engine lopes, sounds like a miss upon start up

[shelby69]

Friend has a 2000 ford E350 van, 2wd with a 7.3L, 190K miles.
He has owned the truck for several years and upon start up, cold or warm, it lopes or sounds as if it is missing a beat. He does have a chip in the truck, but I did not write down the mfg or brand name. I did search previous threads and the suggestions are to change the oil. Can anyone explain why changing the oil will solve a poor idle at start up?

Could the lope / poor idle be a sign of a bad injector?

Any help would be appreciated
Thanks

 

[shelby69]

engine lopes upon start up & overdrive flashes

I talked with the owner and he has an edge controller in the truck.

He also has another issue, the overdrive light on the gear shift lever flashes on and off - any suggestion why this does it? He said it does not affect going into overdrive, just flashes then after a while it will stop.

Regarding the poor idle / lopes - he did say one guy suggested changing the oil because of air can get into the oil. Seems weird to me unless you are airating the oil over time - one would think that this would be a problem even when the oil is changed and not when the oil has X amount of miles on it.

Thanks
Scott

 

[95_stroker]

Can anyone explain why changing the oil will solve a poor idle at start up?

Could the lope / poor idle be a sign of a bad injector?

Any help would be appreciated
Thanks

Because the injectors are fired by oil.

The lope could be a bad injector, a weak solenoid on an injector or possibly a problem with the IPR valve.

A buzz test or CCT can eliminate a bad injector or weak solenoid. The IPR valve needs to be removed to check the orings or have the truck scanned while it is running to physically read the parameters that all the sensors are sending to the PCM.

 

[KRISTOLSON]

I have heard of problems with the oil foaming, but this was on new engines, having to do with the residue from the silicone sealant used in assembly. Usually this problem went away first or second oil change. with 190K I wouldn't think this would be a problem. If oil aeration was the problem I wouldn't think it would do it when you first start it. All the oil would have a chance to settle the air out, right? Unless the hpop is instantly aerating the oil? My guess is an injector acting up, however,an oil change would be a cheap (relatively) place to start.

 

[shelby69]

poor idle / engine lopes at start up

I am going to head over to his place and scan the codes - I have a scan guage II.

Please fill me in on the "buzz test" or what a CCT is in order to identify a bad injector / week solenoid.

Is there any write ups on the IPR valve on how to remove and inspect? Or when I scan while it's running - what should I look for.

 

[shelby69]

unable to scan codes

Frustrated, scan gauge II does not communicate with the ford - sucks

I guess we will have to go to auto zone in order to pull the codes

 

[DaveBen]

The deal with the scanners that don't read CAN, is that they won't communicate with our trucks. It is still OBD II, but it must read CAN communications.

Dave

 

[shelby69]

Thanks - I was able to scan / read the gauges on my brother in laws 2005 truck w/ a diesel but not the 2000 E350 van.

I looked under the hood and all I saw was the air filter and radiator - what a shoe horn they used to stuff that diesel in the van - wow, everything is tight.

Any suggestion or information on the buzz test / CCT would be appreciated.

Thanks

Scott

 

[dmd]

Lots of guesses, start simple...

- remove the programming and see if it goes away
- when it lopes, does tapping the throttle make it go away? (mine does that, I dont think it is a issue)

Also... the flashing OD light means there is a trans issue. I believe the Edge
can do that. May be rebuild time. Several of their have had the edge toast
their trans..

 

[KRISTOLSON]

the OD light flashing is some sort of tranny fault code, could be anything from excessive slip in the tc, low pressure somewhere, a broken or frayed wire, anything. Does the speedometer work? If not it could be a speed sensor acting up. 190k is a lot of miles on the tranny without a rebuild, especially with a tuner. I agree it might be rebuild time, however, it is not unheard of for someone to still have the factory fill in their tranny after 200k. Maybe a flush/ fill would take care of it.
The buzz test is an advanced diagnostic fuction available on more advanced scanners. It will activate(buzz) all the injectors at once, then one at a time individually. You will be able to audibly hear them buzzing, and the diagnostic scanner will give you a pass/fail. It is not uncommon to get a pass on all when warm, but have a fail on one or more on the same engine when cold.