Hey guys, I have an 04 F250 with the 6.0. I was cruising down the highway at about 75mph today and my truck started surging a bit (on and off the power blowing some smoke). I pulled off figuring I got some bad fuel (just filled up) As I hit the off ramp, check gauge light lit up and oil pressure dropped to zero. The truck ran for about another 15 seconds as I pulled onto the shoulder then I killed it. It sounded like it had a slight miss but was still running. I got a ride back, and I'm getting the 7.3 and the 5th wheel to go get her right now. Im going to pull the codes and see what up with it. The fact that it still runs makes me think that it isnt the HPOP, but that could also just be my wallet hoping that its not the HPOP haha.

Any tips on diagnosing high pressure oil faults like this would be appreciated!

By the way is a 02/04 manufacturing date so thats the early 6.0 with the IPR on the back of the motor if I am correct?

Thanks guys!

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Also, does the oil pressure gauge on the factory read high side oil pressure or low side oil pressure?

Thanks fellas

 

The guage is for the lube oil pump, if it was running and you had no engine oil pressure then the HPOP is still good, it will only run for 10 to 15 seconds without the low pressure pump supplying oil to the HPOP resivoir. the low pressure pump is behind the harmonic balancer on the front of the motor, once the balancer is removed the pump sits just under a cover that is around the crank. nd yes, your ICP snsor is on the back, all trucks have the IPR on the back

 

Well I got the truck back and unloaded. No codes in the history, and it has oil pressure. I ran it at idle for about 15 minutes with oil pressure where it was before this happened.

I was thinking that it could be a leaking STC fitting on the HPOP causing it to go out when warm, but if youre saying that the gauge is for low side oil pressure than that wouldnt really make sense now would it?

 

I know it sounds silly, but have you checked the oil level in the truck? And you're running a factory oil filter cap and oil filter?

 

Thats the first thing I checked Mdub so I guess I can be considered silly too haha. Its got good oil level on it (about 2500 since my last change) Its got factory cap with a motorcraft filter in it.

Im just confused by the combination of symtoms. I just realized that these early 04 motors dont have the two piece STC fitting on the HPOP, so I guess it cant be that, but they still fail rather frequently.

I'm considering tearing down the intake and the front of the motor to check both pumps, but I'm a broke dick college kid, the only other means of transportation I have is my Harley, and its getting a bit cold to ride that 60 miles a day indefinately hahaha

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Just ran it around town for 30 minutes, no check gauges light, oil pressure stayed up (I know its just a dummy gauge but it didnt drop once). I'm going to do an oil change tomorrow and put a new motorcraft filter and cap on it just to double check its not the valve in the filter from a worn out cap or beat filter. I'm also going to do the oil pressure switch. I think after that I'll warm it up, steal a tech from the stealership and do an IPR test to double check the HPOP is up to par.

 

I bet the oil pressure regulator hung up on you, causing you to loose oil pressure for a little bit

 

Are you talking about the IPR on the back of the block - passengers side? Or is there an oil pressure regulator elsewhere?

I stole a scanner from one of my buddies at the stealership today. IPR duty cycle was 22.9% while running so the HPOP is good to go.

My #3 injector was making a 20% power draw, so I'm thinking maybe the o-ring is on its way out causing a slight high pressure oil leak while warm.

The turbo had a late and flat curve on the turbo test they run, sticky vanes are my suspect.

I'm going to pull the #3 injector and look it over real good, slap a new O-ring on it, have the turbo cleaned and inspected, and pull the little relief valve under the positive hex plug up by the harmonic balancer and clean the valve and check the bore again.

 

That relief valve is the regulator I was talking about, for the engine oil pump.

 

Just got finished pulling the relief valve regulator, cleaned it up and cleaned the bore it rides in. Little sludgy so that could have been the issue. I did an oil change at the same time, and noticed my oil smelling a bit like diesel. Im going to pull my number 3 injector tomorrow, I am assuming that the o-ring is wasted and theres my slight hpo leak and the diesel in the oil smell I am getting.

I'm planning on doing the IPR as well. Any tips on getting it out easiest? I've heard you can get it from underneath, from the drivers side by pulling the degas bottle and FICM, and shortcuts like that. I'm pulling the turbo to get cleaned by the local dealer, so it should be relatively easy to access with that off correct? Specialty tools required at all? Worth doing the pigtail if its easily accessable as well?

Thanks guys I'll keep ya posted with updates

 

with the turbo off the IPR is right there and easy to get to, a 35mm wrench, a small pipe wrench, even channel locks can remove the IPR as long as the turbo is removed, Don't buy a new IPR even if the screen is torn, you can buy just the screen and orings to make it alot less exspensive