I may have found my loss of power (WITH PICS)

[Robert6401]

I still really need help, so thanks for all I've gotten and will get. I didn't mention this earlier because I was waiting until I could get home and snap a few pics, but I noticed what looks like a missing bolt on the intake plenum. See pics here:

The pics are progressively zooming in
http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu88/Robert6401/Truck%20Stuff/100_3787.jpg

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu88/Robert6401/Truck%20Stuff/100_3786.jpg

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu88/Robert6401/Truck%20Stuff/100_3784.jpg


I hope you can see in the pics what bolt I'm talking about. And if I am correct, I would think this bolt would definitely hold in some sort of pressure, especially under heavy loads. Please let me know what y'all think. If that is a missing bolt, does anyone know what size and thread the bolt is that I need to get to replace it???

Thanks.

[cleatus12r]

Bob, I can send you the bolt (I have a ton of extras) but being that I have removed quite a few of those, I can say with near absolute certainty that the sealant that holds those plenums on is nearly bulletproof and a leak there would be REALLY wet with oil....not just a bit damp and dirty like yours is. In addition, the bolt hole is a "blind" hole which means that it doesn't go through the casting into a place where it will leak through the bolt hole.

[Robert6401]

Cody, what if I was to tell you that even though there isn't much oil right there, I do have quite a bit of oil in the valley and all over the backside of the engine, and it's new, since the last couple of weeks.

I was actually trying to figure out where that was coming from, too, but haven't had any luck yet.

Iisnt it possible that all these things are connected? Increased noise, loss of power under load, everything sprayed with oil, and now this missing bolt????

[cleatus12r]

I suppose it's possible....as is anything. I am a bit concerned about just sticking a bolt in it and hoping that the silicone actually seals it up again. Once the cured silicone is ripped apart, it's no good. You can try it though!


I'll send you a bolt (you may have to send me your address again :crazy: ) but I can ship it Monday.

On edit:

The oil that I'm noticing in the pictures is pretty common of loose clamps on the orange hoses from the "y" into the plenum. I've fixed a couple "rear main seal leaks" just by tightening those clamps.

[Robert6401]

Thanks for all the help Cody. Really, if you can just tell me the particulars of the bolt then I will just go to the autoparts store and get one. They should have it, right?

I will recheck the clamp on the orange boots tomorrow.

Thanks again.

[907DAVE]

The bolt is a 8mmX 1.25 and is 5/8 long.

The bolt that was suppose to be in there looks like this.


http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt274/907dave9/0_1.jpg


IIRC it was for the ground wire that went to your AIH.

On edit it looks like the ground wire is still there but it doesn't look like it is hooked up.....or is it?

Sorry but I am with Cody on this one.

[Robert6401]

The AIH was removed when we installed my gauges. I didn't actually do it, but my friend did. That may be when the bolt was loosened or something. My boost gauge plugs into an AIH delete plug.

[Jeremy]

On your oil leak....

Since you have an 03, check the two high pressure oil hose fittings that connect to the left side of the HPOP. The O-ring on those fitting can fail(especially on 02's and 03's), and can cause a valley/rearmain appearence oil leak. It can be tough to see, but it will appear to have a washed down look to it, just under each of the two fittings. You can't quite see the HPOP in your pictures....

On your bolt, I'll bet its in the Valley still, look around and fish around with a magnet. You'll probably find it.

[Robert6401]

Alright, so I haven't had time to build a leak detector, but I had a few minutes this morning so I had the wife do a brake stand and run the truck up to about 2500rpm and 15psi of boost. I put some soapy water around the hole and there was a tad bit of bubbling, not much really. But then I put my finger over the hole and it was a steady flow of a good amount of air, and it directly correllated to the boost and rpm. When she let off the pedal, the airflow out of the hole went away. So, what do you guys think now? I would think I found my problem and need to plug the hole to fix it. But I wanted to keep y'all in the loop and get your input.

[cleatus12r]

Put a bolt in it. If you felt air coming out of the bolt hole, then by all means, plug that bad boy up with a new bolt!!

I am wondering HOW you are getting air out of the bolt hole as both pairs of heads I have here have blind holes in that location. Maybe the casting is different or something.

Regardless, that is definitely an issue!

[Robert6401]

I definitely can't explain it Cody, but there was definitely air coming out of the hole. I really hope this fixes my problem, and I am also hoping that some of the extra noise I have been hearing from the motor is coming from that hole.

[Robert6401]

Alright Guys, I built a boost leak detector and that is the best thing I have ever done! I highly reccomend it to anyone, especially if you are tuned. I was able to determine that without a doubt that bolt hole was leakin like a sieve. One of my orange plenum boots was leaking a little bit, too, so I tightened it down. But it is obvious that that bolt hole was killing my power. When we did the AIH delete plug, we forgot to put that bolt back in! I never generated enough boost in stock tunes to really tell, but I am stoked to see what my truck does towing my camper now with that hole plugged. Thanks for all the help everyone, and by all means, if you haven't done it yet BUILD A BOOST LEAK DETECTOR. It's easy and worth ten times it's weight in gold.

[907DAVE]

Nice! Glad to hear you got it figured out.

To everyone else, if you do this be sure to disconnect and plug your CCV hose or pressure up the system at the turbo itself. Bad things can happen when your crankcase has 20psi in it.

[Robert6401]

Oh crap Dave, that is the first I have heard of that!!! Did I screw something up? I connected my boost leak detector AT the CCV coupler! What do I need to look out for?

[cleatus12r]

Crank seal leaks.....

[Robert6401]

ALright Cody, you know I'm still learning here. I don't even know where a crank-seal leak would manifest itself. Point me in the right direction.

[cleatus12r]

Either behind the crankshaft harmonic balancer in the front or as a rear main seal out of the back by the flywheel.

[Robert6401]

Geez, thats honestly like greek to me. This is so frustrating because I had a lot of people tell me I had to put a boost leak detector on it to find the problem, but no one told me to avoid this scenario. I guess I should just run it and look for oil dripping under the truck??????

[907DAVE]

Honestly, you would have heard a "POP" followed be rushing air.

You should be fine if you didn't, but I would keep a close eye on it.

[Robert6401]

Well, I ran the truck for about 5 minutes before going to bed last night and looked all around the engine and underneath to see if I could see any oil dripping and I didn't see anything at all. The only "POP" I head was when the detector came apart under pressure because one of the clamps wasn't tight enough. Hopefully I escaped harming the crankcase. Another lesson learned, thankfully not the hard way - so far!

Thanks guys!

[fifity]

BUILD A BOOST LEAK DETECTOR


....any links?

[Robert6401]

This isn't in this forum, so I hope it's ok, but I don't see why it would be a problem:

home made boost leak detector - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums (http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/606434-home-made-boost-leak-detector.html)

[907DAVE]

Whoa......you are on that forum and DONT have a DP tuner, careful you might get banned.:hehe:




J/K:D

[Robert6401]

HAHA, I know, right?! They are big DP fans. I wanted to do something different from everyone else, plus they actually speak very highly of Bill over there also. Bill, Jody, TW, Swamps, Beans, all seem to get respect over there. Just don't brag about your Banks stuff and you'll be ok!