I checked those connections and they were not burnt, I wiggled them around a little. It will crank very strong but wont "fire" easily. Ya it does have a rough idle when the engine is warm.

 

The HPOP reservoir is on top of the front of the engine. It is a metal rectangular box the stands up and goes sideways. On top of it there are two things screwed in. One is an oil pressure sender and the other is a little flat headed allen screw fitting. You can unscrew the oil pressure sender and see the oil level with that. Just be careful with the threads when you put it back in. Someone had buggered up my threads and when I took mine out I discovered that they had epoxied the sender in to seal the threads. When I finally get my truck running again I will have to make repair there.

 

I would suspect that the glowplugs are not doing their job. Hopefully the dealership would know to use the only glowplugs that work and last(Motorcraft/ Beru) but I have seen and heard about lots of dealerships that know less about these trucks than we do. They just have all the parts laying around and lots of time(on our wallets). So they just keep playing until something works. We pay. They make money. They don't care. Find out what glowplugs they put in. Or better yet, test them. Someone here can tell you how. I have to go to work. I wouldn't worry about HPOP if you have white smoke. You might have air in the lines but your injectors are pumping if you have white smoke. Did you change your fuel filter recently?

 

exactly!!!!!!


1800th post i need to get a life.

 

yes they can be pumping but not atomizing correctly from low pressure (ie air in the hpo system) so humor me and check the oil level. verify that and we can move on. though i am still thinking glowplug issue.

 

foremen just saw your psot at tds also and you said you had new batteries so that should be good. but like 1997 said we need to double check the glow plugs also. you can use a test light to check them if you don't have an ohm meter. hook one end to power and then touch the other end to the glow plug connector at the valve cover.

 

I posted there to double my responses and help find the problem. I bet I sound like I dumb a$$ but I have no metric sockets to pull the stupid plastic cover off! I wasnt able to check the fluid level for you but I started it on the first crank, but just "puffed" not the "ramp" sound like it should. I cycled the GPs twice. It is another 75 degree day . I do have a 12v test light, explain what I should do to test the GPs, what do I look for or should I hear? One other thing, this all started the day after it cut out on me on the highway, that is why I changed the cps. We drove over 1000 miles on that weekend, and when I got home it started this crap that next morning.

 

Fuel filter was change about 2,000 miles ago

 

that is a good stategy to use all your resoursces and no your not dumb because you don't have the tools. if i weren't a mechanic i would be lacking in the tool areana as well.

now to check the glow plugs. unhook the 2 connectors per valve cover. each should have five wires. the outside pins on each connector are the glow plug terminals. so take your test light with the key off and hook it to the positive battery post and touch it to each glow plug terminal on the valve cover gasket no the wiring harness. if the light lights then that glow should be good. an ohm meter is more accurate but this is good enough. do this with all eight glow plugs. this can be a bit difficult becuase of space issues so just take your time and do it with the engine cool or else you get burned. i think the wire colors to the GP is brown on one side and yellow on the other they are also bigger wires then the others. that should help you find the correct terminals. if one does light the test light double check it by touching your light to a ground to verify. even if you have one or two that don't work it should be ok and still start but not real good.

also use your test light to veryify the wiring and the relay. clamp the test light to battery ground and touch it to the power in on the relay. if good then turn the key on(after all the valve covers are plugged back in) and see if power is going through the relay.

if thats all good double check your battery connections and find a place to do a free battery test. i know they aren't that old (nearly new) but if one is failing it could cause this issue. i have seen a couple of 02 and 03 alreay with good batteries but they still don't have enough to properly power the glow plugs for a good start. but this is mostly in the michigan winters with below freezing temps.

so chekc that and get back to us. also make sure when you finally get this figured out you let us know what it is. but i will be here till its starting correctly so keep on keeping on.

 

That is a great post and will be a big help to many. Good job.

 

thanks f350 i do it for a living but i don't get to work on powerstrokes enough. but when i do i love it. to bad they don't break much.

 

Thanks tjbeggs and everyone else, I will test the GPs tomorrow with my cheapo 12v test light . Any input on it doing this only after it cut out on me on the highway? I am still stumped that it wont start easily in 80 degree weather.

 

still not sure about the cut out then the problem. i am not real familiar with the icp and ipr to know what problems they cause. maybe 1997 or others have some input.

so just to clarify this all started the day after it cut out on you. did it start right back out or just stumble some. tell us about the cut out in detail. maybe that will shed some light on the subject. also tell us about your deepest darkest secrets, are there any secrets in your childhoos that make you feel this way.....oh sorry with all the probing question i was feeling like a shrink.

 

Well to tell you the truth..... hey wait a minute!

About a week ago during a 6 hour drive home I had the truck set on cruise @ 70 and the truck cut out I saw a wait to start light come on and by the time I put my foot on the pedal it the light was off and I set the cruise back up and it drove fine the rest of the 4 hour drive (thank god). But my dad needed it the next day and it started (or didnt start) this hard start problem. He cranked it 3-4 times before it started, first it it has ever been this hard to start. I got out the edge programmer when he got home and it gave me the usual ebpv code and turbo out of perf. range, but also the 0344 CPS code. So I had international change the CPS, no more 0344 code but it wont start easily now. Hope you can follow that story. Have we been looking the right direction witht the GPs?

 

Hey just to give you guys an update. The GPs are 18 months old (found the ticket), and with temps almost in the 90's it is easier to start. I still have to cycle the GPs twice to start. This weekend I will test the GPs and GPR with a voltmeter and see what needs replaced. The original GPs lasted 180,000 miles, 8 years, I would hope these could make 50,000 miles, 18 months. If the GPs are bad I will wait til May and replace them and the injectors at the same time.