7.3 injector swap advice needed

catfish

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2005
Location
asheboro
hi all. recently i posted that i had #8 injector go out on my '01 f250 powerstroke. i went ahead and ordered the injector. it was the "AE" long lead injector. when it gets here on friday, im going to do the swap. ive never done this before, so i read up as much as i could as well as watched several videos. im still a little nervous about a couple things in particular.
when i pulled the injector, there will be fuel and oil pouring into the cylinder and not getting it out can hydrolock the engine. whats the best way to combat this and avoid the hydrolock? also, before i pull the injector, a couple videos said pull the fuel rail plug or remove the oil plug in the valley. i this necessary when swapping just one injector?
oh and 1 more thing, anyone wanna come to my house and supervise? ill provide the beer..lol :p
 
Get some sort of suction device that can fit down the injector tip hole and suck the fuel and oil out. I don't pull any plugs. And yes it will hydrolock it for one cylinder. If you were closer I would stop by.
 
i have a small inline fuel pump i modified with a small hose that i use to change the oil in my hpop. its weak but it should do the job. would you recommend removing the oil in the hpop to alleviate the oil drainage?
 
I don't but it is a good idea to change it once in awhile anyway since it does not get circulated very good.
 
I use a meat injector & a 3/16 fule line to change the oil in my HPOP resv. kind of slow but ist works well.
 
so just pulling the oil out of the injector sleeve is enough? i dont have to pull the glow plugs and turn the motor over by hand or with the starter to blow it out also? i read that too.
 
it seems that as long as i get the fuel and oil out, the rest is easy. the injector is on its way. i already have it torn down, i just need to pull the old injector and suck the oil out of the glow plug hole and the injector sleeve. and turn the engine over to force out the remainder. so lets see, pull it out, suck it and get out the fluids....hmmmm think i may outsource this job:eek:
 
i like those. im just not too sure if im going to be keeping the truck. i really want my 4x4 back. who knows what ill do when i grow up.
 
ok everyone. here's the update. kinda strange, but here it goes. i replaced the injector and it started. (a success in every sense of the word) anyway, it smoked like crazy (i expected that) at the tailpipe it usually sounded like a gasser missing a spark plug with its sorta "lope" . this time, it sounded like a hairdryer. breathing freely like it should. i could actually hear the turbo a little. i let it run a few minutes. i shut it off to finish putting it back together. re-started and the fun was over in 5 minutes. LOPE LOPE LOPE...WHY???!!! it runs the same, smokes the same and has little power. is my new injector shot?
i think ill be pulling the valve cover again and checking. i did not change the wiring harness/valve cover gasket because it was in good shape. are the wires to the injector bad? a friend said that its possible with all the moving around of the wires i might have made a temporary connection and it just quit again. how do i check?
should i just "shit-can" the truck and buy a dodge? (LOLOLOLOLOL) sorry..momentary lapse of reason...what do i do next? drop it off at the shop? money is scarce these days.
 
Did you buy a single shot or double shot injector as the replacement? I know if it had doubles and you swap to singles, it'll run like crap.
 
omh the wires to all the injectors ( to check to harness )
were did you get your injector ???????? & did you check the cups??????????
 
If it's cups it will make oil. Have you checked the ipr? Is the icp good and not leaking any oil through the plug? If you have access to a scan tool you can run a cylinder contribution test to check them. If it ran good when you first started it up and now not so good double check the ucvh plugs on both sides.
 
Hope the injector didn't come from Pensicola Injectors.
 
injector came from accurate diesel in michigan. im going to the shop tomorrow to see if there are any codes not seen elsewhere. and do a buzz test
 
**UPDATE** went to shop and did a buzz test and read the codes. shop guy said he was 95% sure that it was uvch..went and got a new one and put it on. no real change. still smokes and lopes a little less. i think im just gonna sell it for about 5k and let it go. hate to but im about fed up with all the chasing around and not getting the results. money is tight and i cannot afford to take it to the shop for actual repairs. sell it or drive it till the wheels fall off. im DONE:wtf:
 
i forget the codes it read, but ill call and ask. buzz test showed all injectors were firing. the codes showed something about the 2,4,6 and 8 injectors which lead him to believe it was the harness. ill report back with the actual numbers shortly
 
catfish said:
i forget the codes it read, but ill call and ask. buzz test showed all injectors were firing. the codes showed something about the 2,4,6 and 8 injectors which lead him to believe it was the harness. ill report back with the actual numbers shortly
Click to expand...

if that is the case then it would not be the harness
what kind of scaner did they use?????????
 
dkrajcovic said:
if that is the case then it would not be the harness
what kind of scaner did they use?????????
Click to expand...

I agree that if all injectors are buzzing, then it shouldn't be a harness issue. Leave the harness hooked up, remove the valve covers and fire up the motor. Look at the oil dumps on each of the injectors and watch to see if all of them are "pumping" the same amount of oil. If one is pumping less or no oil, then you have found the culprit. Just keep in mind that if anyone ever removed or broke any of the oil deflectors this method has the potential to make a big mess!
 
when i originally started on this project, i pulled the valve cover off and fired it up. all oil appeared to be pumping just fine. i pulled each harness from individual injectors and #8 was the only one that did not seem to change how the engine ran. i replaced it for that problem but it made no difference. it smokes at start-up, it smokes at idle hot or cold. it smells of raw fuel at the exhaust, it has lost a lot of power when i pull anything heavier than a load of garbage on a 5x8 trailer, the fuel mileage has dropped to about 13-14 mpg on the hwy..im lost
 
Are you positive the copper compression washer on the bottom of the injector didn't fall off as you were carrying the injector to the truck or installing it? Or some crap possibly got in between the washer and injector cup during install and isn't allowing it to seal properly, allowing fuel by. May want to pull it back out, clean and inspect the cup real well and double check the washer. I realize it's one of the hardest injectors to get to, but consider yourself lucky you don't have a van.
 
thats a good idea nc-v. how do you tell if its seated properly? i judged it originally by the injectors beside it. maybe ill do it again. ill try it this week and get back to you. thanks again
 
I would look real close at the idm just for poops and giggles! We did a set of injectors in a 99 truck a few weeks back and had two bad from a reputable source. I may have over looked it but what type of fuel pressure do you have? Often number 8 will show a weak power balance with no mechanical issue at all. Sounds like you nailed it down to 8 you might get a o ring kit and switch it around with another. If the problem moves its injector, if it stays its wiring or compression issue.

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