Thank You Bill Hewitt...for saving my business anyware from $15000 to $25000. I didn't have to buy another truck after-all. Yes, his expert advice, video's, local parts and inspiration gave me the courage to diagnose, remove and replace the "Injector Cup" in my 1999 Ford F250 PowerStroke 7.3L myself. Throughout the entire process, I had "PowerStrokeHelp" videos playing in the background. It's as if I was working in his shop, while he was busy creating videos for "PowerStrokeHelp" viewers. A+

I did this repair several years ago, used a small custom made slide hammer that threaded into a nut welded on the end of the huge tap. Did all 8, tight back there by the heat/ac box. I also forgot to drain coolant first and when I pulled the sleeves coolant flooded the cylinders. Horrible mistake but after I had pulled all 8 sleeves I took a 50A mega fuse and jumped the starter to shoot it all out the open holes. It's been a while, but I think thats how I did it. I also put a piece of greasy paper towel down in the bottom of the cup before tapping to prevent brass shavings from dropping into the cylinder. It was my own truck done in shadetree fashion when I had a lot less experience than I do now, but was able to pull it off.

I traded my 06 6.0 for a Challenger and still find myself watching your videos. Thanks Bill for sharing your knowledge!

I don't own a diesel, nor do I work on diesels, but I watch everyone of your videos/tutorials. You have an amazing series that I hope keeps going. Thank you!

Bill, I run a fleet of paratransit buses ranging from 96 to 2003 most with over 350k. I have seen the cups do what you describe pushing fuel into the coling system but I have also seen the cups leak at the very bottom leaking coolant into the conmbustion chamber, this resembles a head gasket failure. loss of coolant, smoking while running and hydro-locking over night. Its so rare to see a head gasket failure in these engines. I always enjoy watching your videos, Just thought id add...

This is not a preventative thing on the injector cups. I had 798k miles on Spot and never had an injector cup problem.

@klosnoski The injector design and High pressure pump are right out of the CAT parts book with a few minor changes. The designers at Navistar were smart, why reinvent the design and tooling when a perfectly good design already exists. If you think about it the Gen1 and Gen 2 PSDs (94-03) were just one big sub contract. Ford subs the engine out to Navistar and Navistar subs out the injectors and HPOPs to CAT. I'm sure there are other parts too.

Not a diesel mechanic.coal miner mechanic which entails electrical,mechanical, hydraulics jack of all trades and the master of none.However own quite a few ford diesels.I have 3 now 95-7.3. 2003 7.3 2012 6.7 deleted.I watched more of your videos than any other diesel mechanics.Very informative thank you very much.My 95 smokes very bad on start up if it sets overnight .nofuel in radiator,don’t use oil.Runs good after warm up.And ideas Wish you were closer need help on some question on 2012 delete.can’t find some of your products in Wv.Thank you for all you do.

one very important tip it to put a penny down in the cup before using the cup puller to prevent shavings in the cylinder. go billy

Your the man! A little late in game but i just bought an early 99 for cheap with a crap load of problems and I'm planning on doing a crazy ass build on it for no other reason than I want to. Also, I appreciate the work you do with vets, I am interested in learning more about you transition program I've had some interest myself in that need, and want to develop a similar program myself one day. Semper Fi brother.

Nice use of the specialty tools!! Just like I was taught by the engineers of International down in Tulsa, Ok. Very effective video!!

Great video of showing how to do it properly! Many times I've seen shops pull the heads and try to knock the cup out through the injector bore hole. On the note of watching the eyes, they should be wearing safety glasses doing this anyway...

LOL.... My garage floor and workbench look exactly like yours does at the moment in this video Bill. I pulled all 8 injectors and rebuilt them with new o-rings. I pulled and replaced all 8 injector cups. I'm replacing turbo pedestal o-rings, all 8 glow plugs, drivers and passenger fuel lines, intercooler CV boots and intake boots, hoses, degas bottle and cap, ICP sensor, thermostat, and a whole bunch more stuff while I'm in there and have it apart. That's the good thing about doing the work yourself and buying your Motorcraft parts discount online. You can fix everything that looks shady or that you know is almost 15 years old since you bought the truck new for less than they charge to fix one thing. I did an estimate of my total bill at a local Ford Dealership. I guessed $4,000+ to do all the stuff I am doing for less than $1,800. I bet I'm not far off the mark. What got all this started was.......you guessed it.....fuel in the coolant and degas bottle overflowing and puking. It's an old truck that has been good to me for many many years. I can't bitch too much as I was a much younger man at the time I bought it in the Fall of 2001 too. I'm not so hot myself anymore....LOL Damn this late July and early August heat is killing my ass.........these last few weeks.

Replaced #7 in ours. Bottle was full of oil and fuel. Took lots of flushing and simple green to get rid of it all. Thanks for the info!

You sir......know your stuff! I’ve been a mechanic for many years and started my own small engine repair business after being an auto mechanic for several years. What I’m getting at is that I can tell very quickly if someone knows what they are talking about and you darn sure do. Of course there are a few (and I mean only a few) things that we do differently and that’s ok. We do what works for us and I’m sure I would use your methods if I had your exact experiences. Thank you for these videos. I am about to rebuild our 2003 6.0 Engine that has over 325k on it. Do you have any advice for me before I get started? Thank you and God bless you!

Great video just one small correction. Locktite is a anaerobic product, that means that it hardens in the absence of air so leaving it open will not make it harden only when it is deprived of air will it set up.

I wish Bill lived closer to he would have all of my business. I have learned alot from your video's. Bill your the professor of the powerstroke engine and I am your student.

OutStanding that we could help you sir. All the best.

Good informative video! Going to try this job for the first time. Feel very confident having watched ur video.

Awesome you always make it looks so easy an professional 👍

You guys do really great work, too bad he didn't want them all changed though. I'm sure the others are well on their way to being cracked.

I would have to look at my paperwork. I rented the tool online for 75.00, and it was for sale for like $275.00. I have a 7.3 and had this problem. I replaced all the cups just as he described.

very knowledgeable powerstroke guy.. keep the videos coming. if like to see 6.4 powerstroke fuel bleeding process as well

@BLIPit2RipiT There is minimal debris. A little scale or dust from the old glue. The best way to remove it is to use the clean towel and brake cleaner to swab it up.

@stinkey750 Its called blowby. It is a condition where the piston rings are no longer sealing as they should and the pressure of combustion is creating pressure in the crankcase. All diesels have some but alot is bad. This pressure pushes oil out of the breather which ends up in the air cleaner. In a word your motor is showing signs of being worn out.

I just found a black suit looking material in my degass bottle on my 6.0 with 250,000 miles..The local diesel shop says it is diesel fuel in the coolant and its a cracked head without even seeing the truck..Is there a chance that its just a cup and would your diag procedure be the same on the 6.0..Your Video's and knowledge of these motors is second to none and I don't know where I would be without them exept possibly paying a shady shop 9,000 dollars for heads instead of changing the cup

@crunksnizait When you reinstall the injectors the fuel and oil will come back into the heads during cranking. It takes a bit of cranking and there is usually a bunch of smoke from the tailpipe as the oil and fuel that got into the pistons is burnt off. AND it will take about 5 miles before all the air is worked out of the fuel and oil systems and the truck will run smooth.

I just got the last two injector cups pulled out a few hours ago tonight. I discovered several tips and tricks during the process. The first one is like what another guy said below me. Drop a penny down in their before you pull the cup. I learned that from Diesel Tech Ron also. These next ones I learned myself. I'm using the Riff Raff Diesel injector cup puller and installer tool. I went ahead and bought it so I have it in my shop. I don't like renting stuff and prefer to own it. Anyway the instructions aren't exactly clear on how to use this tool. I found that anything less than a large (at least 18" 1/2" drive flex head....up to a 24" 1/2" drive....or even a 3/4" drive) won't get this done. You have to screw the cutter head in at least 3/4 of a turn....to 1 full turn to get it to cut/catch deep enough so it won't release and slip out. Trying to use a 3/8" drive....even a long one?! Forget about it....you'll never get enough power on it. I'm not a weak guy either....I can dead lift 375 pounds and haul heavy boilers, water heaters, concrete slabs, furnaces, A/Cs, heat pumps, black steel pipe etc... around daily as a licensed HVAC technician. I cut 16,18, 24 and 30 gauge sheet-metal daily and have forearms that look like tree trunks......FORGET IT....you'll never get that 3/8" drive ratchet to work. One trick I found is to take a black Sharpie marker and mark your socket. You can guess when you made 3/4 to 1 full turn...but you will mess up and stop short without some sort of orientation on your socket. 3/4 to 1 full turn is very very tight. You feel like a 3/8" drive ratchet is going to break it's so tight....thus it's not the one to use. Once you get at least 3/4 a turn on the nut, she will pull right out. Use a pair of channel locks to grip the cup and a wrench wedged against your workbench on the nut to remove the pulled cup from the tool. Hook the long handled wrench on the nut and push it down against your bench for support and leverage. Use light pressure on the channel locks when unscrewing the cup so you don't deform it and make it tighter. It'll come loose and you can move onto the next.

Well done!! Gives ppl like me the confidence I can do this job, never have doing it before. Thank you!! One concern and one question though with the green threadlocker chosen. Would you not use Permatex 64000, which is a high temp sleeve retainer compound? And after using this compound, is it resistant to the 2EH acid found in ELC coolants and why early 7.3's had to/should only run a conventional coolant due to injector cup compound dissolving until Ford fixed that issue?

Thank you very much i have been looking for two years and i could never find a straight answer.

My favorite part of this video because I can see it happening somewhere is “you don’t grab the biggest hammer you own” the guy sitting at home working on his truck watching this video puts don’t the 10lb sledge and picks up the 32oz hammer hahah love you videos bill 👍

Thanks, you did a great service to show that for free!

Great vid. It's so easy to keep these 7.3's going.

Awesome explanation of the repair process.Thanks man.

Remove the glow plugs and rotate the engine with the new injectors installed. It will push out of the glow plug hole.

@klosnoski It is a poor parking brake system. You just have to replace the pads and hardware. If you go down the road with the brake on it's game over. Everything will have to be replaced.

@lotitomj I agree and it was just a couple hours more and less than $100 in parts, but it is his decision. I think he is selling it. Probably see it again with another cup gone bad.

@sweetv8s10 Injector cups are used all HEUI models Gen 1,2,3. (1994-2007)

We run the behr plugs from Germany with excellent results.

For those of you and the comment you don't understand what he just said when he said having the right tool for the job means a higher success rate and also having a higher chance of having a happy experience but that really needs do not shade tree mechanic in this case or ever with diesel engines just saying

Outstanding DIY explanation. Tant ammount to doing CAT cups

@klosnoski If you want the complete answer go to my YT vid "6.0 the perfect storm". But in a nutshell, the 6.0 (or the 7.3 for that matter) were ever designed specifically for the Ford application. These are navistar schoolbus engines shoehorned into the Ford chassis. In the 6.0 application the emissions standards for the F-series was much more stringent requiring the motor to run much hotter than the Navistar application. Many of the problems started here.

Uh, special tools. Gotta love the price of buying special tools. Brings back great memories of buying college text books. Over-inflated and overpriced products.

I bought my injector cup tools with the cups for less than 400 dollars from KT Performance.Lots of good deals from them.Like valve cover gaskets and rx glow plugs for all 8 total was 142.00 l think.free shipping to boot.

@floppycock9 Have you changed the oil recently. Regen will contaminate the oil with fuel especially if you are towing heavy.

these guys should be celebrities,..not the mainstream propaganda. think about it

@powerstrokehelp no its not consuming oil but the smoke out of the oil fill hole shoots up like half a foot and smells like unburnt diesel

@PWRSTR0KER2008 My late father used to say "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink." He was the ultimate salesman.

@BuhlzI Possibly a coolant additive but I doubt it.

Nice work. I have a 1999 with the 7.3 and went to replace all injectors. Whenever I did the #8, the copper seal must have slipped-off the injector during installation. I bent the copper seal and replaced it. Now, I get a-lot of hesitation. Is it possible that I cracked the injector sleeve? Also, how difficult was removing/installing the new cup on the #8? Thanks!!!

my ancestors were in the trees not that long ago. Got another one on the right had too. But it makes it hard to operate an Iphone.

not really. because the 45 degree angle I am more worried about what ends up in the coolant.

How much pressure do you pump it up too? I figure too much you’ll cause a cup to leak. Too little might not see the leak?

yes different tools. the grease, petroleum jelly is a good idea.

Bill, what is your best advice/info on 7.3 coolant cavitation? I've used the sca test strips, it's pretty simple but I figured maybe you'd have more knowledge on the matter. Thanks in advance.

If the hoses are spongy or when you have them apart they look gooey inside they need to be replaced. They will fail at the worst time.

Im doing cups now, my question is whats the best way to drive the rear cylinders in

Great and informative video. I've seen the same thing on a 60 series Detroit.

Very nice video, very informative, thank you Bill

My truck have white smoke,ive already chage my cylinder head gasket..but still have that smoke..fuel injector has been newly calibrated..is it possible that if the nozzles are dirty it will produce white smoke?

Any thoughts on stainless steel cups?

@b250xrider 255,xxx and it still has original injectors and runs great.

@stie09 You need a new Low pressure oil pump. Buy the melling part number it comes with a new housing.

I'm replacing the injectors in my 97 7.3 would replacing the cups be a good preventative maintenance practice or would it be better just to wait until one cracks?

where can i get ahold of the 160cc intensifier pistons at

Besides fuel in the cooling system, what are other symptoms or indicators of bad injector cups ?

@floppycock9 All diesels have a little. Is it consuming oil?

Hi bill i was just wondering if you pressure test it and did a water soap check on the new cup after the glue set up? Thanks for the great videos

@powerstrokehelp It's a 2004. I am in California near the coast..I looked up shipping and it was right around 1,200 for the one way. it looked like there is a very very small layer of diesel ontop of the oil/powder looking substance then clean coolant below when extracted form the degass bottle...I am hopeing it's a leaking cup and a failed oil/egr cooler but I will contact you tomorow to get you opinion if I could handle this myself with your video service or if it's best to bring it on over..

Got my Excursion 7.3 running coolant smells like paint thinner planning on replacing the injector cups from board also the injector O-rings but none of our local tool dealers has or offers installation or removal tool and someone else told me the the cup tool only last for a few uses if that's the case is there any particular brand tool you would recommend and where to purchase

Now when you thread the old cup wouldn't metal fillings go down into the combustion chamber, along with brake cleaner, dirt, coolant?

Another damn good video Billy! what kinda mileage did this rig have on it?

Could this cause oil in the coolant? I took my header off thinking it was a blow gasket, but notice that two out of the three injector cup had popped off.

@ powerstrokehelp. Thanks i will surely check that out your vids have been invaluable to me in terms of knowledge to assist my customers that have PSD's. On a side note what are the odds of picking your brain on the drum in hat brake sys. several of my customers have issues with them and i cant find any info on tips and tricks for the ford sys

I am currently doing this repair. I first noticed diesel in my coolant 5 years ago then I saw diesel leaking from an O-ring in the fuel filter and changed out the fuel filter ( seemingly unrelated issue ) I noticed the diesel was no longer getting into my degas bottle. just put in my 3rd fuel filter over the past five years with 10000 miles on the truck in the last 5 years (total of 181,000 now). I installed latest fuel filter 3 weeks ago and it didn't clear up the diesel in the degas bottle so I am switching out the cups now. Does it make any sense how swapping out a fuel filter would have helped this problem? or do i need ro look at somthing else. Thanks !

Bill I have a question. I’m doing a home rebuild on my 7.3. I’m planning on rebuilding the heads and I am going to purchase the tools and a cup kit. My question is my cousin mentioned to me taking the orings off of an old set of injectors and bolting them in after I installed the new cups. Do you think this will aid in the sealing of the cup or a precautionary measure to make sure it set and stays set while the locktite cures. The heads are off obviously so I have plenty of time to change them all. I’m just curious if installing blank injectors immediately after a cup install should be done or not? Or if doing so could possibly have any negative effects. I have a spare set I could easily undress and use.

What years used these injector cup or was it used in all powerstrokes?

Just got all Of the parts I need to take on this job. I probably dove a week/ week and a half maybe before diagnosing it. Do you think I will have to replace water pump, therm. Etc? Should I make that decision once I flush it all out

Bill, you dont seem concerned about any foreign metal particles falling into the combustion chamber as a result of tapping into the injector cup, why is this? im not anywhere near as knowledgeable as you are with these engines but i would think as a result of cutting threads into the injector cup you would create metal filings and the only place for them to go would be down.

Do you put something in the cup to stop metal chips falling into the cylinder?

Is there any way to prevent the glow plugs from breaking off during removal like maybe doing it when the engine is hot or something along those lines?

patience and lots of mystery oil and some heat if necessary.

@powerstrokehelp no its been about 3000 miles since i changed it, and it is pretty abused from towing/hauling big hydralic cylinders and what not so do you think its fine its got 90,000 miles on it

No o-ring on the cup? D12 13 over road tractors have Orings at the top out of the cup

hey my old 96 had two bad cups what an ordeal. now i have an 02 and if it sits for a day or two it fires right up then dies then cranks for 15 secs and fires up so the hi pressure oil resivoir is going dry just cant find where its going have you heard of this? thanks dan

I support this content.

Just wondering if I'd be able to install #7 with an installer like this?

how many miles is alot? Just took a truck in that ran for 2000mi with bad injector cups. Should the whole cooling system be replaced?

I just got a quote to diagnose and replace the cups on my 2001 excursion. it has 140,000 miles on it. they are telling me that they should check for a cracked head and just replace all the injectors while they are in there. total price $5k. seems steep to me. Thoughts?

Hello! I just have 2 simple questions, the injector cup tools, are they different for the 7.3 vs. the 6.0, and would it be a good idea to coat the extractor with grease or petroleum jelly so no metal shavings get inside the cylinder?

I dont have fuel smell in my coolant I don't think .... but I do have excessive coolant pressure instantly when I start the vehicle sounds like this might be my issue

The one question no one has a definitive answer on is what are the best glow plugs for these trucks Motorcraft, NGK, Diesel rx, etc? because i am looking to buy a 4x4 7.3 and i want to know as much as i can and that is a question i have never found an answer

I have same problem I don't know if it oil cooler bad or egr cooler bad but injector cup wow that can go in there (coolant leak in cup ) I learn something but what I did I take off egr and oil cooler ...is there way I can test it or too late ??

hi i have a truck that cranks but wont start dont have much info on it as it was bought from auction i want to know how much you will charge to look it over so i know how to proceed

I thought you needed to use a high temp locker? The green lock tight isn’t recommended due to it not being heat resilient. Is this correct or no?

please help out is the 6.4 poerstoke supposed to have blowby?

i have 150,000 miles and had en edge since 122,500 miles with 4 inch straight pipe all the time. would it be best to replace them now or is it a thing u do when it happens. i now u cant just determine without seeing it but just wondered if it was a good thing to do

@ powerstrokehelp. If they were a big sublet then why do the PSD'S prove so problematic? I have worked on cats and psd's and the binders' and honestly the cat huei and binder IDI have it all over the PSD in terms of non finickey-ness..it baffles me to no end

@powerstrokehelp Keep hearing a popping (almost a clunk) during low speeds and acceleration that kind sounds like my belt is slapping the hood of my 02 7.3L, am I hearing detonation or something internal (bent pushrod, exhaust leak, rod knock)? It has been bugging the heck out of me.

Yup. That and brain surgery are two things ill never check off my bucket list.