Cold Start Problem

[RoGrrr]

Temperature here in Ohio has been well below freezing for the past week. I've had some hard starting episodes. I let the GPs heat for 10-15 seconds and crank. After about 10 seconds of cranking, the engine starts to sputter like it WANTS to run but dies as soon as I let off the key. If I continue to crank while it's sputtering, it continues sputtering until the batteries go flat and I have to put it back on the charger.

After several sessions of this, I switched back over to straight diesel fuel and got the same thing. That tells me that there is something more than just an "oil for fuel" issue.

Not being used to diesels, I had forgotten that I have a block heater so this evening I plugged it in for about 3 hours and tried again. Similar start condition with it trying to run while the starter was cranking but dying. Did that for a couple more times and got it started, but it idled very roughly and if I didn't play with the pedal, it died. This happened twice so I got it started again and played the pedal and kept it running. After about 30 seconds of pedal playing it ran relatively normally and I was able to plow my lane.

The block heater SEEMED to help me some but I don't think it's the panacea we all would like to have.
I have 8 working glow plugs so I know that isn't my problem. I'm running about 2/3 WMO and one third fuel oil.

With that stupid idiot gauge that doesn't give any useful information I don't really know what the cranking voltage is. However, it is just below the "N" on Normal. I plan to put a dedicated VOLTMETER (not some 'relative' POS like Ford uses) right on the starter terminal so I can read what I really have.

I have plenty of smoke out the stacks while cranking so I know it's being well fed.

Another thing is that I don't get the WTS light any more. Dunno why but it just doesn't come on. However, it is just an annoyance and I wait anyway.

What do you fellas think might be my problem ? Should I let the GPs run longer ?

[french2]

You NEED to change your glowplugs thats a major part....when was the last time they was changed anyways.....i had the same problem and the fell apart and one end fell in the cylinder and the other stayed in place come to find out they havent been changed i about 6 years!!! but once you change the glowplugs you wont have a problem starting it with it around 10 degrees as long as you have good battries loll

[cdnsarguy]

What year is your truck, are you manually doing the GPs. With no WTS light how do you determine the GP system is working. I think your problem is your batteries/starter are not spinning the engine fast enough. If they go flat while cranking they are not up to peak performance. You need a PAIR of batteries 800CCA minimum in excellent condition, no miss matches.

Without the light you have no idea how long if at all the GPs are working......if the controller is working correctly you can do several key on warmups of the gps one right after another with no problem of burning out the gps.

[RoGrrr]

Well, to answer all your questions:

The truck is a 96 with 205,000 miles on it. I replaced ALL 8 glow plugs 1000 miles ago, which was this time last winter. The reason I changed them was a hard start/no start problem. I found that only 2 of the plugs were working. Also I had a bad connector on the valve cover gasket so I replaced the gaskets and repaired the burned out harness plug and replaced the UVCHs, too.
Even without the WTS light, you can tell when the GPs light up if you watch the voltmeter. I also hear the relay click when the plugs light up.

I'll do a current check of the batteries. You could be right about the batteries being marginal. I also wonder about the terminal clamps and have been thinking about replacing them so I can tighten them to hold onto the posts.

[Plywood]

We'd like to help you here, but you will have better luck with the Powerstroke portion of this site since that is what you have.

Add a signature of what your truck is and give it a try there, I think it is titled 94-97 Powerstrokes.

Good Luck!

[kingpin idi]

I live i far north ohio and have the same problem with my 1990 with 165000miles new glowplugs about 2 months ago new glowplug controller last month and it fires up instantly with the block heater randomy i will shut it off and wont start like 30 min later and have to crank it alot. When i go to school and let it sit for 5 hours it will just crank and i hear the glow plugs clicking. Twice it cranked till it was deaed (with breaks betwen trys) and had to get it jumped by my friends powerjoke what would cause this? it does smoke a bit when cranking

[cdnsarguy]

My best guess is............

I'm running about 2/3 WMO and one third fuel oil.

You need to shut off the WMO before shut down and run diesel so it starts..... next time.

[Evel486]

Ditto on the diesel switch. Ditto on good batteries.
Also check the voltage drop across the 2 large terminals of the gp relay. If more than 0.3 volts drop, replace the relay. These relays are famous for wearing out.

[RoGrrr]

What I have found is that WHEN it starts on WMO, it starts quicker/easier. It's when it doesn't start that I'm trying to figger out.

What you may not know is that MO has more BTU/unit than #2 diesel. That translates into more HorsePower, higher EGT and most likely, better fuel mileage. However, I can't check mileage since I don't meter the amount I put in the AUX tank. Not that I really care since I get my MO FREE !

As that old AlkaSeltzer commercial used to say - Try it, You'll like it !

BTW, you gotta filter, Filter FILTER it....

Originally Posted by cdnsarguy

My best guess is............


You need to shut off the WMO before shut down and run diesel so it starts..... next time.