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Diesel Questions/Problems in General (non specific makes)

166 messages,  Last post on Aug 23, 2011 at 8:31 AM

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What is this discussion about? Engine, Exhaust, Diesel, Hatchback, Truck, Sedan, Wagon

This topic is for diesel car and truck owners who have not been able to find satisfactory information in the forums dealing with their particular vehicles (please use SEARCH on left of page before you post here).

Messages Page 13 of 17

#117 of 166 Re: Ford 7.3L diesel recall [fphilli1] by cayadopi

Apr 07, 2008 (7:39 pm)

Replying to: fphilli1 (Jan 12, 2008 8:55 am)
not recently, but.....
 
I am original owner '92 F350 7.3L diesel dually crew.... and never got a recall notice on the tranny many years ago.
 
Kept taking to dealer with complaints during warranty (they kept telling my no problem), until after out of warranty. Then said a computer chip needed to be replaced. A number of years later tranny problems continued, when to a private guy 3 different times. The last time was 11k miles ago, for an rebuild.
 
Over last 5 months have been redoing as much as possible, getting my old Black Beauty ready to haul a 13k trailer (142k miles),,,, re-did just about everying except the tranny, thinking I had just had it done. The tranny blew the first day. I was very very fortunate that I broke down in Spanish Fork, AL near an incredible tranny shop. (The tranmission was smoking and probably close to catching on fire; the metal was "blued" it was so hot.) I found out that many many moons ago Ford put out a notice to fix/update a bunch of stuff on that transmission, and NONE of it had been done by either the dealer or the other tranny shop. (I had given copies of all the tranny work I had had done to the vehicle the the AL shop.)
 
Fortunately, the rest of my trip was uneventful, albeit a bit slow going up some of the steeper small mountains. Passed the tranny inspaction for the warranty on arrival at my destination.
 
 I even blew the outside cover, basically everything between the drive shaft & the crank shaft. (The rangers who helped rescue me basically gave me a heads up on how bad it was before I was towed to the tranny shop.)
 
Anyone with a '92 7.3L really needs to find out if their updates were made on the tranny if you're going to do any towing, before a super expensive repair and getting stranded.
 
I can't believe Ford didn't send out a recall on this one - the tranny shop didn't have anything nice to say about the Ford dealer (based on the receipts) or the other tranny shop.

#118 of 166 Re: Could someone explain... [kreuzer] by jim314

May 13, 2008 (11:30 am)

Replying to: kreuzer (May 29, 2007 7:59 am)
Take a look at the site below. No irrational touting, just the facts. We simply do not produce enough plant and animal fats to produce enough biodiesel to replace a significant portion of the petroleum diesel we use.
 
Here is the one possibly real benefit of biodiesel: "Biodiesel has excellent lubricating properties. Even when added to regular diesel fuel in an amount equal to 1-2%, it can convert fuel with poor lubricating properties, such as modern ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel, into an acceptable fuel."
 
http://www3.me.iastate.edu/biodiesel/Pages/biodiesel1.html

#119 of 166 Re: Could someone explain... [ruking1] by jim314

May 13, 2008 (11:55 am)

Replying to: ruking1 (May 29, 2007 9:00 am)
See post 118. Biodiesel is a good fuel, but we cannot produce enough of it from soybeans and other high value food crops to satisfy our needs. The only hope is that new technologies will provide a new route to biodiesel which will allow currently unuseable starting materials to be used. Still the problem remains that we don't have enough bio-fats.
 
See
http://www.biodieselmagazine.com/article.jsp?article_id=2231

#120 of 166 help by muncy

May 30, 2008 (6:43 pm)

have a 1991 7.3 ford diesel, so hard to start and when it dose it smokes white stuff smells like diesel and at tail pipe sounds like missing or poping, smoke settlels down after worms up, have changed all hoses and o-rings,and fuel filter, can any one help.
               thanks jerry

#121 of 166 Re: help [muncy] by orchiddj

Jun 01, 2008 (6:29 pm)

Replying to: muncy (May 30, 2008 6:43 pm)
My 1990, 7.3 had problem starting. (Ran great after it got started) it would smoke (white) when it finally started. Had strong diesel smell. Filter change made no difference. Finally I found a very very small fuel leak in a return hose near back of engine. Replaced hose and it has started great for over a year now. Another possibility is bad glow plug/s. 1 or 2 bad glow plugs can cause hard starting also. (I am no expert. Just sharing my experiences)
 
Jim

#122 of 166 Re: help [orchiddj] by muncy

Jun 02, 2008 (5:32 am)

Replying to: orchiddj (Jun 01, 2008 6:29 pm)
how can you tell which glow plugs are bad with out changung all of them

#123 of 166 Re: help [muncy] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Jun 02, 2008 (1:48 pm)

Replying to: muncy (Jun 02, 2008 5:32 am)
It's best to change them all, like spark plugs. They wear out.

#124 of 166 Re: help [muncy] by orchiddj

Jun 05, 2008 (3:41 am)

Replying to: muncy (Jun 02, 2008 5:32 am)
On my 1990 the glow plugs are easily removed like a spark plug. (My book says on some models you have to remove valve covers to get at them) it probably would be best to replace them all. You can test by pulling the glow plugs and connecting to a battery. The end will “glow” also it will get very hot. It only takes a few seconds for them to heat up. If any do not heat up they are bad.
 
I would test before replacing. I almost just replaced mine. After testing found all were good and that was over a year ago.
 
Jim

#125 of 166 Re: help [orchiddj] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Jun 05, 2008 (9:26 am)

Replying to: orchiddj (Jun 05, 2008 3:41 am)
I've read that they should be replaced somewhere around 100,000 miles, give or take.

#126 of 166 Gas mileage by wisdodge

Jul 03, 2008 (11:02 am)

I have a 2004 Dodge Diesel. I bought it for towing a 35-foot travel trailer. I talked to several Dodge owners before I bought mine that were towing travel trailers and they always said they get 18 MPG towing. Mine only gets 10-11 MPG. After two years I decided to put in the Bully Dog chip and I didn’t see a difference. Last year I added the K&N filter and I still didn’t see a difference. This year I had them change the muffler and I still don’t see a difference. I also went by the onboard MPG calculator and I now realize that with the chip it’s no longer accurate. I will re-check my MPG again but calculating it by hand.
The big question is why am I not getting 18 MPG? Is there something I am missing?
Is there that much of a difference between engines? It does have a lot of power to tow the trailer. This last week towing the trailer I hand calculated the MPG and it was 10.2 MPG. The onboard computer showed 13.
 

Messages Page 13 of 17

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