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I took it in 5K ago and the dealer replaced the turbo boost sensor. This helped some but did not really get it back to the original power level. I've returned it twice since. Their diagnostics find nothing wrong. All filters have been replaced. I switched to Motocraft oil because of an apparent problem of oil frothing that can occur using Rotella. The turbo is putting out 15 psi. This dealer does not have a dyno (and it's the only one around). I don't know if Ford or anyone uses them anymore. So their diagnosis is based on computer reports of fuel flow and who-knows-what-else. I'm going to take their service guy out for a road test today.
The engine has 3 months left on the 5 year warranty. I'd really like to get it fixed before then. Any suggestions out there?
Anyway, 15 psi sounds like it could be a little low on the boost. But since I don't have a boost gauge on mine, I couldn't say for sure. You might try disconnecting the wastegate line on top of the turbo. If for some reason the wastegate is opening early, that would bleed off boost and make the engine seem weaker. You said your's is an auto and the '99 models didn't have a cat on the auto, does your's? If so, it could be that it is plugged and not allowing the exhaust gasses to flow freely.
Beyond any problem with the engine, does the truck roll freely? Could there be something dragging giving you the symptom of a weak engine?
I went on the test drive with the service tech from Ford. He agreed there was a lack of power (small but noticeable). Not surprisingly, he was not as concerned about it as me. We made an appointment to dig further into it starting next week.
He says 16 psi is what they like to see from the turbo – I don’t know if the 15 psi I’m getting is close enough. We are at 6500’ elevation – which may be another factor.
I will try your suggestion about disconnecting the wastegate line on the turbo. I think you’re onto something there because of the way the motor behaves. The drop in power seems most noticeable just after an upshift. For example, if I floor it from a stop, the truck accelerates pretty well through the first 2 gears. When it shifts into 3rd the power seems to disappear. I’m still accelerating, but that ‘kick in the pants’ jump is just not there. You know – the one that puts a big smile on your face. The turbo should be pretty well spooled up by this point.
I don’t have a boost gauge either – which is too bad because that might be all that’s needed to diagnose the problem. The 15 psi figure is just what the service guys tell me from their tests.
On your other suggestion, I’ll need some help. I don’t know what a ‘cat on the auto’ is.
I think the truck is rolling freely, but that’s certainly something I’ll re-inspect.
Our Ford service manager told me about the Rotella problem. He claims to have personally fixed over a dozen Powerstrokes that were running poorly by changing the oil from Rotella to (what else) Motocraft. We tried this in mine because, why not? If you can solve a problem that cheaply, it’s worth a try. Didn’t work but I’ve got nice clean oil in my motor. This was news to me because I’d always heard that Rotella was the best oil out there.
Thanks again for your expertise. It is appreciated.
Like I said before, I don't know how many pounds of boost mine is making, but the reason for the comment is that I've been told by some very reputable diesel tuners that this Powerstroke and its turbo are capable of around 25psi without doing any damage to the engine or turbo. Turbo speed is entirely dependant on engine speed and how much fuel you're dumping into the engine. As you upshift through the gears, the turbo will slow down as the engine slows, that is very noticable in my 6-speed. Once you get into 3rd gear, the trucks overall gearing won't allow the engine to spin up as fast as it did in 1st and 2nd gears. Does that "kick in the pants" acceleration ever come back in 3rd gear? Mine comes back at around 65 mph, or around 2k rpm's.
The "cat on the auto" comment is my way of abbreviation. I apologize for that. What I am referring to is that your truck with its automatic transmission probably doesn't have a catalytic convertor on it - I know the '99 auto's didn't while the 6-speeds did, I don't know if the same held true for the '00 model year. I just don't see how a catalytic convertor could possibly keep from plugging up given all the particulates in diesel exhaust. My dealership refers to that "cat" as a resonator. That's how I got a local muffler shop to take mine off, that and the fact I had a Ford replacement pipe with the "Ford" stickers all over it.
I just had a light bulb go off in my head!!! Do you know what the exhaust backpressure valve is? Ask your tech to make sure it's not stuck in the closed, or semi-closed, position. That valve is located on the outlet side of the turbo and will definitely keep it from spooling up as it should. However, with you making 15psi of boost, chances are it's not stuck.
I've always considered Rotella to be among the best as well, that's why I use it. I have worked for a large trucking company, that's how I got turned on to Rotella. Several of their trucks went over 1 million miles without an overhaul, while none ever went under 750k miles. I'm wondering if the problem your dealer noticed is due to extended oil change intervals. I've never tried this due to the relative low cost of an oil change versus the high cost of a rebuild, but I've been told that the additive package in any oil will slowly break down as the engine is running, eventually getting to the point where the package is no longer effective. I'm a member of another website consisting of over 30,000 Powerstroke owners. The subject of oil has come up numerous times. The only referances to oil foaming that I can think of now have been due to either going too long between changes or putting too much oil in the engine. I just don't know. Use whatever good quality diesel rated oil you want. Just make sure that it is DIESEL RATED.
I'm just a diesel owner trying to help another diesel owner. I have no formal training, just what I've taught myself and picked up from other experts. So please, don't call it expertise. Just take it for what it's worth, free advice/suggestions from someone you've never met.
Colorado D
Maybe in the back of your mind, your subconscience is telling you to trade that one in on a new 6.0 liter. Hehehehehe!!!!
Like the subject says, diesel newbie here, so put up with me for a bit.
Looked at a '99 F250SD CC 4X4 Lariat 7.3 PSD auto trans on Monday. Read posts in this forum all night after that (whew!). Finally drove the beast a couple hours ago. I must own one of these rigs! It has 90k on it and has been used as a 5th wheel hauler. I live in Central Oregon, and know this truck was first sold in Portland, OR. so I am assuming most of these miles are freeway. (To get _anywhere_ from Central Oregon is a good freeway trip)
Truck appears to have been well cared for. Very clean, no dings here and there. Leather interior, no tears, nothing missing or broken. Owners manual is there, sounds good when running, great brakes, throttle response seems good but am used to gasser trucks.
What else should I look for/at? I am fairly confident in my truck buying "sense", but like I said, all previous trucks have been gassers. I have read that there are several fixes from the early 99 to late 99 models (this is a late 99), I can't get any info from the dealer as to the maintenance that has been done (anti-cavitation, tranny service, etc.) would any of this be apparant to a trained diesel mechanic?
I am seeing the dealer again this Saturday to (find out if I can afford) sign papers/close deal. If any of you guys have input or suggestions I would sincerely appreciate it. Regardless, I was happy to find this forum. No bashing, no "idiot" calling, just happy truck owners... I love it!
BTW, my current truck is a '97 Chevy Silverado extended cab 4x4 SB Z71... The best I've owned (so far) out of 3 F150's of various years, a '72 Courier (don't knock it, it did 125k _hard_ miles) and a '59 Chevy Apache (not in this class at all, I know but had to mention it)
Happy truckin'!
-C
I bought mine with 80k miles on her and haven't had any problems whatsoever, well I've had an ongoing injector problem caused by bad fuel with water in it. But that was my fault, not Ford's.
So where I'm at is hoping one or more of the injectors fail in the next couple of months so that they can be replaced before the warranty is up. The other alternative is to up the ladder (pitching a fit on each rung) until I get somewhere. I’m tempted to go to an independent shop, get it fixed, and give my dealer the bill. This would probably end up in court. I’m not the litigious type, but it may be the last resort in this case.
Judging from these forums, there is a comprehensive roster of people with this same engine who are ecstatically happy with it – and almost all have many more miles than me.
The story continues
If everything does check out ok, I'd just go buy a chip or a tuner for your truck. Even a very mild chip will put your performance beyond what it was originally. You can go that route for under $500. Just don't get carried away with a chip or tuner. You can get them with as much as 150hp, but I wouldn't suggest it. If you go that route, you'll need to do intake and exhaust modifications and add a pyrometer(measures exhaust gas temperatures), boost gauge and tranny temp. gauge. You can run a milder chip or tuner without any of these mods. By milder I mean 50hp to 75hp. I'm running a 75hp Western Diesel chip in mine. The change from stock was unbelievable! But, as a precaution, I don't immediately shut down the truck after high-speed running or after towing. I'll let it idle for a few minutes to make sure the turbo has cooled down. Turbo temps are your biggest concern with a chip or tuner.
I see they copied Banks with the 4" power elbow &
4" exhaust..I sold an '02 Excursion with 7.3 PS
and I added the Banks 4" power elbow and 4"
exhaust to get 25 more HP..the 6.0 comes with it.
You don't need to add a thing to what you have..
Thanks for any insight.
Give us a little bit more to go on....The Superduty line runs the gamut from the F250 thru the F-550. What kind of truck are you thinking of?
You can get a PSD in many different types of trucks. It can come in a Regular cab, Short Bed, Single Rear Wheel, 2wd pickup, along with all of the different variants all the way up to a Crew Cab, Dual Rear Wheel, 4x4, Chassis cab, with a 10ft long body.......
You can also select it with a 3.73:1 or 4:10 rear axle ratio in the F250/F350. You can get 4:30:1, 4:75:1, or even higher in the F450 and above.
All of these choices change the weight, size, and available power of the truck and have a direct affect on the fuel mileage.
That said - folks with smaller trucks have reported as high as 20 mpg on the highway. While the bigger trucks with the higher gear ratios report 10-14 mpg on average,
JN
On another note, I would like to maximize my fuel economy. Most of the performance chips focus on increasing power.. This does not interest me. Are there chips that increase economy? I do not want to make any serious hardware changes.
thanks again.
Thanks again
Now, you take an F-350 in single rear wheel trim with it's 9,900lbs gross weight rating and it's a completely different ballgame. The two seem identical, but they're not. My F-350 dually has a gross weight rating of 11,200lbs. I have put a measured 2,550lbs of soybean seed in mine and can tell you it put the rear bumper even with the front bumper.
If money isn't a problem for you, I'd trade that 250 in on a 350 dually. If you're in the habit of hauling around that much weight on a regular basis that would be the best thing to do. My other suggestion is to add either helper springs or airbags to help keep the truck level when it is loaded. Airbags would probably be the way to since they won't affect your trucks ride when empty.
PF Flyer
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But pf_flyer, you're right. Anytime you put that much of the trucks total capacity in it, it's gonna set it down.
F250 is a great truck, but in the '98 thru-'04 models it has surprisingly limited payload and towing ability for its size. As noted in previous posts, the older F-250;'s GVWR (Gross vehicle weight rating) is only 8800lbs. As you add features, i.e. bigger cab, diesel engine, etc. the truck gets heavier but the GVWR doesn't increase. Get a crew cab, 4x4, diesel, and you may not be able to legally carry more than about 1200 lbs of payload. This can limit your ability to tow a 5'ver or a goose-neck trailer that puts a fair portion of its weight on the truck..... If you need more payload, then consider an F-350 - for about $700 more, you gain about 1200-1500 lbs more payload capacity over the single rear wheel F250. '05 F250 has been redesigned - has ~9500 lbs payload so above isn't as important.
As engines go, it depends on your needs - if the truck's a regular cab short bed - the 5.4L V8 is fine. If you've got a Crew Cab, long bed, then you may find the truck to be rather sluggish and you may be better off with a V10. If you tow heavy all the time then maybe a diesel is the engine for you. Diesel will give better mileage over gas engines, just has more maintenance and driveablity issues.. If you buy used, the 7.3: Powerstroke Diesel is a great engine and had all its kinks worked out by 2000-2002 model years. Watch out for the '03 6.0L Powerstroke - lot of birthing pains with that new engine - you could get stuck with someone else's used Lemon. Ford fixed most of the 6.0L engine issues in late '03.
By and large, Superduty F250s are superb trucks and will handle lots of work and abuse. Regardless of what you read in these forums, they are well built and for most folks are relatively trouble free.
The latest developments are thus: I took our dealers’ designated diesel tech for a test drive with a 9000 lb trailer attached. Without admitting any problem, he said he would set up an appointment with the Ford traveling troubleshooting guy. I assume this is some kind of PS expert. The tech told me (while away from the shop) that Ford tries to blame everyone but themselves in these situations. They start with fuel and oil, and then move on to the owner, other service shops, etc. I wanted to post this message for those out there not aware of this. I must be a little naive for not knowing this before.
On a related subject, I bought a new Dodge D3500 Cummins 2 weeks ago. It is to be a replacement work truck for my F250. The reason I bought a Dodge is because of my tribulations with Ford. I’ll be able to offer a comparison between these trucks given time.
There is real value in hearing the comments of those who have owned more than one type of diesel truck. How about it? Anyone around who has owned a Ford, Dodge, and Chevy? It seems like one brand owners are always happy with their trucks. I always wonder how much of this satisfaction is due to the natural tendency to justify ones’ choices. Any impartial consumer of all three trucks out there?
You won't be going anywhere once temperatures get down below freezing......
Have you tried cycling the glow plugs two or three times before you try to start it? Here's something you can check in the drive, it'll only take a few seconds, BUT YOU HAVE TO BE CAREFUL! Pop the hood, then turn the key to activate the glow plugs. With the key still on, find the glow plug relay, which is on the top of the motor behind the fuel filter housing, there are two large diameter wires attached to it. In fact, it will resemble a starter solenoid. NOW THIS IS THE PART WHERE YOU HAVE TO BE CAREFUL. The terminals should be HOT. If they're not, most likely the glow plugs aren't working. I inadvertantly touched my relay one day while checking something else and it gave me a nasty little burn.
I would tell you to use a voltmeter to check for voltage going to the plugs, but since I don't know what that voltage is supposed to be, I would only be guessing. There are some high voltage circuits under your hood.
Thanks
If you buy a '250 gasser, I believe you can get a 4.30:1 rear end with the limited slip option. That'd get you the most low end grunt to move loads.