7.3L Power Stroke Engine and DrivetrainDiscussion of the 7.3L Power Stroke diesel engine and drivetrain in the 1999-Up Super Duty trucks and Excursions. No gas engine discussion allowed except on transmissions and drivetrain that pertain to all models. Please confine discussion of topics in this forum to those items that are specific to the 7.3L Power Stroke engine.
I’m having an interesting starting issue with my ’01. It only appears to happen when the truck sits for a period of time, like overnight. Here’s the lowdown:
-Turn on the glow plugs, the gauges come on, the radio come on as normal
-After 2-3 seconds, I hear a “click” and the radio shuts off for about 1 second, then comes back on
-When I try to start it, it really struggles for a second or two before it seemingly finds all its power to spin the engine fast enough to start.
If I use a multimeter to check the voltages across the terminals while idling, I get 13 volts on the passenger battery, but only 11.5 on the drivers side.
Driver’s battery is new (1 month). Passenger battery is ~1.5 years old. Terminals and cables are clean with anti-corrosion stuff on them.
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2001 F250 7.3L Powerstroke, extend cab, short bed
Last edited by CarbotechMatt : 09-01-2008 at 08:48 PM.
Probably time for a new battery. Mine have done this exact thing before, here in AZ batts go fast in the extreme heat. I'll bet if you replace the batt, it will disappear.
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2001 F250 SC PSD Auto XLT 4x4, Dark Green 4x4, Autometer guages, Superchips Flashpaq, 4" turbo back exhaust, no kitty or muffler. Loving every minute of it. Major POS 2008 Dodge 3500 Quad 4x4, 6.7 CTD, Auto(bought back by Chrysler). 2000 F250,XLT PSD, ZF6, Luk clutch,Hypertech Power Programmer, Autometer guages, Wedgewood Blue over silver, 200,000 troublefree miles. Missing my old friend.
Last edited by Mark Wisehart : 08-30-2008 at 03:53 PM.
Thing is, the battery that *appears* to have the issue (driver's side) is brand spanking new. It does not appear to be charging correctly. Is that possible?
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2001 F250 7.3L Powerstroke, extend cab, short bed
A few years back I was working on a 280ZX and it went through 3 batteries in two months, all under warranty but each developed a bad cell, One battery lasted 4 days! They can come "out of the box" no good.
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1994 F-350 7.3 IDI Turbo, crew cab, E4OD, LB, Dually,
ATS Turbo upgrades: 3" DP with 3" exhaust Magnaflow XL muffler: Pictures Here
1997 Jayco fifth wheel 323 RKS, Robins 16K dual axis hitch
Apillar pod with: Autometer C2 Series gauges: pyro,trans, boost
Hypermax Cowl induction, Flex-A-Lite 26K tranny cooler w/fan
K&N air filter (we'll see in a million miles)
Tekonsha "prodigy" brake control
Train Horns: Pictures here
These batteries really need to be replaced in sets, so there balanced per say. An old battery will pull down a new battery, as well as take out the alternator over time. I would pull both batteries and have them load tested. You will likely find your passenger battery is bad.
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2004 F-350 Lariat, Supercab 4X4 FX4, DRW
Dark Toreador Red/Silver, 6.0L, Torqueshift Auto, ESOF, 4.10 LS, Camper Package, Dual Alternators. Build Date 6-8-04, Eng 5-28-04, Lance 9.5 Ft Camper.
Can you describe? Can Autozone or Advance Auto do that?
Probably. The Wally World up here sells batteries and has a tester (breifcase size). What it does is put a load on the battery and measure it's strength.
Make sure that the batteries aren't connected together when the test is done. Best is to have them out of the truck, but if it's too much work for that, just disconnect the ground cables.
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