[markavelli]

No power when cold, engine dies...videos showing problem

This is my work truck not the one in my avatar, Its a 2000 superduty 7.3 .

No power when cold is normal i know, but its getting worse. to the point were it will choke out and die while I'm going down the road. Then struggles to start again. But as soon as the temp needle starts to move it works fine.

Below are links to videos I made this morning. First one shows the lack of throttle response when its cold. This is after I idled the engine for 5 min. the truck eventually died a few blocks later. The second video shows how bad it is when I finally get it restarted.

Any idea what to do? its gotta be something simple. Any help is appreciated. Thanks all.

BTW I live in San Diego so its 60, 70 degrees in the morning.



1st video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSt05nOf_SY


2nd video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vn4YWb5PO0

 

[mmsafd]

Re: No power when cold, engine dies...videos showing problem

Not sure but you may want to stop driving that thing. It sounds terrible. My EX sounds kinda like that when the IDM is acting up. Do you have a SES light? If so have you pulled any codes?

 

[JimTJr]

Re: No power when cold, engine dies...videos showing problem

First thing I would check is the FUEL PUMP. From the knocking it sounded like it was starving for fuel, or barely had enough to keep running, when it does this, either remove the fuel filter lid after it dies, see how much is in there, or open the water separator drain and have someone cycle the key, (Put a rubber hose onto the metal tube that stops about the top of the oil pan on the passenger side and run the hose down thru one of the holes in the cross member) That way you can catch the fuel that is pumping out, it should come out at about 60 lbs of pressure and at quite a large volume too. Drain the bowl fist, that way all your pulling out when you measure is what the pump is pushing, not any that is in there draining,,(Seems I remember about a gallon a minute, which would be a quart/15 seconds) Catch the fuel and time it,, if it is substantially less that would be the culprit. (Maybe once the pump warms up some it will seal/pull fuel better?)

Other things are HPOP level in the reservoir? Maybe the LPOP is not keeping that supplied well, but that would less likely be a warm cold situation I doubt..(I dont know why it would work better warmed up...)
EBV sticking? (But that would not cause the knock and hard start after it died,,) Fuel pumps are pretty common, check it out.

 

[action4478]

Re: No power when cold, engine dies...videos showing problem

Read This ... & scroll down to page 5....

 

[markavelli]

Re: No power when cold, engine dies...videos showing problem

No "engine light" comes on, so no codes.

I'll look into the fuel pump as a possible source.

Forgot to mention the truck has 85k miles. Good oil level.

In the second video when I got it restarted, notice the temp needle has just started to rise. When the engine started idling smooth it stayed that way and the truck ran perfect for the rest of the day. It acts like that every morning. So what I do is let it sit in my driveway idling until the temp needle moves then I goto work with no probs.

There's something about the engine temp.... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/vulnerable.gif

Thanks Action, I downloaded the HPOP manual and I will look at page five this evening.

 

[JimTJr]

Re: No power when cold, engine dies...videos showing problem

Great link about the HPOP, I downloaded it too!
But really in all the reading on this forum I have done, and every one I have talked to, HPOPs seldom go bad,,,, /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/phoney.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shrug.gif
Also why would it be a cold only issue, he did not mention he has "hard start" when cold, just no power, and after it dies, then it is hard to start, really sounds fuel related to me,, very possible that after the truck is warmed up, and pump is warmed up it will push enough,, does it still have good power at WOT,,, when warm?

 

[action4478]

Re: No power when cold, engine dies...videos showing problem

Page 5 of the article talks about the lube oil pump....

 

[JimTJr]

Re: No power when cold, engine dies...videos showing problem

Ahh, after looking again, I see that, and it supplies the reservior for the HPOP! Sorry,,
They do fail from time to time, I know!
A way to check that would be when it is running poorly, check the level in the HPOP reservoir..

 

[action4478]

Re: No power when cold, engine dies...videos showing problem

He may want to change the oil & see what happens, it stated this can be a maintainence problem

 

[02Powerstroke]

Re: No power when cold, engine dies...videos showing problem

Check the oil level.. sounds low

 

[klhansen]

Re: No power when cold, engine dies...videos showing problem

Was that relays clicking I heard on the second video? Also looked like the battery light or something was coming on when you cranked it (at least a few of the indicator lights were on when cranking). If that's the case, you may just have low batteries. While cranking, the voltage drop may cause the PCM and IDM to shut down.

You might check your batteries or check cranking voltage to see if it's at least above 9V.

Those videos were a great idea to help with diagnosis.

Let us know what you find out.

 

[artherd]

Re: No power when cold, engine dies...videos showing problem

Sorry I can't help furthur, BUT I have a 2002 F450 7.3 with the same problem.

It is NOT the GPR (tests good with voltmeter.)
It is NOT the EBPV (tests good also.)
It is NOT the batteries (just replaced with 2 new Optimas to confirm.)

It does not SEEM to be the HPOP (autoenguinity says it makes 2400psi under load.)

Truck will barely run cold, like yours it sounds as though it is on 3 cyl. Within 5-10min of idle, it will run well with plenty of power.

 

[markavelli]

Problem Solved

Well I was right about one thing, it WAS a simple thing. However the rest is a bit embarrasing. IT WAS THE OIL LEVEL!!!!!! I just checked it a couple months ago and my truck drips no more than one drop a day, but it was a whopping 5 qts low. Thats 1/3 low. pretty bad. Anyways, added oil and now its back to normal. Now I have to figure out why its using up so much oil. My other truck NEVER needs oil in between the regular changes I give it. Oh well, thanks for all the replies and help.

 

[action4478]

Re: Problem Solved

very likely Injector O Rings.....

 

[MADVAN]

Re: Problem Solved

Sometimes its the easy things in life.
With that amount gone. Get yourself some injector o-rings on standby.
Dam 55k on a 97 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Bill