intermittent hard hot start

Husker · Jul 21, 2013

Hey guys I'm new here, and this may have already been addressed, but I can't seem to find it. I have a 96 7.3 practically bone. stock. 176 kand miles. Uvch and gaskets were just changed, as well as the mechanical fuel pump. The truck starts fine cold and runs as good as any 7.3. The problem occasionally arrises when the engine is hot and you shut it off and let it sit for roughly 30 minutes. It has a fairly long crank when you try to restart it. I'm leaning toward a hpop problem, just looking for some other opinions or suggestions on things to check. Hpop oil level is staying full btw

Patrick Feeley · Jul 21, 2013

You might want to check the IPR O-rings (it also could have an HP oil system leak elsewhere) as they are cheap.

IPR O-Ring Kit (for when IPR valve replacement is not required)
(Ford) F6TZ-9C977-AA
(International) 1825806C92

Cheers!

Husker · Jul 22, 2013

I'm going to start with the simple stuff, HP oil gallery plug o rings and possibly a new ipr. Hoping it isn't the pump but as near as I can tell it is an original and it may just be getting ready to crap the bed...

Patrick Feeley · Jul 22, 2013

You might want to just pull the IPR and look at the o-rings as that's much cheaper than a new IPR! If your HP Oil Rail Plug o-rings (any of them) are bad, you will definitely know from the massive oil leak (when one of my HPOP fitting o-rings went, I dropped 4 quarts on the ground in ten miles. Cheers!

Husker · Jul 22, 2013

I was referring to the plugs under the valve cover, as that leak would not be appearant outside of the engine. At least I hope not as it has brand new VC gaskets haha. But I have had a problem with the sheet metal nut and spacer falling off and causing it to run horrible, and I'm tired of messing with it honestly. Its pretty embarrassing hopping down the road like a donked out lowrider in a one ton pickup. But the nut is currently tight, and the problem is still present with hot starts, but I will try the o rings before I go drastic and throw a bunch of money at it. Thanks for all the help, I'll let ya know w hat I find out

old man dave · Jul 24, 2013

Husker said:
I was referring to the plugs under the valve cover, as that leak would not be appearant outside of the engine. At least I hope not as it has brand new VC gaskets haha. But I have had a problem with the sheet metal nut and spacer falling off and causing it to run horrible, and I'm tired of messing with it honestly. Its pretty embarrassing hopping down the road like a donked out lowrider in a one ton pickup. But the nut is currently tight, and the problem is still present with hot starts, but I will try the o rings before I go drastic and throw a bunch of money at it. Thanks for all the help, I'll let ya know w hat I find out

At least the VC gaskets are reusable.

Try disconnecting the ICP sensor, cheapest thing to try, if it runs better without it then the sensor is bad.
You should have someone, even the dealer, run diagnostics first since throwing parts at a PSD can get very costly and still not result in a fix.

Have you changed the oil lately?

Husker · Jul 26, 2013

It's rotella 15-40 with about 500 miles on it. I'm just kicking the idea around, but what is the average lifespan of a stock hpop? I have the money now and I'm thinking about doing it more for routine maintainance than anything. There are no driveability issues to speak of tho