2002 F250 diesel - discovery and build thread.

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Yes to a "how to fix this".

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

The fact that it's running strong and doesn’t seem to need anything more major than a set of tires is all positive in my book.

Doodys will take an absolute beating and keep running. The older ones really impress me at times, and it seems like the only times they give up are after bad enough accidents or rust.

I have to give the ones I've had credit. With the exception on one very bad first year DEF (2102? can't remember) one I had, they're troopers.

I give the current 2011 one a lot of sh*t, but it deals with a lot of crap and keeps going.

 

[scotts90ranger]

That "fuel related thing" in front of the fuel filter is the reservoir for the high pressure oil pump, if the leak is in that area there are two fuel lines on the dealy behind the high pressure oil pump on the drivers side where it splits to the two heads, they have quick release fittings in those years I believe so have O rings which are probably fried, not too bad...

Mystery wires are fun, when I ripped the dash apart on the '97 Ranger to put in the tach cluster I found the remnants of an alarm that conveniently wasn't hard to remove... when I pulled the drivers side seat out of the F350 I found some green LED strip lighting that someone put in at one point... there's still some wires that I need to pull out of that thing but I'll get there... one fun one is the air bag gauge back lighting, it comes on with the headlights but goes out with when you step on the brakes, not sure how they managed that one

 

[Curious Hound]

Ok. It seems to be cold-natured. I started it up to put it on the driveway so I can mow the lawn. Seems to run rough cold, as if one cylinder is missing. Still doing it after several minutes. But temp gauge had just batelt started coning off the low end. I put some injector cleaner in the fuel when I filled up the other day. I'll run that a while and see it it helps.

Also, 2 new things. When I started it this time, the odometer didn't light up. And the OD off indicator is blinking today. That's new. Maybe I disturbed something while digging around under the dash yesterday.

 

[bilbo]

I'm glad you found one! In my experience most diesels are a bit tougher to start in the cold. When I first got mine it sounded like a drag car with blower surge for about a minute when I started it cold (near-zero temps). I adjusted the timing and it helped a lot. I think timing is all taken care of by the computer in yours, right?

When I replaced my fuel filter, I prefilled it with straight injector cleaner. I read about it in another forum; the idea is you run it for a little bit so the lines and injectors are full of cleaner and let it sit to hopefully dissolve crud. I don't know if this process would apply to the PSD, but maybe something to look into.

Another place to look is the glow plugs. I know they're a somewhat common issue in the IDI trucks and when a couple quit working it's harder to start cold. Also, the IDI guys say to use only Motorcraft brand glow plugs as the others swell over time. If it gets too bad the tip breaks off when you try to remove them. I remember a couple of mine being bulged. Not sure any of that applies to the PSD.

Good luck with your wiring. I lucked out on my used stuff so far being mostly unmolested. I did have to redo the trailer plug socket on my F250 this weekend and cut out a lot of those cheesy knockoff Scotch-Lok splices. It used to belong to a salesman for a trailer company and was used to pull a trailer to trade shows and stuff. It's an XL, the only options are AC and a radio, and he said he had to beg his boss for those. The brake controller pooped out on me towing our trailer full of stuff when we moved from ND to FL in Iowa. The truck nearly mated with a minivan on a freeway and I was a lot more careful after that. Not that tailgating was an issue, I did very little passing at 60MPH. I replaced it with a Redarc and it worked fantastic until one of those splices got corroded and it wouldn't "see" the trailer brakes any more.

 

[Curious Hound]

I'm glad you found one! In my experience most diesels are a bit tougher to start in the cold. When I first got mine it sounded like a drag car with blower surge for about a minute when I started it cold (near-zero temps). I adjusted the timing and it helped a lot. I think timing is all taken care of by the computer in yours, right?

When I replaced my fuel filter, I prefilled it with straight injector cleaner. I read about it in another forum; the idea is you run it for a little bit so the lines and injectors are full of cleaner and let it sit to hopefully dissolve crud. I don't know if this process would apply to the PSD, but maybe something to look into.

Another place to look is the glow plugs. I know they're a somewhat common issue in the IDI trucks and when a couple quit working it's harder to start cold. Also, the IDI guys say to use only Motorcraft brand glow plugs as the others swell over time. If it gets too bad the tip breaks off when you try to remove them. I remember a couple of mine being bulged. Not sure any of that applies to the PSD.

Good luck with your wiring. I lucked out on my used stuff so far being mostly unmolested. I did have to redo the trailer plug socket on my F250 this weekend and cut out a lot of those cheesy knockoff Scotch-Lok splices. It used to belong to a salesman for a trailer company and was used to pull a trailer to trade shows and stuff. It's an XL, the only options are AC and a radio, and he said he had to beg his boss for those. The brake controller pooped out on me towing our trailer full of stuff when we moved from ND to FL in Iowa. The truck nearly mated with a minivan on a freeway and I was a lot more careful after that. Not that tailgating was an issue, I did very little passing at 60MPH. I replaced it with a Redarc and it worked fantastic until one of those splices got corroded and it wouldn't "see" the trailer brakes any more.

It wasn’t “that cold”when I started it today. Ambient temperature In the 70’s. It’s June and I’m in South Carolina. After 3 or 4 minutes, it still wasn’t perfectly smooth.

 

[Curious Hound]

Just read some stuff online about the transmission error code putting the engine into limp mode. I guess that would explain the rough running that I assumed was a cylinder missing.

I’m pretty sure I have Forscan on my shop computer. Sounds like it’s time to connect to the brain. I can’t help but think this is related to me tugging on wires under the dash.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Later in years the odometer in my '02 F-150 would kinda come and go. It was rare when it wasn't on but it did start taking a day off now and again.

 

[Curious Hound]

Got the wheels off and took them to get tires put on. Woodhaven them back for a few days. Decided on BFG KO2's. 4 tires, mounted, balanced + road hazard and with a BFG rebate will be around $1078 out the door. I still need a spare.

Brakes look OK except front passenger side. Needs rotor and pads. It might just get a set of pads temporarily until another paycheck or 2. Back side isn't scored at all. I'm thinking the slide pins need to be cleaned and lubed.

 

[Roert42]

I don't see that much of a ridge on that rotor, could probably be fine to have them turned. If you know someone that still has a lathe.

 

[Curious Hound]

I don't see that much of a ridge on that rotor, could probably be fine to have them turned. If you know someone that still has a lathe.

I could check on that. I'll measure the thickness. I wonder if NAPA still does that.

 

[Curious Hound]

I should probably buy some cement blocks. Jack stands just don't look rednecky enough.

 

[Curious Hound]

Oh. The inefficiencies of government. I went to DMV. The lady said I could have my new title mailed to me. Or she could print it out and hand it to me for an extra $20.

Think about that. Have one employee print it and hand it directly to me, for $20 extra.

OR..

Have some other employee print it, AND stick it in an envelope, which costs more money AND put postage on it, which costs extra money, and put it in the outbasket so another employee, who costs extra money can spend time collecting from all the outbaskets, take the mail to the mail room and prepare it for USPS to pick up.

Of course, I opted to have it mailed. I'm paying taxes to pay for all those other employees. I might as well give them something to do.

 

[bilbo]

It's no wonder the country's broke. I had to submit a GSA form for a background check many years ago because I worked for a contractor that cleared snow from the Post Office parking lot. I handed the form in person to the GSA office as instructed, then rather than sending it via the government's own parcel service they told me it goes via a dedicated courier to Denver for processing.

Five years after turning the form in I received a notice that I had been approved for clearance. I had been clearing their lot the entire time, oops.

 

[sgtsandman]

Oh the stories I could tell on the subject of government inefficiency!

We placed a government purchase request for nitrile gloves that was approved about two weeks ago by the resource advisor. Still no gloves as the latest example.