2000 7.3PSD Excursion Starting problems

[OTechNE]

We have a 2000 Ford Excursion 7.3L Turbo Diesel that we've been having problems with starting. It'll crank over and after about a minute of straight cranking it'll fire a few times (if we're lucky it'll fire up and idle) but as soon as the rpms stabilize it loses all fuel and dies.

We've tried the fuel cut off reset to no avail and the Genysis hasn't picked up anything related to our problem.

Any ideas?

[shamuex2000]

Too much cranking like that and you will be replacing the starter soon. The batteries have to be fully charged. There must be ample supply of non-jelled fuel in the tank. Key on will activate the fuel pump on a timer. Listen for it. Open the fuel filter cover and see if its full of fuel. If not, you have a fuel problem. Filter clogged, or pump bad? If you have fuel, then you need high pressure oil for the injectors. Is the crank case full? Remove the plug at the right top of the oil reservoir (in front of the filter housing) and see if it is full of oil. If not, add diesel crank case oil until it is. Crank the engine for no longer than 10 seconds. If it doesn't start, what color is the smoke coming from the exhaust. White? The glow plugs might not be working. Plug in the block heater for 30 min and then try again.