Our 2000 Excursion diesel has been reluctant to start. Usually it takes 2-3 tries - sometimes as many as 4 (turn key, wait for "wait to start" to go out, crank. turn key off, wait a bit, try again.). We live at sea level and the problem started this summer - temperatures between 50 and 100 degrees. Temperature doesn't not seem to change the behavior.

It doesn't seem to make any difference if the engine is warm or cold (has been driven for a while or sitting all week).

A new clue on our last trip: we were up between 6,000 - 8,000 feet and it started right up - no problem! We thought maybe it had miraculously fixed itself, but when we got back down to our usual elevation (typically between 10-1,000 feet) the problem was back exactly the same as before.

This seems like a really useful clue, but I can only find threads where people have the opposite problem (hard to start only at higher elevations). Does anyone have any ideas why it might be hard to start at LOWER elevations?

Thanks!

 

Moved to the 7.3L PSD forum.

Stewart

 

Something tells me your Barometric Pressure Sensor is out of spec.

 

Where is this sensor located Razzi.

 

From what I've read, it built into the PCM on the 99.5 on up trucks. However, if I had to guess, I'd say it was the sensor located near the driver side headlight behind the grill.

Looking for it myself actually....

 

Early '99 baro sensor is behind the panel under the steering wheel. I posted a pic of it a while back; I'll see if I can find it . . .

EDIT: Here it is: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...0#post14459401

 

Interesting! I have an e99 with a later NVK5 pcm. So I'm guessing I have two baro meters?
I never knew