My truck has 230,000 on it and last year it was a bear to start in the winter. I ended up replacing the passenger side glow plugs because they tested bad and it got a little better but she really likes to be plugged in just to make sure. Now it's almost winter time again and it's already giving me a hard time in 60 degree and below weather.

I did some reading over at powerstroke.org and I found some threads that said the glow plugs are a very small part of the problem, they basically just help clear up smoke after start-up, they don't really make a huge difference in cold starting. Is that true?

I'm hoping that maybe you can give me some insight specific to my case since it's so bad this early.

Today I went out to start my truck (drove it yesterday) and it failed the first time. Lots of white smoke but no effort to actually catch and start. I let the plugs cycle again and it started after a few seconds.

I can't believe i'm already dealing with this at 60 degrees. Now i'm where I needed to go and will be here until after dark, I hope it starts for me when I need to go home...

 

You can ohm the gp's at the valve cover connections. Outside pins on each connection. They should ohm at or real close to 1 ohm each. Ground to battery. You can test the relay too. Key off one big post is hot. Key on both are, and should be no more than .3v difference. You can also just put a big screwdriver across the big posts on the gpr for 30 seconds or so and try to fire it. If you had to replace 4 already, pretty good chance the others are bad too. Only use motorcraft gp's if you change them. They aren't any more expensive.

edit: You need a good gp system to get these to fire in the cold. Also has to crank pretty fast, so good batteries are needed.

 

These trucks absolutely need glow plugs to start when its cold. They definitely do more than just clear up smoke. I had the same problem the last couple of years. The first time, it ended up being the GP relay. Its a common failure point on these trucks and its pretty cheap and super easy to replace. Like Fordman said, check that and the glowplugs first.
Last year it was my injectors that needed replacing. It would hardly start and then run super rough for about 5-10 seconds and then start to smooth out. Injectors are not so cheap and easy to replace... but if yours are bad, it will be a much better truck with new ones, preferably from Rosewood

 

Condition of batteries & Starter play a big part . Last winter I was Was running on 2 GPs due to burned wiring & one bad GP out of 8. I was plugging it in but had the timer set wrong ( On at 7 pm instead of on at 7AM . New batteries & super clean electrical connections got me through it ,but smoked quite a bit at startup . Good GPs will help start when its really cold but should not be necessary at 60 degrees.

How long do you let the GP's run before trying to start it?
Watch the Amp meter key on till it pops up a bit ,GPs will be off then & try starting it . Their on time is decided by EOT , & could be 90 seconds .

BTW , my engine has 200,000 or more ( Title said one thing ,odometer said something else )

 

Well I start it after the six dings once you put the key in when it's warm outside. Usually the wait light goes off after four dings. But last winter on a few occasions I waited until the volt gauge went back up (90 seconds) four or five times in a row and it still wouldn't start.

Last year relay checked out good and after replacing pass side gp's (motorcraft BTW) I only had one test bad on driver's side. But it's a new year and warm outside still so I haven't checked recently.

Good to know that they do play a part in cold starting, that info was a little confusing.

I'll grab the multi meter and go to work again. If I get home, lol.

 

Glow plugs, GPR, batteries, starter, 230,000 miles. I'd check those things first and make sure they are all in good working order. If it still acts up, my next place to look would be the injector o-rings, or the injectors themselves. My 97 when I had it would start up in 0 degree weather with a little time burning the GP's. It smoked and knocked for a minute or so, but it would always start.

 

I don't know if I missed it but make sure you you let the glow plug cycle for a good 20sec after the W.T.S turns off. if possible do it twice.

 

It won't be O rings but may be Poppets ( when oil is cold)

 

I've heard similar advice before but I gotta tell you; I'd rather put 4 batteries in the truck, add a second block heater and install the grid heater from a 99+ truck than have to take nearly a full minute to start my truck every time.

We all love Fords here, are you guys comfortable with thinking that one of their greatest engines has this huge flaw? I'm not. I have to believe that something is malfunctioning and that when new and performing correctly they start all year long.

 

Have you tested anything yet ?

Good compression , working GPs & a working GPR is what you need .If you don't have these things , you better have a really good starter & really good batteries.

There is no huge flaw . You may want to invest in a SD starter .

 

No testing yet. Had a sick kid and had to come home. My multimeter is at my shop across town.

I'm interested in the bigger relay mod though, anyone have any complaints after installing the Stancor relay? It's humongus but does that mean it delivers a bigger hit to the GP's?

Thanks guys.

 

The Stancor does not hurt the GPs

 

I should have clarified. I meant bigger "hit" in a good way. It says that it delivers more power than the OEM unit.

Any truth to the idea of built up stiction in the injectors causing hard starts?

 

What is that ? .....

 

Like burnt oil on a turbo bearing but inside the injector. Builds up over time and causes problems with the oil fired injectors. Mostly a 6.0 problem but on high mileage 7.3's people say they see it too. These reviews look very positive about fixing cold start and stumbling issues -
There's another company called hot shot that claims their stiction eliminator fixed 9 out of 10 injectors that were diagnosed as failed.

I know I know, but it could make sense and there are a lot of reviews on that one.

EDIT: this is a good explanation of the condition - http://www.hotshotsecret.com/failed-injector-myth/