Hello,(F250, 2000 With about 150,000 miles) I've had some problems with cold weather starts when not plugged in. So I took it into a shop they said my glow plugs and relay were good but by fuel injectors need to be replaced, or keep it plugged in. So I recently used fuel injector cleaner and this has seemed to fix the problem or has it? I'm not allowed to plug it in at work so I'm a little concerned as the weather gets colder. Also I just replaced both batteries last year.
Thanks for your time.

Jenn

 

Well, I'd change the glow plugs and relay if that's what you have. Bad injectors usually are warm start problems. It only takes two bad glow plugs or a relay that dosn't stay on as long as it is suppost to to cause this. Can you get the codes read? Most shops always want to change injectors first.

 

I'm with Bonanza35 on glow plugs and/or relay. A weak starter will cause cold weather starting problems too.

 

Ohm the gp's out first before testing into it. Also, test relay on gp side, make sure it's getn 12v

 

I think every so called shop wants to change injectors first !

Change you oil to 5-30 or 10-30...or synthetic...

Run some diesel injector cleaner through.... and how much smoke ?

And I agree... I think people overlook a weak starter...its got to spin over to start !

 

The shop may be speaking the truth. some injectors seem to last longer than others, but the true test is when they start cold. (no it doesn't get cold in georgia). if your truck is way down on power after a COLD start, your injectors are getting tired. switching to full synthetic oil helps a lot. some people have shimmed their injectors and helped their cold starting.
currently at -20C, -4F here and my truck is not happy, but she starts after some encouragement. i'm thinking of shimming my injectors before next winter
original injectors @ 215k miles

 

That's where I've been living for several years now, and am finally going to do the poppet vale and solenoid shims along with new o-rings on all eight injectors (between Christmas and New Years). I'm currently at 290K miles with original injectors which have never been budged one iota out of their holes since being installed at the factory some 14-15 years ago. The only nudge they've ever seen was the two times I slightly snugged them back down to the proper torque setting.

 

Oh no, I respectfully, but wholeheartedly disagree. When the poppet valves start to wear out, cold start problems begin. That is usually the first sign of injectors going bad. If the clearance of the poppet starts to decrease, the cold oil is too thick to pass by, that is why plugging in helps cold starts when the injectors start going bad. Synthetic 5w-40 oil helps as well temporarily.

 

I agree.... Put shims on my injectors this past summer... original with 436,000 miles now

 

Jason... I have already seen that when I used the CJ-4 0w40 on my oil change several weeks ago that my "tired" injectors will come off the seat and begin to dance as they should more quickly than before the oil change... point is that teh cold temperature 0w40 has made an improvement over the 10K mile old 5w40 which it replaced.

 

Well I guess I've never heard or remember reading of this for cold starts. I have read this for warm starts many times. It's hard to believe all poppet valves would be bad at the same time but I could be wrong. Only time I had to plug mine in was in Wyoming when my relay went out. But I've also read when two or more glow plugs are bad the same thing happens. Fact I've seen this to in Wyoming, to a friend. Shims can't hurt, just know what your doing first. I've also read where the swamps IDM helps this also, costly way to go just for that though.

 

I think I'd try the cheap stuff first. Because if it were me, at least I would change the glow plugs anyway when I was in there. You can do that yourself.

 

A full set of injector shims is only $65... a bit cheaper than the GP's and relay. I've already done my GP's and relay, so the shims are the "next step" for me.

As for all eight injectors needing shims at the same time, I'm sure that all injectors will not wear at the exact same rate, but that doesn't necessarily mean that all eight injectors won't need shimming, either. That's why the kits come with sets of shims of different thicknesses. I know for sure that I only have one sticking poppet right now, but at 290K miles, all eight are getting whatever attention they need.