Hello everyone. I have a 96 F350 Deisel. I always plug it in during the winter and start it in the morning to let warm up for about 10 min. I started it the other morning and when I got in to leave for work I noticed the Battery light was on and I couldnt turn the steering wheel very easy. I turned it off and I immediatly looked at the serpentine belt and sure enough i had slip off but not broken. I didnt have time to fix right then so I let it sit for a few days then put the belt back on. When I cranked it over it wouldnt start. Every thing looks fine and it cranks well but wont start. its as if there is no spark. any help would be great...thanks

kevin

 

The belt slipped off for a reason, something ot lined up or the belt has stretched too far. IF the belt slipped off it probably needs to be replaced with a new one. Charge the batteries for a few hours and try again. The engine needs to spin pretty fast to get going when cold.

Does the tach move when cranking?
Maybe the belt hit the CPS when it came off, it's loacted near the crankshaft pulley @ 10 o'clock.

 

its as if there is no spark. any help would be great...thanks

kevin[/QUOTE]

I hope theirs no spark

Did you have the truck plugged in before you tried starting? Any smoke out of the tail pipe? How hot did the truck get when running with the belt off? (just curious)

 

If I were you ,I remove the belt & find out if you have a bearing going bad in an idler or something else my bet setting up ,,, Belts don't just come off for no reason,,,

 

Are you still using the fuel heater? If so the 1st thing I would check is Fuse #22, 30Amp Maxi in fuse box under the hood.

 

thanks for the replies. I will try to answer all your questions. Yes I did have the truck plugged in before I started it the first time when the belt slipped off and then I plugged it in again before i tried to fix it. After I fixed the belt I plugged it back in and I can hear it working (so I dont think its the fuse). The truck didnt get hot at all while running without the belt on. it was about 10 degrees outside and it only ran for a few minutes. I did check the Idler pulleys and I do have one that I can twist a little bit from side to side. Its the one directly to the left and slightly below the Tensioner pulley. I will replace and see what happens. I had my wife try to start the truck and I watched the belt turn and it seem to turn altough not quite as fast as I though it should. any other suggestions are welcome....thanks....Kevin

 

I would look where Cuda said at 10 o'clock on the cranckshaft pulley. The crank position sensor "CPS" is the "distributor" on a diesel, well a computer controlled diesel anyway. *and it's a recall item I think too. If ya look you can find a thread with a ford page to verify vin etc to see if you're included.

Oh, and them idler pulleys - don't buy the assembly - remove the bearing itself from the stamped steel pulley wheel. Go down to a good parts store. I use a place that sells a lot to the loggers etc. That bearing is 3 bucks tops and they'll get ya 14 for the assembly. (even if it's not bad..... once it's apart etc) Keeps ya in practice.

 

Oh I forgot. The fuel heater is in the filter bowl and is completetly diff from the plug-in water/engine heater. The fuse 22 - heater is used to prevent gelling of the fuel in cold weather prior to heading to pump, injectors etc.

 

Check your fuses anyway, if #22 is blown it's likely the fuel bowl heater, it'll spin but won't start.

 

Great! Thanks again guys and I will check that as soon as I get home today from work. I am mountain time so will be around 6 pm my time. The belt did slip off to the rear of the pulleys toward the engine block. thanks again and I will keep you updated. One question though...how will I know if the CPS if out of whack? by the way this is a 96 f350 four door crewcab 7.3 liter deisel with turbo if that helps anybody.

 

I would make sure the batteries are good and charged like mentioned before.

 

Does the tach move while cranking the engine??
If not the CPS may be bad.

Look for smoke coming from the tail pipe while cranking, there should be smoke if the injectors are getting a signal and pressure form the HPOP.

Be sure to look at all the other items mentioned above.

Keep us posted, someone here will get you going a again.

 

okay..I went to pull the idler pulley that i thought was bad and turns out the bolt was just loose. I tightend it and it works great. however it still would not start. I checked the fuse for the fuel heater and it is NOT blown. when I crank the engine the tach does not move and no smoke comes out the tail pipe. I am in the process of charging the batteries to see it that might be the issue. I cannot find a cps at 10 oclock (although i dont know what it looks like....can you explain it). thanks again for all your help....Kevin

 

Click ...here....

Different year ..same thing...

 

okay thanks everyone I have it back up and running. Action4478 gave me a website that showed where the cps sensor was and sure enough it was unplugged. plugged it back in and bam it started right up. I wonder if I should replace the sensor though due to the recall. what does everyone think? thanks again everyone....Kevin