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new member soon to be new owner 1997 f350 ambulance 7.3 power stroke help!

4K views 41 replies 8 participants last post by  79jasper 
#1 ·
just purchased a 97 F350 ambulance with 7.3 engine and 160k miles at gov deals auction. In the advertisement it stated was running when parked, now starts only with ether. I just called the manager of the storage lot and he informed me that it would only crank, not start. then they shot some ether and it fired up and died. THen they decided to drain fuel bowl and fill with fresh gas (truck has been sitting for approx 1 year near Charlestown, South Carolina), and it started and ran for a while until fuel bowl filled with water again then it would die. This is my first diesel engine. I have been googling and you tubing everything of 7.3 power stroke. I am unsure the best way to approach getting this truck running reliably.
I am in central Florida and will be driving up to South Carolina on Memorial day, spending the night and viewing/visiting/fixing truck 0900 Tuesday morning. Its in a remote lot with no electricity and 3-5 miles from a gas station according to google. I don't know how he confirmed that water is the problem, or he just assumed it was water. He said the pump must be ok because it refilled the bowl. I think the best woud be to completely drain both tanks-I guess around 20gal each, then fill with fresh diesel, drain bowl and clean, install new filter, and cross fingers a hope it runs good.
That would require up to 40 gallons of tankage to hold the old diesel. And I would need at least 5gal of fresh to get it running and drive 5-10 miles to gas station to fill up. Or if water settles to the bottom of tank then if I suck from the bottom of tank until I get just diesel then I might not need so many cans? I have heard that the end of the pickup tube is like a 1/4-1/3 of a tank from the bottom? So, that would be like 5-8 gallons? Can a diesel tank get that much water in it from sitting a year? Is it possibly something else? Of course it can, but what? He said it ran good with fresh fuel in the fuel bowl so that would rule out injectors and high pressure oil pump problems right? As well as cam position sensor, ICP sensor, And oil pressure sensor, and even the IPR or whatever the high pressure pump is abbreviated. I would greatly be beholding to any insightful info you can give. Its remote location, distance from auto parts stores is like 50 miles, and my ignorance is making me nervous. I only have 1 day to get it right and then drive 6-7 hours home. Thanks n advance for any info. I thought about an inline water separator like in boats but it dont take a ton of water to fill them up. If the fuel filter got wet initially does it not let diesel fuel through after that? questions going round in my head
 
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#37 ·
thanks for that most useful information. I will pack some 3/8" line and a glass jar in my trunk while packing up my 2 batteries fully charged and a pair of jumper cables. Not to use the mech. pump to drain the tanks mind you. Just to crank to start. that sucks about getting bad fuel at a station! Did they make it right and fix the problem?
to add to my problem 1:remote location
2: no electricity
3: probably in afield or dirt/gravel lot
4: open from 0900-1400 so 5 hours max
5: very shallow pockets
6: have to get back the next day some 450 miles, go drive girlfriend to airport and go to work-to make money to fix truck!
thanks again Bugman keep um comming
IMO your best solution would be to arraign someone with a truck and trailer capable of hauling it back home or to a location that you can travel to reasonably. Then you could take your time and figure out your problems. It doesn’t require a big combination of T & T just big enough to handle the GVWR . You could easily spend several days and still not get everything done if you are no mechanically inclined. Good Luck
 
#39 · (Edited)
Sounds like a good adventure. Glad you got to ride it home, rather then have it towed. If the auction lot had been able to give you some more information someone may have caught the Sensor failure before you had to have it towed to the shop, but what is done is done. 65K she is not even broken in yet! Southern truck too so should be no rust, should be no problem turning it into what you what as a camper. Have fun!
 
#40 ·
thank you Stroker. I should have been able to diagnose the problem myself! I watched all the youtube videos about crank-no-start on the 7.3. I knew it was probably going to be the cam sensor, the ICP, or the IPR? Having the supposed water in the fuel made me change my thinking. THe fact that I ran for over a few minutes made me feel it was something out of my abilities. The senior fleet mechanic said it has to be something electrical the way it just shut down. But in the end all worked out good. The $300 for the tow and the $150 repair bill for the cam sensor is what I spent or my lack of deductive reasoning. I never thought to crank it and check the tachometer to see if it was moving at all. I am so happy with the way that thing runs.. I am pretty sure it will out last me with proper maintenance. thanks again.
question: The AC compressor does not kick on when air is turned on in cab. The fan blows at all speeds. The ambulance has a rear AC unit, Is the rear AC unit a part of the engine cab AC? Or is it a separate stand alone unit? My 2002 Dodge conversion has rear air that is part of the engine ac system requiring more Freon. I was thinking to just buy some cheap Freon and put a few cans in to see if the compressor kicks in? What you all think? Pull a vacuum on it first? I know the rear ac blows but haven't checked if it is cold or anything. thanks the cab got hot like an oven on the ride home until I figured out to open ing vent windows to help evac the hot air,LOL
 
#41 ·
and then....pulled head light bulb and checked for voltage, had voltage, bought 2 new bulbs, now the head lights work! No running lights though. Pulled the red lights off the side and front of the box-can't have red emergency lights except for the rear, so I took the yellow off the back and installed the red ones. Made aluminum cover plates for 5 lights and calked and screwed in place, tried adding some Freon to the not running A/C clutch-it took 2 cans but the clutch started running, its pretty cold now after 5 cans! Probably all leak out but has stayed cold for 3 days? Tried the cab A/C and it blows cold too! Tried the lights for the first time at night last night, wow! What i noticed is when the headlight switch is pulled out one click I have running lights, then pulled out all the way just headlights. So, I think it must be the switch? Do you agree? Then all that leaves for the short term is reinforcing the inside door handle. The door doesn't open from inside. Have to roll down window and open from outside. Does anyone know where I get the reinforcing plate for the door? Also I need to fix the door hinge as it drops down when opened and is hard to close (hinge pin I think)? And the big job of changing out all the fluids! Wow, so much fluids! I think I will have to have a tanker truck deliver? LOL thanks guys for all the help
 
#42 ·
Yes, or possibly a bad ground situation.

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