Strange engine problem with a 7.3 in an E450

[ahp691]

I have posted about this before in september but no one had any suggestions.
the problem started this past summer. it was real hot outside and while driving the truck it lost power started skipping and smoked blue smoke and died. I had it towed. when it arrived at the shop it started fine and ran fine. no codes. they replaced the cam sensor. It did it the following week. lossed power smoked. but idled fine just wouln'd wind up. had it towed. ran perfect when they got it. they kept it a week idleing in their lot. I took it and ran it. 2 weeks later not so hot outside, it started acting funny, when my employee dropped it off at my shop i jumped in and drove it up towards the mechanics shop.when i got there it was showing a code of low oil pressure to the head. they replaced the sensor for the oil pump that boosts the oil pressure for the injectors. about 2 more weeks later it started to do it again i took it to their shop. its an uphill ride a couple of miles so i had it floored the whole way. at the top of the hill is his shop. it started losing power and smoking near the top of the hill. it rolled in to the parking lot running on about 4 cyclinders and died. I ran in and got their diesel mechanic. he jumped in and it fired right up and ran good. No codes, but he says your low on fuel. i looked at the gauge and said no there is 10 gallons left when the gauge shows that level. they put 5 gallons in it and tested stuff and found nothing. he did comment on how inconsisant the readings are. i took it to the gas station and it took 40 gallons showing yes it did have 10 gallons in it. (55 gallon tank)
I talked with another owner his is an F450 he said your running out of fuel, he described the noises and the smoke exactly. So, how can this thing be running out of fuel with 10 gallons in it. is the fuel pump in the tank, or is there a pickup in there than can be screwed up.
next question. I got in the truck to move it tonight, it was cold, the truck was running rough, after i moved it to a new spot in the yard i noticed the overdrive off light flashing. what does this mean. i restarted the truck and the overdrive off light stayed off.
this e450 has 38,000 miles on it. it is a 2001.
this past summer it I have had the transmission rebuilt and this engine problem. ANY IDEAS?

 

[ahp691]

PS the truck made 3 trips from CT to vermont about 105 miles one way at around 75-80mph with no problems 2 weeks ago.

 

[ahp691]

P PS when we had the low oil pressure code we changed the oil thinking a previous shop may have put in 5W30 but that was proven wrong. we run 15W40 in it

 

[DaveBen]

That is a strange one. I would check your filter, but I am sure that was done. Put a fuel pressure gauge (a real one) on it and see if the pressures follow the bad performance. Just a guess.

Dave

 

[95_stroker]

So does this Van only act up on the lower 1/4 of the fuel tank?

 

[BBBxcursion]

Do you have the ability to monitor what's going on with the engine while this is happening? If you had a scanner of some sort it would help. Look at the HPOP when this is happening, watch the pulse widths on the injectors, watch for any inconsistant reading while this is happening. The fact that the shop left it idling for a week shows a lack of diagnostic skills. It's the "let me throw this part on a see if it fixes it" strategy. You need to find someone that knows how to fix a problem and uses there brain. Once you watch what's going on, the problem will be obvious. There will be a code stored for the OD light blinking, just have them pull that up on a scanner. Does it matter if the engine is cold or warm? Find a repair technician, not a parts hanger.

 

[ahp691]

Hi Everyone, I don't know yet if the problem only happens when low on fuel, no one noticed yet. The last time I had it at the shop when they thought it was out of fuel, they pluged their scanner in and looked at the fuel pulses, he drove it ( after putting in 5 gallons) with the scanner pluged in, of course it didn't do it then but that is when he commented about the inconsistences. He did say that the fuel injectors were working right. right now I am just keeping it well above a quarter tank of fuel and see what happens, maybe in a few weeks if nothing happens I will run it down below a quarter and see if it happens.
Your Right BBBxcursion, This shop is supposed to very good with diesels, Highly recommended by a lot of diesel owners. All the local ford dealers around here are lacking in trouble shooting skills. I may have to bring it to the big International dealer in Hartford CT.

 

[BBBxcursion]

Keep the fuel level up and see what happens. Might need to drop the fuel tank to see what's going on in there. If you continue to have problems, a better repair shop is a good idea. You said you had a low oil preasure code, but what code exactly was it? Was he watching the HPOP also? If you have a scanner while this is happening, you've got a great chance to see what's going on. I don't recall if you can get a freeze frame in the ECM when the code appears?? This will show the code plus all the engine data. I've done it on a bunch of Fords before, but never needed to on my Excursion. What scanner were they using on your van?

 

[ahp691]

I don't know the exact code they had, they said low oil pressure that feeds the injectors, they were suspecting either the oil pump on top of the engine or the sensor. since the pump is over $1000 they changed the sensor.They have not charged me for it. they are waiting to see what happens. I am looking into getting a scanner myself. I want one I can use on this truck and my 04 dodge diesel. but i think the ford is Odb2 and the dodge is odb3. I am looking at the autotap but I think they only do odb2

 

[powerboatr]

during the event when it was pumping blue smoke, did it rattle, injector rattle i mean, like a srping bouncing in a tin can?
sounds like you are
A. loosing hpop pressure, why ???
and loosing fuel pressure, either through a bad or weak pump, or a bad fuel pick up allowing air entry into the fuel system when she is low on fuel . Ford recomended keeping at least a 1/4 tank, espcecially in cold climates, but it was summer , however. I have had my 02 run like she was running out of fuel and get noisy injectors at 1/4 tank.
i would suspect as its a 2001 but has low miles,
A. fuel tank is full of crud that is blocking th efule pickup, causing it to draw fuel from the bypass thing in the fuel pickup or a cracked or loose fitting on the duck baffle thingy.
B. Fuel filter full of crud
C. HPOP oil pressure sensor ( which you changed)
HPOP reservior full of dirty grimy oil, most folks never drain the hpop reservior.
Get a little hand vacum pump and suction th eres, till its empty and look at the oil you get. I bet its nasty.
and if your truck only has 31k on it and its a 2001 employee driven truck, i would bet a dr.pepper its driven hard and not allowed to cool down before getting shut off, and the oil gets very diry between changes.
and the great injectors probably leak down when shut off and it adds to oil dilution.
these are just my opinions it could be something else completely
sorry about the typos, spell check wont work at work