[Bcrain]

With it being winter I'm sure some owners are fighting hard or no starts. Well I was to. I replace my glow plug relay and it helped, but i still needed to plug in my block heater to have a good start if temps were going to be around 32. I chalked it up to my engine being old. In the mean time my starter went out and had to replace it. With new starter installed it turned over faster than ever and started like a champ. Last night the temps dipped to 15 and i never plugged in my block heater. I went to start my truck this AM and when the light went out i turned her over and it started right up. In short, with my test, a starter can make a world of difference in the winter.

 

[Alaskapsdvan]

Another thing that I learned way back is that just because the wait to start light goes out that is not the time to start, but rather waiting till the alt needle moves up again. When first turning the key the needle comes up to a point but it is not all the way up, if one watches it will move up again. I have the scanguage 2 for the van and when it lights up it is time to start the engine any time before that drains the batteries more.
Also run with lighter weight oil in the winter time.

 

[ArcticDriver]

Another thing that I learned way back is that just because the wait to start light goes out that is not the time to start, but rather waiting till the alt needle moves up again.

Dan,
Its true that the GPs continue to remain on after the "WTS" light goes off but I don't think it is a good idea to wait until the GPs actually go off before attempting to start the engine.

Ford has designed this so that the GPs stay on after the truck has started for a reason. Why ignore it?

When the fuel is introduced into the cylinder it has an immediate cooling effect and the continued power to the GPs counteracts that. If you wait until the GPs turn off before introducing that cooling effect then its counter-productive.

Right?

 

[greenskeeper79]

hot engine start immediately

>32F start when WTS light goes out

<32F start when fuel pump shuts off (but GPs are still energized)

 

[bugman]

According to my factory manual the glow plugs stay on after starting the truck to burn off excessive carbon that is built up on them during starting. So in theory if you wait until they shut off before you try to start your truck that carbon could build up leading to a shortened life span of the glow plug.

If anything I would wait a short time after the wts light goes out and then start the truck. If you are having problems you might want to test the whole glow plug system including the relay even if it is suppose to be new and working OK.

 

[DENNY]

I have had the starter issue twice so far. It is easy to miss because the truck still turns over but once you put in a good one you notice it really spins which helps with the starting.
DENNY

 

[Alaskapsdvan]

I know that as long as the glow plugs are off it starts better when it is below 0. I have tried to start it about one minute in and more times than not it struggles to start and that is with good batteries and good starter.
Maybe my van is the odd duck in this.