Hey names dan and i just recently purchase a 1987 F350 6.9 IDI.
I am currently having a few issues with the truck and i am having no luck
with finding the correct information. My truck takes a while to start i have to keep cranking on it and after a while of trying it it will turn over. New battery and had the charging system checked as well as the second battery. And lastly i cant seem to find the wiring schematic for the tail end of the truck i have no reverse lights. Any help would be greatly appericiated.

 

Welcome to FTE and the diesel world!
Does your wait to start light come on?
What transmission do you have?

 

Thanks the truck is a five speed, when i turn the key over the wait to start light stays on for about 10 seconds and then i turn with the gas pedal down all the way for cold days.

 

Do a search here on this site for "air intrusion". That sounds like what's going on.

JM2CW

 

The reverse light switch is on the drivers side of the transmission towards the front and up high. Its pretty hard to see. It has a two wire connector. You should have power to one wire with the key on. If so you can jump the two terminals and see if the lights come on. If so the switch is bad.

 

ok thanks i did a search for this topic and i have a few things to look at when i get the chance to. Wouldnt this air intrusion cause fuel to leak from the hoses?

 

Not necessarily. If air can get in, the fuel in the lines will drain back into the fuel tank. Then you will have to crank for a while to get fuel back up to the engine.

And no, just because fuel isn't leaking out, does not mean that air cannot get in.

 

What have your temps been? If you plug it in does it fire right off? Air intrusion will usually allow the truck to start like normal and then stall. Then it takes a lot of cranking to start agian. If it just wont start I would think it was something else. What is the mileage on the IP and injectors? Does your high idle work when the motors cold?

 

I agree. Air intrusion would cause other runtime problems. Could there be something electrical going on....

Disconnect the second battery (the old one) and measure its voltage with a good multimeter. Not a dummy light. You need tens of volts, like 12.1V or 11.7V. You could have a bad cell in the old battery that is draining the efficacy of your new battery.

How old is your Voltage Regulator? Starter? Glow plugs? What kind of GP's?

Also, how clogged up is your Fuel filter?

 

the truck has 195xxx miles on and i havent changed anything on it from the plugs and such or the fuel filters. when it runs the temp is normal. So about the parts they are old and the batteries are new along with the alternator. As for plugging it in havent tried that yet.

 

Use a meter to check the block heater. There should be continuity between the 2 sides of the heater cord. If it checks out, plug it in overnight (or for a few hours) and then see if it fires off. If it does then 9 times out of 10 it is the GP system probably some are burned out. Its a pretty easy fix.

With the miles in it, it could be a worn IP and injectors. When I got mine it had a hard cold start issue. New GPs helped, but it didnt completely go away until I replaced the IP and injectors. I would at least suggest timing the pump.

 

I pulled out a GP kept it connected and turn the truck over to see the wait to start light went out and check the GP it was cold not one bit warm to the touch. When the truck is plugged in it warms up fine and turns over. There is no leak or holes in any fuel line i check from the mechanical pump to the fuel rails and all the lines in the engine compartment. All check out fine, i traced the line to the tanks and its all good as well. About the GP i checked the fuse under the driver seat it was good and just to mark it off as a possibility i changed it to a new one still same thing happened. I do have extra filters that i should just changed anyway. The conditions of the glow plug when i pulled it out was black.
About the block heater could that be the reason why the GP arent working?

 

If you remove the glow plug it wont be grounded anymore so unless you made up some kind of ground it wont get hot even if the system is working. Block heater has nothing to do with glow plugs.

 

What is the battery voltage?

 

batterly voltage while running or when trying to crank? Running its 13.7V i had the system tested at advanced auto under no load and heavy load steady 13 range volts.