TOOL BRIEFING Another service regeneration utilizing the Ultra proved the repair and the customer was back to work again. It's not always a high-dollar specialty tool that gets the job done but rather the right tool for the job at hand, especially when it comes to finicky sensors in sometimes difficult-to-access locations. A small investment leads to many headaches saved down the road. CASE STUDY 3: 2006 FORD F-350 6.OL - EXTENDED CRANK/LOW POWER/ INTERMITTENT STALLING A customer brought this vehicle in with a complaint of extended crank when cold and hot as well as low power and intermittent stalling. A visual inspection while performing a full system scan with my Autel Ultra showed major oil leaks on the top end of the engine as well as a loose air cleaner assembly. An aftermarket oil filter cap (tall) was also noted during this inspection - those of you familiar with these engines will know that when one mixes an aftermarket cap with an OE style filter, issues arise due to lack of proper compression of the anti-drain back valve in the filter housing. The information gained during a visual inspection can be invaluable when diagnosing a vehicle and putting together the pieces of the puzzle. The full system scan reported multiple DTCs including: P0274:E0 Injector Circuit High, P0275:60 Cylinder Contr ibut ion/Balance, P0279:E0 Cylinder 7 Injector Circuit Low, P0528:60 Cooling Fan Speed Sensor No Signal, and P0470 Exhaust Pressure Sensor. A basic analysis of the wiring diagrams to get reacquainted with system layout led me to the removal of the air cleaner and intake tube for a further inspection. This revealed rub-through damage to a main leg of the wire harness as well as oil damage to the insulation of the exhaust back pressure (EBP) sensor harness (Figure 3). Repairs were made to the wiring harness utilizing Bluepoint PWC7A wire strippers and a Milwaukee Tool 2488 cordless soldering iron and testing continued. p Figure 3 - Exhaust back pressure sensor. p Figure 4 - Autel Ultra and OTC noid light. The truck still exhibited a long crank and low power complaint. Monitoring scan data confirmed that the system was struggling to meet the desired minimum 500 psi injection control pressure (ICP) and that the injection pressure regulator (IPR) duty cycle was running around 85 percent duty cycle (quite a far cry from the normal 22 to 28 percent) indicating either an IPR fault or a major oil leak. As someone who prefers to gather as much data with the least amount of effort, I pulled out two tools to delve deeper here. The first is an IPR controller, the 44 PTEN OCTOBER 2021 www.VehicleServicePros.com OTC 6764, that allows me to manually control the IPR as well as the appropriate noid light (OTC Noid Light Kit 3054E) to install into the IPR pigtail of the engine harness (Figure 4). Scan tool bidirectional control could be used on it's own here as but would still requires confirmation that the signal is reaching the IPR; this method tests both the solenoid and the harness/PCM (powertrain control module) at the same time. The noid light confirmed that the engine controller's command was reaching the solenoid and the IPR controller confirmed thathttp://www.VehicleServicePros.com