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[VTX-Dan]

I don't want to sound ungrateful to Mother Earth or God or whomever you believe is responsible for making it rain, but it would have been nice to hold off for a bit longer.  We certainly need the rain, but right now?   

It finally happened.  My truck, a 2000 F-250, finally broke on me this morning.  Oddly enough, I was remarking to MR VTX on Sunday how reliable my rig has been.  She has a 7.3L Powerstroke diesel with about 265,000 on the clock, and until this morning, hasn't given me a lick of problems.  I believe the camshaft position sensor (CPS) finally gave up.  This is a fairly common problem on this engine (similar to the steering neck bearings on the VTX).

I was driving along, all was well, and then she just died on me...no warning.  I got her pulled over, hit the hazard lights, and tried to restart.  I noticed the tach needle wasn't moving while cranking.  This is a tell-tale sign of a bad CPS.  Luckily, I wasn't far from the house.  I got it restarted a few times after letting it sit between stalls (also a sign of a bad CPS).  I made to the driveway and then the bottom dropped out of the sky. It is really coming down out there now.  My wife is at work, but I can ride the X to Napa to get a new CPS.  I'm just not too keen on riding in the pouring rain...much less laying on my back to replace the CPS.

I have been extremely satisfied with my truck and very proud of her reliability.  Clearly, I jinxed myself by bragging on her this weekend.

I can work from the house today, but I am going to have to get wet at some point.  I don't think this rain is going to let up. 
Grateful for the rain, but not thrilled with the timing.  Damn the luck.

[matap]

Sorry to hear and yes the timing sucks.  It always sucks.  Nothing ever breaks at a convenient moment.  Be safe on the road.

[VTX-Dan]

Sorry to hear and yes the timing sucks.  It always sucks.  Nothing ever breaks at a convenient moment.  Be safe on the road.

Thank you.  I will.
Luckily, the NAPA is only about a half-mile from my house.

It sounds like the rain is letting up.  It's probably as good a time as any.  The forecast says it will rain off & on all day here.

[cybrhick]

Is your last name Murphey?

[SteveS]

Is your last name Murphey?

It has been a long time any one has mentioned Murphey's Law.

Later

[larry_357]

Dan same thing happend with my truck and made it as far as the nearest Ford dealer and 400 bucks later drove away lol.

[cybrhick]

Y'all got lucky. Two sundays ago, I left to go pick up some Sunday papers, and my motor completely siezed on the trip home. Dead.

[VTX-Dan]

Y'all got lucky. Two sundays ago, I left to go pick up some Sunday papers, and my motor completely siezed on the trip home. Dead.

Ouch.
I'll stop my belly-aching now.   You win.

On the plus side, I called my wife to let her know what was going on.  She had a lunch meeting at work and is coming by the house to take me to NAPA when she is finished. 
She worries when I ride in the rain.  Bless her heart.

[cybrhick]

Y'all got lucky. Two sundays ago, I left to go pick up some Sunday papers, and my motor completely siezed on the trip home. Dead.

Ouch.
I'll stop my belly-aching now.   You win.

On the plus side, I called my wife to let her know what was going on.  She had a lunch meeting at work and is coming by the house to take me to NAPA when she is finished. 
She worries when I ride in the rain.  Bless her heart.

Just razzin' ya. I hate rain too bro.

[larry_357]

  Raining now like a cow peeing on a flat rock.

[VTX-Dan]

I finally got a break in the rain.  All done. 
It really is an easy fix.  It only took about 10 or 15 minutes.

$26 and we're back on the road.

[matap]

Good thing you know how to fix it.  Taking it to a diesel mechanic and it would've cost you at least a few hundred.

[VTX-Dan]

Good thing you know how to fix it.  Taking it to a diesel mechanic and it would've cost you at least a few hundred.

I try to do all my own wrenchin'.
It has saved me a ton over the years.
The oil changes alone on this thing are pricey.  My truck holds 15 qts of oil.   

I've done ball joints, wheel bearings/races, tie-rod ends, shocks, brakes, tranny fluid & filter X2, diff lube, and a water pump...I don't want to think about what labor costs would be on all that.

[Gumbo]

Good thing you know how to fix it.  Taking it to a diesel mechanic and it would've cost you at least a few hundred.

I try to do all my own wrenchin'.
It has saved me a ton over the years.
The oil changes alone on this thing are pricey.  My truck holds 15 qts of oil.   

I've done ball joints, wheel bearings/races, tie-rod ends, shocks, brakes, tranny fluid & filter X2, diff lube, and a water pump...I don't want to think about what labor costs would be on all that.

15Qts holy smokes Now I don't feel so bad when I have to change my oil.
Just goes to show no matter what your in someone else is into it deeper.

[bluestreak]

If you had taken it to a Ford dealer it would have been replaced for free.  There is a warranty Technical Service Bulletin on the CPS sensor for all 97-2003 Power Strokes with the 7.3 liter engine.  Fortunately I had my CPS sensor replace under warranty years ago before it went out.

Recall notice:
http://www.thedieselgarage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1187


These are two forums for the Power Strokes that I like and participate in.  It's a good way to keep up with your truck.

http://www.powerstroke.org/forum/

http://www.thedieselgarage.com/forums/index.php?

I have a 1997 Power Stroke F350 4X4 and had some (rare) bad luck with it last week.  The fuel/water seperator pot under the hood, blew a 3/4" hole in the bottom of it when I was running down the freeway.  I think it failed at the moment I switched fuel tanks via the dash switch.  The pot is under about 70 psi and I'm guessing the pressure shock of switching fuel tanks finally caused the pot to fail.  It dumped about 16 gallons of diesel on the ground before I knew it had happened and got it parked. The entire underside of the truck, including the exhaust, CAT converter, rear brakes, inside the bed and the rear bumper were dripping wet with fuel when I stopped.  I still can't believe the truck didn't turn into a fire ball when it blew.  The 950 degree turbo is just behind the water seperator, but lucky the fuel sprayed down and away for the turbo when the pot blew. The fuel seperator is a common failure problem with the Power Strokes just like the CPS sensor is.  It fails due to water setting in the pot for long periods of time between draining.  It corrodes the aluminum until a point it finally fails.  I make a point of routinely draing the water, long before the dash light comes on, so I got better than average life out of mine before it failed. I bought my truck new so it lasted about 14 years.  I've heard of them failing with only 5 years of service. I wish the water seperator failure was under a TSB.  The part along is about $ 1,000.00 bucks.

A side note to this story is that I was headed to the same computer store, that a fellow VTXer was also going to....... unbenounced to me, when it failed.  I left a "Snail Trail" of fuel from the freeway to the stores parking lot where I eventually got it parked.  He said he saw the fuel spill after he slipped in it going around a turn under the freeway over pass.  I'm glad he didn't go down.

Lesson to be learned here is to never ride in a oil/fuel spill snail trail............ if you see it and can avoid it.  You just don't know how soon it was dropped there.  Deisel fuel on asphalt is like grease on glass.
 

It finally happened.  My truck, a 2000 F-250, finally broke on me this morning.  Oddly enough, I was remarking to MR VTX on Sunday how reliable my rig has been.  She has a 7.3L Powerstroke diesel with about 265,000 on the clock, and until this morning, hasn't given me a lick of problems.  

I believe the camshaft position sensor (CPS) finally gave up.  
This is a fairly common problem on this engine (similar to the steering neck bearings on the VTX).

I was driving along, all was well, and then she just died on me...no warning.  I got her pulled over, hit the hazard lights, and tried to restart.  I noticed the tach needle wasn't moving while cranking.  This is a tell-tale sign of a bad CPS.  Luckily, I wasn't far from the house.  I got it restarted a few times after letting it sit between stalls (also a sign of a bad CPS).  I made to the driveway and then the bottom dropped out of the sky. It is really coming down out there now.  My wife is at work, but I can ride the X to Napa to get a new CPS.  I'm just not too keen on riding in the pouring rain...much less laying on my back to replace the CPS.

I have been extremely satisfied with my truck and very proud of her reliability.  Clearly, I jinxed myself by bragging on her this weekend.

I can work from the house today, but I am going to have to get wet at some point.  I don't think this rain is going to let up.  
Grateful for the rain, but not thrilled with the timing.  Damn the luck.