2002 F350 7.3

2002 7.3 diesel, 2WD, supercab, dually, 282,000 miles daily driver


I was not getting oil to feed the HPOP (high pressure oil pump). Either the LPOP (low psi) was not working, or the oil pickup in the pan broke off. Truck won't start until it has 500psi from the HPOP. It was snowing when we pushed the truck in the garage (slightly uphill). I have had other people replace the heads , injectors and pigtails for the injectors. They didn't clean the motor and the pigtail splicing is horrible. So I grew a pair and decided to do it myself.

I had to rearrange the garage to fit the truck in at an angle. Rolled the jeep outside and bagged the motor and trans on the rolling chassis.

Turns out the motor weighs 1000#. When we pulled it out of the truck, we were holding our breath when the weight was transferred to the engine stand. I had to use the hoist to lift on the crank pulley so I could turn the engine on the stand.

Found out the tolerances of the LPOP were too much(mounted on timing cover around crankshaft behind damper). Also the aluminum timing cover had grooves from the pump. The fan clutch was seized on the water pump. So I had to cut it off. $253/ water pump, $98/ fan clutch, $376/ front timing cover

I still have to check the engine wiring harness and sensor connectors. All my parts are ordered. The Ford parts man could not give a date for delivery for the timing cover. He told me that he knows of another customer that has been waiting more than one month for his cover.

What helps me in all this is checking a ford diesel forum almost everyday to learn about my truck.
That is also how I am learning about my CJ6 on this forum.

 

The injector wiring on the power stroke 7.3 is built into the valve cover gaskets. only way to replace any wiring is to replace the gaskets with the wires built in. Is this what you bought?

 

The low pressure oil pump on these engines can be replaced without pulling the motor. Remove the steering rods, fan, and radiator. Then you should be able to pull the cover easily. The pumps do fail occasionally but is fairly rare for them to just suddenly completely fail.
The high pressure oil pump (HPOP) has a small oil reservoir on the top front of the motor just in front of the HPOP that holds the oil supply for the HPOP. This reservoir has a small plug with an Allen head socket for filling with oil (about a quart). This reservoir has a pressure relief spring and check ball that keeps the oil from draining out and back to your crankcase. If this check valve sticks open the oil drain away and your HPOP will have no oil available to build its pressure to operate your injectors (will not start). I changed the check valve and all was good on mine.
Your low pressure oil pump must have suddenly and completely failed, if it was not supplying oil to this reservoir. When you reinstall your engine fill this reservoir with engine oil before trying to start it, will make starting much easier. Just saying if you have any problems with the new LPOP oil pump not building pressure or oil draining away from your reservoir check this valve. Good luck.

 

The replaced pigtail is for the engine harness to the driver side injectors. Instead of staggering the leads, they are all cut the same length and crimped, not soldered. They don't fit in the wiring harness.

 

I removed the HPOP and saw no oil pump to the reservoir while cranking. I even jacked the rear of the truck up 12" incase the pickup was cracked. I pulled the engine to check the pickup tube. I am glad I did because I even found small pieces of wire insulation stuck in the pickup tube screen. My oil is 15-40 synthetic. The engine is very clean. I am going to inspect and flush the block and oil passages. Who knows what else might be in there. The forum I check often is thedieselstop.com