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#5 INJECTOR COIL BAD

22K views 27 replies 7 participants last post by  99,7.3workhorse 
#1 ·
Dealer says #5 injector coil is bad.

Put in rebuilt injectors just over a year ago, just put all new o-rings on a month ago, pulled several trailers from Nth IN to TX, and several to Vancouver island BC, and AB CA since I replaced the o-rings.

Service engine light started flickering under load at highway speeds without drive-ability issues for quite some time, then eventually started running really rough at low RPM's, except at warm idle or when not under load, now always idles rough and blows some blue smoke at start-up, drove all the way home from Calgary AB to Fort Wayne IN this way, as long as I kept the RPM's above 2100, drove pretty good. Service engine soon light quit flickering after she started running really bad, All stock workhorse with 350K on her.

Can I replace the coil with a used one without pulling the injector? And what should I be aware of while doing this?

Bought my rebuilt injectors from Pensacola, put up a video a while ago about the o-ring tear down, won't make that mistake again! Any suggestions on where to look for a used coil, yards, injector re-builders?

Any advice would b appreciated.
 
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#2 ·
Yes you can swap coils. Nothing tricky about it. Junkyard would be fine - the coils rarely go bad so you shouldn't have a lot of problems finding a good one.
 
#4 ·
If its an 03 7.3, you're golden. The 6.doh started at model year 2003.25
 
#6 ·
Sounds like like your jerking RV's around. Did the dealer do a buzz and continuity test to find #5 bad? OR did they just pull the codes? Makes a difference on how they found it. By the way you are explaining you trouble, sounds to me like you have an issue with the UVCH harness on the pass side, I certainly would check that 1st. I drove 15K to Alaska and had the same as your describing, drivers side UVCH connector became partially unplugged.
 
#8 ·
They pulled the codes, and I believe they did some additional troubleshooting.

The harness isn't very old, I have the harness rigged with a #8 by .5" nylon license plate screw insert adapter, it slips under the clip perfectly, works great, once the valve cover is back on the adapter can't slip out from under the tab. I wired them in with inductor wire any how. It better not be loose!

Yes I pull for Indiana Transport know, used to pull for Quality, and also Classic.

Just ordered the coil from Marshals Auto Parts in Circleville, OH, $22 plus $12 for shipping, apparently they specialize in truck parts. Haven't pulled the valve cover yet, its cold out there, but I will probably put it off until it is freezing out there :sick:
 
#10 ·
Armature screw is a 'nintendo' bit, or reverse torx, torqued to 25 lbs/in. Unfortunately, if this screw comes loose and the engine is run for very long, the injector nozzle becomes carboned up pretty badly and the best course is to replace the whole injector. You can try tightening it, just be sure the armature plate is oriented the same as the magnets on the solenoid. No need to remove the injector for this.
 
#13 ·
Idiots. After you posted your find, I googled them. They've got a pretty low rating from just about everyone who has done business with them. Guess we know why now....
 
#14 · (Edited)
Pulled all of my driver side solenoids, all show continuity across the contacts/terminals, all male injector harness terminals have continuity to the external valve cover gasket connector. #1, 3,5 solenoids have .002 clearance under the armature plate, #7 has .003 clearance, I did notice that the clearance is greater on the high side than on the low side of the armature plate?

So how do I check the #5 solenoid for functionality? Do I need to place them back on the truck and apply voltage?
 
#15 ·
Stick it on a different injector and see if the problem moves to that cylinder.
 
#16 ·
I was hoping for an off the car solution that provides me with solid proof of whether or not the dealer earned thier $120 diagnosis fee. There must be a way to apply current to the solenoids and test them, I remember seeing a post called the Poor Man's Buzz Test, I haven't had time to thoroughly research this yet, but it seems I remember that the solenoids use AC current to fire the injector?

Does the turbo crank up at all during idle? Do I need to put the intake tube to the turbo on while running the engine with the valve cover open? If the turbo does crank up at cold idle speeds, should I put some nylon hose over the opening of intake tube? Is there an easy way to disable the turbo, or will that affect idle performance? I'm doing this outside in northern IN, how messy is it, do I need to protect the main harness connection (single bolt together connection over driver-side valve cover) from oil? I assume the injectors need to warm up some before they function well, or will I be able to do this in the 30's (Fahrenheit) plugged in, but without pre-warming the engine? Can I unplug individual injectors without damaging electronics?

Sorry about all the questions, no experience working on diesels.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Yes I'm an IDIOT! I don't get along with #'s, I am always reversing them... Well I would have sworn the odd cylinders were on the drivers side!#*%!@%&*!

Pulled the passenger side apart and found what may be an issue with the #5 solenoid, when Pensacola Fuel Injection sent me my Super Kit one of the injectors had a black solenoid on it with the letters ifs and a small cubical shaped icon or weird bar code???

The spacer appears to have pushed into the surface of the solenoid creating a ridge around the edge of the spacer, I am not for sure that it wasn't made that way but it appears to me that the Bakelite or material the solenoid is made out of is softer than the other solenoids? The center metal strip of the solenoid magnet has a round circle outline where the armature screw may have been hitting it? I'm guessing that the clearance was reduced when the spacer dug into the solenoid (may have been over tightened?) I am going to make another post about this solenoid with pics.
 
#20 ·
Try a local shop that works on 7.3L's. They should have plenty of core injectors that you could get for less than $75. The shop I just used up here for my engine swap offered core injectors for $50. You might also contact one of the aftermarket injector shops, such as Swamps and ask about a replacement solenoid. They likely have buckets full of them, or at least would be able to direct you to a place for reputable quality replacements.

Did you check resistance across that funky looking #5 solenoid and fine it out of spec? I would guess that you would based on your description of the problems with it.
 
#22 ·
It hasn't proven to b that easy to find a cheap price on a used OEM injector solenoid, the best price I have found is $58.00 Saw stuff on Ebay that doesn't look to b OEM.

If it wasn't gusting 50 MPH + and blowing snow I would run down and pull one of the 03 injectors from the local yard. Maybe I'll get lucky after the local shops recover from thier New Years Hangover!
 
#24 ·
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Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 30

Checked all my armature plate clearances, all clearances were at .002, but a few of them wouldn't take the feeler guage on both the lower and upper sides of the plate, the clearance was greater on the upper side of the plate?

Replaced #3 with used coil, moved #3 to #5, she does run a little better, but she still isn't right, still running rough, especially at lower RPM under load. Going to take her back to the dealer, see if I can get them to dig deeper, I think there is another problem affecting overall runnability, like fuel pressure... When you crank up the R's then back off the throttle suddenly she idle's a little rough for a while? If they want more $ I guess I will have to get something to help me diagnose her myself.

Took her to the Stealership again (Dimension Truck Center Fort Wayne IN), charged me for another full $126 for full diagnosis, this time they said replace the entire #5 injector, and they claimed that that is what they told me the first time, thus the full fee again, I called them liars, and filed complaint with better business bureau. I expected it might end up this way, but I wanted to make sure there wasn't any additional issues other than the solenoid/injector. THEY WON'T TELL ME WHAT TESTING THEY ACTUALLY DID, SO I STILL DON'T KNOW THAT THEY DID A THOROUGH DIAGNOSIS!

Ordering o rings, gonna go get $75 injector from wrecked 03 in salvage yard, they say she is a good runner, hope I don't regret this also.

$126 *2 = $252, used coil $26, orings $10, used injector $75, (GRAND TOTAL $363 so far)

I figure if this injector works i'll by the other 6?
 
#26 ·
No my life has been doing flip flops! I have moved twice, pulling truck each time, took to my dads to rebuild. When I pulled the motor in TN, first move. The #7 cylinder was rusted solid from cavitation weepage into cylinder. NO DIDNT RUN THE ADDITIVES ? Sleeved #7, bought used camshaft from salvage yard in CO, mine had some wear grooves, turned out to be an older block in an 02, cam has fuel pump lobe and was reground? Heads were checked and decked at Headworks in Nashville, the other cylinders actually looked good. Cross hatching still visible, turns out dealer had rebuilt truck just before my purchase with 110K. She has forged rods in 3/99 build date. I moved into another REO in MO that was unlivable and trying to cliff dive into a lake. Pulled truck and engine parts to my dads in Burksville KY. I have been working on her from morning to bedtime for 2 weeks. Amazingly I found most of the parts! I have 5 daughters, U would have to see my garage to understand! Last night before bed I pulled the injectors out of a box and plastic bags. The marker on sleeves are only readable on #2 and #4 ? I have 9 injectors, 8 have markings on side of hold down brackets from Pensacola Fuel Injectors, The one without markings is the one I removed from an 03, I think? Another injector has one of the IFS solenoids on it so I will use the other 8. Gonna clean up the nozzle tips tomorrow and install. Going to look harness over good before trying to remember how it goes back on! I dont even remember how I checked resistence on the solenoids! Doing a cheapie rebuild, but cleaned her up good. Tore down all the lifters and reinstalled. Bought some with REGROUND CAM, but mine are in better shape. Used Enginetech ring and bearing set from RA. Elbow still sore from torquing headbolts yesterday! I am 53, 155 pounds and elbow messed up from working online at Nissan for past 3.5 years. Glad I am outta that sweat shop, worked with a bunch of 20 year old kids! Gotta get truck running and outta my dads garage, and back to MO. Did buy TS 6 setting chip, pyro, and edge gauges from Riff Raff, but still gonna be stock, even honed and rebuilt EBVP for cold mornings. Bought cheap bellowed up pipes, had to grind poor quality inside casting of y connector and polish it smooth, was pretty nasty! I have had problems with logging in and have been using another username with same email, was going to try and combine usernames, but was lucky to just log in!
 
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