram - Pickups Host
When I do mileage checks, I fill the tanks to the very top, so I have a consistent starting point.
I was wondering also if there was a difference in mpg in various states based on their fuel mixture or something. I pulled my 37' RV from FL to NM recently. In the hilly area of FL I was getting 11mpg when towing a lot of weight - which was pretty much consistent in the flat and hilly areas in FL over many years. The further west I went the worse the mpg got, with a low of 7.3mpg in western TX and across NM (I-10). I didn't think the short times I had to downshift for hill climbing would have affected the mpg. The hill country N of San Antonio and then west for a while required more downshifting (9mpg area), compared to W. Tx and NM, which seemed flatter with fewer steep hills/mountains.
I used to get 18mpg consistently in combined traffic (city/highway) until a few years back (16mpg). It's hard for me to imagine any p/u truck getting 18mpg towing a big rig.
I kind of agree with the other posters---in the final analysis, fuel mileage on this or that diesel truck is kind of "genetic"--it's going to get what it was built to get and driving habits are probably the best way to get any improvements.
Sure, if it were fully loaded with 10 tons and churning up a hill---yeah, that would eat up fuel, but for a pickup truck towing a trailer, once it got moving, I'm not surprised your MPG is close with or w/o the trailer. I'm sure that in traffic and stop and go, your MPG difference would be much more noticeable.
Thanks for all your input.
Thanks
What fuse or relay should I check. It have fuel and when I turn the key on I can hear the fuel pump/relay run.
I have disconnected the battery terminals twice to try and reset the moduel. Help!!!! :sick: :sick:
2. Open the vent valve (small screw) by turning the screw counterclockwise several full turns.
3. Operate the priming pump (pump it up and down with your palm) "> until a small amount of fuel seeps from the vent valve. allow the pump to return upwards between pumps. When fuel is present, the filter is full of fuel and the system should be primed.
4. Close the vent valve.
5. Clean any fuel which accumulated on the fuel filter.
6. Start the engine and allow it to idle for a few minutes.
7. Check the filter for leaks.