Hard start in mornings - Diesel Forum

turbo_2006 · 11-24-2008, 09:52 PM

Got a 06 and in the mornings its very hard to start. Havnt tried plugging it in yet, but i think that im going to have to. It will start up and then die several times then it will finally take off. I am wondering if i have bad glow plugs or a couple bad injectors. The other morning it was like 18 deg out and that was when it was the worst. It smoked like a freight train when it started up. The truck has 56,000 miles on it. The fuel pump was pumping and i didnt have jelled fuel.

OT · 11-24-2008, 11:52 PM

t..try pluggin for few hrs. before cold starting.. may/maynot make a diff.? Also.. if what appears to be smoke is a "snow white color" and slowly goes away as e. warms..that's normal.(water vapor) JMO!

btw..it mighta belched some black smoke due to restarting which could be considered normal..steady black smoke that dosen't clear up isn't normal.

Strix · 11-25-2008, 11:08 PM

had the same problem with a check engine light. took it in it was the ICP sensor.. starts great now...

snakeyezzz · 11-26-2008, 05:44 PM

I had the same problem. The one day it would not start at all. Ended up being 2 injectors, the FICM, and the unison ring on the turbo. Get it checked out soon so it doesn't cost more than it should.

turbo_2006 · 11-26-2008, 11:28 PM

When does the warranty run out on these trucks? Can a dealer void your warranty for having a cat and muffler deleted?

galexander · 11-26-2008, 11:35 PM

Have you got the latest flash? I think it is called the inductive heat flash. It helps out with cold starts. I think it is around $100 from the dealer

rforsythe · 11-27-2008, 10:23 AM

First off try plugging it in for at least a few hours before you run it on cold mornings, as someone else said. Your injectors work from oil pressure, so it could just be that thick, cold oil is preventing it from firing right up.

Mine will start when cold if I don't run the block heater, but it is not happy about it. It clanks and smokes and feels like a cylinder is half-missing until it builds some heat up. Running the block heater though makes it start like summertime. I also get the feeling the extra cold noise is from tolerances between parts that don't tighten up until hot and probably some less than ideal lubrication with really cold oil, so that's probably extra wear and tear on the engine that can be avoided.

Def. get the inductive heat flash done (I will be having the dealer check my truck for it in a couple weeks) but if you have a block heater, use it!

Also try some fuel additive. Stanadyne seems to be the universally accepted best one (and I like it as well), but Power Service is fine too; they have a winter blend, white bottle I think. Stanadyne has a 'Performance Formula' that I generally use, but I understand they also have a winter additive if you think you need it. Since most pumps have anti-gel added in the winter anyway that may be redundant, so you can probably just stick with the Performance blend. It boosts Cetane among other things, and smooths out the engine along with helping cold starts. Also try a tank or two of B20, since it has a cleansing effect and might help your injectors out (just be aware that it also cleanses your tank and might knock deposits into the filters).

XXcumminkillaXX6.0 · 11-27-2008, 11:07 AM

do not let them flash your somputer in the truck.. it robs power and mileage.. dont i did it and noticed at least a good 50 pounds of tourque gone from that flash.. check out if its injectors or something else but dont tlet them flash it..

Justin C. · 11-28-2008, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XXcumminkillaXX6.0

do not let them flash your somputer in the truck.. it robs power and mileage.. dont i did it and noticed at least a good 50 pounds of tourque gone from that flash.. check out if its injectors or something else but dont tlet them flash it..

I had mine flashed and noticed no difference in power or mileage at all. I've heard of a few others who have, but most I've talked to did not have any change. It made a night and day difference in how well my truck started cold too.

Justin

bcgore · 11-29-2008, 05:22 PM

Just another possibility ..

When I had my 2002 7.3 it started OK, but would fill the yard with grayish whitish smoke on a cold start, MUCH more than normal.

After a few mornings of this (truck was new, didn't seem right, but wasn't sure) the truck died on the side of the road.

Turned out to be a cracked injector, from the factory probably. Was dropping diesel into the oil and tailpipe.

redryder737 · 11-29-2008, 07:43 PM

I have a 2003 Ford F-350 with the 6.0. Bought the truck used with over 100,000 miles. Cold weather come around and it sounded like it was hitting on 2 or 3 cylinders and a little smoke would also come out. One dealership said it was the glow plugs but after checking them all, found out that wasn't it. That whole winter i kept it pluged up cause it would crank and run fine as long as i done that. Bad part is i fish in the winter so that was a problem. Finally i took it to a dealership that re-programed the computer and it worked fine up until a few weeks ago. Its not quite as bad as it was but seems to be getting worse the colder it gets. Guess i will take it back and get them to program it again unless one of you guys can come up with something better. Love my truck and the toyota guys want me to trade'r in. I told them i would plug it in and quit fishn before i would give in.

turbo_2006 · 11-30-2008, 09:36 PM

I bought this truck at the end of 05. I dont think that programing is the problem. This truck has only been to the dealer once and that was for a new turbo because they said the vanes were sticking. I have started this truck many times in the cold at work when it wasnt pluged in. It hasnt got that cold again here. But it has been starting ok so far. I just hope that maybe it was a fluke thing and it dont happen again. It just seems odd that it done that it has never done that before.

Justin C. · 12-01-2008, 12:23 AM

It sure sounds like the programming though. Mine used to start fine cold, but got progressively worse as the miles went up. New programming fixed it. It's usually just $50-$100 for the dealer to update the programming.

Justin

Smiley1 · 12-01-2008, 09:36 AM

I got the inductive heat flash after my last camping trip in the snow. It would start but miss pretty bad.

After the flash I noticed no difference in mileage or power. Its starts great though.

A little off topic: Why are there no programs that offer original International power ratings? I would have given up HP for more torque. I wonder how 230 hp and 620 tq would tow.