DIY oil and fuel leak abaitment project

[TomsBeast]

Originally Posted by BroncoHauler

No idea. Just like you I figured I'm in there anyway, so do it once. Mine took me about 5-6 hours with my (limited) mechanical skills, and that was on an Excursion. Not sure if it's easier or worse access on a van.


BTW, make sure you don't order the parts directly off what I linked, those are for '99-'03 motors. Not sure if there's a difference.
Herb

On the van, it's buried between the HPOP and Lift Pump, you can't even see it from the front, radiator side. Rather than try from the front, I attacked it from the doghouse side. It's not bad after getting the turbo and pedestal, and up pipe collector out of the way.



Yep, there's a difference between 94-95, 96-97, and 99-up fuel bowls they say.

[TomsBeast]

Originally Posted by nemesisnight

Been there, done all that on my 96, sounds familiar. I did all this a little over a year ago and for some reason decided to go all the way, replaced the HPOP with a terminator pump, new lift pump, new IPR, New HP oil lines, rebuilt fuel bowl, new hoses and clamps, oil crossover (I recommend that while your at it for about $60), monster glow plug relay, and for some reason decided to do new injectors and glow plugs while I had it apart since I had 220k, etc, etc. Turned out replacing just about everything I could think of but all those little things do add up quickly! I try to convince myself it was for peace of mind, lol. Good luck, I could eat off my valley once it was all cleaned up.

If you look at the Ford forums, the hot rod bro truck boy racers will all try to convince you you need to "ditch all that Ford $hit and go with an eFuel system, Airdog w/pre and post filters, air separator, electric fuel pump on the frame rail, then you may as well do a bypass regulated fuel system in place of that leaky fuel bowl". That all sounds well and good, but $2k later, you still haven't changed injectors or the HPOP system. And you've got a lot of aftermarket/specialized parts. What a rabbit hole, jeez. I'm banking on being able to re-seal/rebuild the Ford stuff, that's given me 195k of decent service (albeit leaking, the last 30k miles, but still working).

[nemesisnight]

Originally Posted by TomsBeast

If you look at the Ford forums, the hot rod bro truck boy racers will all try to convince you you need to "ditch all that Ford $hit and go with an eFuel system, Airdog w/pre and post filters, air separator, electric fuel pump on the frame rail, then you may as well do a bypass regulated fuel system in place of that leaky fuel bowl". That all sounds well and good, but $2k later, you still haven't changed injectors or the HPOP system. And you've got a lot of aftermarket/specialized parts. What a rabbit hole, jeez. I'm banking on being able to re-seal/rebuild the Ford stuff, that's given me 195k of decent service (albeit leaking, the last 30k miles, but still working).

Exactly, I was really tempted to get bigger injectors since they were the same price but then I would of had to get a tuner, then monitor all my egr temps, etc and be stressed about all that. So in the end just stock seemed the easiest thing to do and safest bet. Stock has decent power as is so why mess with it, its always fun to have the extra HP but I would rather have reliability I don't need to monitor as closely.

[TomsBeast]

From the reading I’ve been doing, the o-ring failures are being blamed on ultra-low sulpher Diesel fuel and biodiesel chemistry, that better suited viton o-rings are supposed to address. I suppose International Harvester and Ford couldn’t have anticipated the change in fuel formulations.

Sounds similar to the fuel line cracks, leaks and engine bay fires due to higher concentrations of ethanol in gasoline.

On another note, a Diesel engine is like a paint shaker, it’s amazing to me these thing hold together for as many miles as they do, most gasoline engines would be retired by now.

At 195k miles it needs a freshen up. I’m hoping to get another 150k miles out of this rig.

[TomsBeast]

I have been gathering parts to rebuild the fuel system, and to repair the turbo (see previous pic of bent vanes).


I found a Craiglist score, 1 lightly used Garrett T38 center section from a 1997 7.3, billet wicked wheel 2, rebuilt bearing section including Garrett 360deg thrust bearing and stepped seal ring, precision balanced.






I saw the guy's receipt from 2017, he paid $825 and ran it 10k miles, before his next upgrade. real nice guy with several gray hairs, knows his stuff regarding the 7.s's, does all of his own work. Sold it to me for 50cents on the dollar, he even through in a EBPV butterfly delete turbo exhaust collar, and some viton o-rings I'll need

[TomsBeast]

Upon closer inspection, the pedestral oil supply and drainback o-rings don't look bad, I don't see a clear leak path. I do notice the Exhaust Back Pressure Valve (EBPV) is leaking oil.





Leaking Exhaust Back Pressure Valves (EBPV) are common in high mileage 7.3's like mine. It uses engine oil pressure as 'the force' to open and close the flapper valve as exhaust exits the turbo, headed to the muffler. When the cylinder goes bad, they leak oil into the valley. In fact when anything on this engine leaks, hell, when I spill a Pepsi in the cup holder, it collects in the valley



I'm reading that the valve closes during cold weather start ups, mine sounds like someone sanding a car's hood with 80gt sandpaper, and is supposed to help the engine warm up faster.



The problem with fixing it, is the repair kit is $135 not including the electric solenoid if it goes bad, and it's only a matter of time before the solenoid starts leaking again. The butterfly is on a 1/2" diameter shaft, and the butterfly doesn't fully get out of the way when not in use. Some guys think the 15% plus obstruction robs power, which makes sense. If adding a larger turbo exhaust exit 'downpipe' makes a noticeable difference, it make sense that removing that butterfly and 1/2" diameter shaft would have a positive effect.






Most guys just buy a "EBPV delete turbo pedestal" and be done with it. There's a dongle that you can also buy, that fools the ECM into thinking it's still there, keeps the CEL from coming on.


You have to grind off the butterfly valve's rivets to remove it, pull the shaft, then plug one of the shaft holes with a small freeze plug.


Caution: mission creep ahead

[TomsBeast]

I commit and buy a EBPV delete pedestal, spending a little more on the Garrett one.



After doing a quick comparison, I notice their are no tapped holes for the van's turbo and downpipe heat shield brackets. I guess the trucks don't have the heat shield, they probably sold 50 Diesel trucks for every van, so it's not surprising Garrett didn't cast in the bosses and tap holes for the van heat shield.












My girl already wishes the engine cover wouldn't get so hot, so I spend Monday in the garage adapting and making brackets, drilling a tapping holes in my new pedestal.





new hols and bracket mods














There, just as the factory intended!

[TomsBeast]

Other than periodically draining the water and sediment via the service valve, and changing the fuel filter, you really can't service the fuel bowl in the van, it must be removed. My drain valve seals had been weeping for some time, dribbling down the passenger side front of the block.



While rebuilding the fuel bowl using new parts from Diesel O-Rings, I found the 1/4" diameter fuel regulator screen all but completely blocked. According to what I've read, this is common on higher mileage rigs. I'm not sure what a 90% restriction at that part of the system would prevent. I suspect poor regulator return flow, causing a higher fuel pressure and a rich running condition, worse fuel economy, but I don't know. Either way, it's a good thing I replaced those parts. No need to go to Ford, Diesel orings and Riffraff Diesel had all the parts I needed, in stock.



Also, the bottom of the fuel bowl has plenty of sediment, partially blocking the water separator drain valve outlet port.


There's plenty of YouTube videos on rebuilding the fuel bowl on OBS trucks, which is the same on a van, so I didn't bother to take pictures.

[TomsBeast]

I got the turbocharger reassembled with the billet compressor wheel and new center section, which all went pretty smooth.


What hasn't gone so smooth, is the family of rats that moved in, while I had the engine cover off for the last 2 weeks. Nearby construction drove them into the subdivision I suppose



Yep, I spent an entire weekend removing everything from the van except the cabinets and appliances. 2 chewed seat cushions, thru the upholstery and into the foam rubber, one seatbelt chewed half way thru, a couple nests, and a big effing mess.


It's become personal...

[TomsBeast]

This is the little bugger that commonly clogs with sediment, the 3/8" screen affixed to the plastic sleeve. It's within the fuel regulator portion of the fuel filter bowl.