Guys, I am hoping for some guidance here. I have an 89 F350 7.3L engine. Sorry for the length of this post, but I am hoping to provide enough info in the first go-round.

We typically don’t drive this truck very often, we bought it to pull my wife’s horse trailer and sometimes we will go weeks without starting it… I know we need to crank it up more, and with hunting season starting at the end of the month, she will be driving it at least once a week.

Last week we went to move the beast and it would not crank and as we tried it sounded like we were just draining the batteries, so I pulled them and hooked them up to the battery charger. They are now both ~ 12VDC. While doing this I also changed the fuel filter… no idea when it had been done before we bought it. While changing the filter I noticed that there was a small red wire that was supposed to be hooked up to the bottom of the filter. The connector was still attached, but the wire had been cut. I put on a new connector and reattached it when I replaced the filter. Also, I filled it up with clean diesel before installing.

Well I hooked up the batteries and cleaned the posts and connectors (replaced one of them) and went to go start it last night, but no start.
Wife got in and turned the key and the WAIT TO START light came one and then went right back off, the relay was clicking and once it stopped she tried to crank it up and it would not crank. It sounded better as the batteries were now charged, where last week, it just sounded like it was dying, due to the low charge in the batteries. We tried a few more times but still no start.

Does anyone have an idea what is wrong here?

I used to have a VW Jetta 1.9L diesel that was air locked once and when I replaced the fuel filter and tried to flush it all through I just had to keep cranking to get the air out and enough fuel in the engine to start it and once I got it to start and drove it around it cranked up each time after that.
Could the issue be that when I replaced the filter there was still just a little bit of air that needs to be pushed though the engine and I should keep trying? I am hesitant to just keep trying to crank it, in fear of burning out the starter, but just not sure if I need to just keep pushing it.

Typically, I have been turning it on, wait for the relay to stop clicking, and trying to crank for about 15-20 seconds and then turning it off for about 20-30 seconds and then trying again.

Thanks for your time and any advice/help on this one!

Brooks

PS, Last November I replaced the glow plugs and the Glow Plug Controller, as I was having issues getting it started without the block heater on it and once I got all of that replaced it had been starting up fine.

I had to move this topic over.

 

With air in the system after changing the fuel filter, you'll have to crank it a lot to get it re-primed. Crank for 10 seconds, then let the starter cool for a minute. Keep the battery charger on it.
Even if you think it surely should be primed by now, keep it up...
The WTS light should go on for about 10 seconds on a cold engine, then go off, and the controller will cycle the plugs for a while (the clicking you hear) to keep them warm to help keep the engine running. You should start the engine when the WTS light goes out, while the plugs are cycling... The WTS light going off too soon is a symptom of burned out glow plugs, bad glow plug wiring, or bad controller. If it's cold, and the plugs aren't working correctly, it can be tough to get it started, especially if the starter isn't spinning it over very fast...

 

Thanks for your reply PHY! I think you have helped me in the past!
I take it I should hook up the battery charger on the main battery while trying to crank it up?
I was thinking that there might be air in the system even with the filter full, air just gets places. Like I mentioned that is what I had to do with my Jetta TDI, just keep trying, I just wanted to ask before I ended up burning out the starter.

The WTS light was working fine before I changed the filter and recharged the batteries and I put in new Motorcraft plugs and a whole new GP Controller back in November and I doubt that it has gone bad in such a short time… especially when it was working fine last month. But I will keep an eye on it and do some testing as well.

But what I am getting from you is, hook up some additional power on the battery and just keep trying.
Thanks,
Brooks

 

Yeah, just keep it up. Plugging the block heater in can't hurt, either.

Oh, the small wire on the bottom of the filter is for the water-in-fuel sensor.

 

When you say crank, are you saying the starter is not cranking the engine, or the engine just wont start up?

 

"Cranking" means the ignition switch is in the start position, and the starter is turning the engine over.

 

I know that I was trying to figure out if the OP did, as he contradicted himself in wording and I was trying to figure out what it was he meant by "crank". Because if it "Would not crank", it could be something as simple as a starter/starter solenoid/loose wire. However if it cranks and "will not start" it could be any number of things.

 

I always had problems with the mechanical fuel pump on my 6.9, I finally had enough and by passed it and put an in line electric pump in, when I change teh fillter I would turn the key on lett it bulit pressure and relieve the air out of the valve until I got solid fuel. Saves a lot of starters! Pump is low pressure 10 or 15 PSI. Since the truck is parts only now I move the whole setup over to 2008 with the aux. tank in the box. They still make the FD811 filter.

 

How far do you push the throttle? I floor mine every time I start it cold. Fires up 100X faster.

 

The glow plug system shouldn't click multiple times. You should get one solid click, then the WTS light should stay on for 5-10 seconds, then it goes out. Multiple clicks means one or more dead glow plugs. Even still, unless it's freezing out, you should eventually be able to get it to start. Mine did the 'multiple click' thing when I bought it and was a pain to start first thing in the morning, but it would start if you cycled the glow plugs enough and/or cranked her long enough.

Loosen the front injector lines a bit at the injector and see if it spits fuel out. Crank until it flows evenly, then tighten them back down. If you cannot get fuel spilling out of the lines this way, my guess is your lift pump has gone bad. Another way to check is the schraeder valve on the filter head. Sould be 7 psi from what I have read, though I have never checked it myself.

The wire on the bottom of the filter is your 'fuel in water' sensor. Not critical to start the truck, especially if your filter is brand new.

Mike

 

IMHO, #1.. If the wait to start light came on for only one second you have two or more glow plugs out, plug the block heater in.
#2.. Always change the filter when the engine is warm, much easier to get started back up.
#3.. Your fighting two problems at once, no fuel from filter change and no heat from nonworking glow plugs. Leave battery charger on while cranking as mentioned above and plug the block heater up.
#4.. On the solid state glow system, even if the controller is short cycling the plugs (light on 4 seconds or less on cold engine) your still going to get the after glow (clicking) when the light goes out. Even on a working system you always crank the engine as soon as the light goes out, don't wait for the clicking(afterglow) to stop. The plugs are their hottest right after the light goes out.

 

@ SnuffthePunkz: Sorry about the wording. The engine cranks but will not fire up and start.

@ 81Bronk36: Sometimes I push it down ½ way, but lately I have not been pushing it down at all… can you flood the engine or since it is compression it will just start up anyway?

@ whiteboyslo: The only thing that has me a pit puzzled is that before I disconnected the batteries and changed the filter the GP system was working fine, the light was coming on and staying on for about 5-10 seconds and everything seemed normal. Again the plugs and controller were replaced back in November and probably have less than 1000 miles on them.
I am in Virginia and it’s not been that cold but I will try with the block heater just to see if I can get it cranked up, running, drive it for a bit and then see how it does… that is if I can get it to start.

@fuzzy1626: Thanks for the tips. I will see if I can take all of this information and get it up and back on the road this weekend.

Thanks to everyone who has helped. I am more of a Jeep man myself and these Ford trucks are still new to me since we don’t drive it much and only really use it to tow. I am always grateful to the people up here with the breadth of knowledge that is here!

 

Where are you in Virginia? I'm in Norfolk...if you are close I can swing by and take a look.

Cheers.

 

@fhafer: Well you are more than welcome to drive to Richmond! HA!

I do appreciate the offer, I am hoping that I can get mess around with it this weekend and get it cranked up. I am optimistic that since it was working fine like 2 weeks ago that there might just be some air in the system and with some priming I can get it working. I just have not had the time to mess with it since Wednesday night.

If in the future though I come across something pretty big that I can't figure out, I might drop you a line and see if that offer is still available for a payment of some beer and diesel! If that is still valid tender.

 

Is it possible you disturbed some of the glow plug wiring during the filter change?

This is one of the things I love about FTE: So many people willing to go out of their way & spend their time to help someone they don't even know...
Well done!