Hey guys, I'm having trouble getting my wife's 2003 7.3l Excursion to start. The previous week, we had been having electrical issues in the sense that we had to jump start the vehicle a couple of times. It has been cold (for California) over the past couple of weeks, in the 30-40 degree range.

She was driving it home on Friday, and it suddenly lost power and died. It would not restart, and according to her, all she heard was "clicking", consistent with the truck running out of battery power.

I was 60 miles away at the time, so I advised her to charge both batteries, wait for them to be fully charged, and to try and re-start. It cranked over, but still did not start.

When I got home, I went out and purchased two new batteries and an alternator. I replaced the batteries and attempted to start the truck, nothing. It cranked over but did not fire. I also checked the oil level and noticed that it was low. I added oil.

I started searching online, and ran across threads related to the Cam position sensor and glow-plug relays. I replaced both. Motor still cranks but does not fire. I tried testing the voltage on the GPR (new replacement) with the ignition on, and the large uncovered post reads 0 volts. The covered post always reads 12v.

I checked the HPOP oil reservoir, and it has oil approximately 1/2" from the top of the plug.

I'm at my wits end at this point, as I can not figure out what is wrong. My gut tells me that it is something electronic as I don't get a voltage reading on the large uncovered post on the GPR, but don't know what to do next.

Can anybody offer me any advice?

 

I'm pretty sure excursions have a glow plug control module and not a GPR. You are probably testing the air intake relay (AIH).

 

fuel in the fuel bowl?

 

That is exactly what it looks like in my engine bay.

Any suggestions on how to trouble shoot this further?

 

Do you get a wait to start light? Can you hear the fuel pump come on with the key on? Try plugging in the block heater for a couple of hours. If that works you probably have a problem with the gpcm or glow plugs.

 

The wait to start light does come on, it usually stays on for 10-15 seconds.

I just talked to a friend about the block heater. I didn't realize that this vehicle had the option to plug it in to heat it up. Where is the AC plug located?

Also, should I remove the GPR 109 and re-install the factory AIH relay?

 

The plug should be in front of the radiator by the bumper. I think the gpr is the same as the aih so you should be ok.

 

Thanks, I located the plug. It was in the bumper near the tow-hook on the driver's side. I'll leave it plugged in for a couple of hours and then try to re-start.

 

If you have a battery charger hook that up as well. You have probably been doing allot of cranking and you will need at least 10.5 volts while cranking in order to start. IDM won't fire the the injectors if you have less then 10.5 volts while cranking.

 

Yep, I've been doing that over the past couple of days.

 

Keep us posted interesting.

 

I would also check fuel delivery, and don't forget to check fuses.

 

Update:

I left the heater plugged in for several hours, attempted to swap out the fuel filter but couldn't budge it so i simply purged the fuel filter canister. I also swapped out the air filter element for a K&N drop in. This is when I discovered a pair of plastic sunglasses in the airbox underneath where the element was. Not sure if this had an impact on the problem, but im sure it's not great for air flow. We purchased the truck from a dealer several months ago. Apparently they don't check their vehicles very thoroughly before putting them on the lot.

At any rate, with the new batteries charged up, leaving the heater plugged in and after priming the fuel system a few times, it fired up after cranking it over for a solid 7-8 seconds.

I've been able to restart it several times since then.

Strangely enough, the ABS light is on now. It wasn't on before.

I'm going to try and swap out the fuel filter tomorrow since I ran out of daylight today.

 

I ended up solving this problem.

It was the batteries and alternator.

That said, we are now having issues with the truck running well in cold weather. It will die sometimes when sitting idle, and sometimes surges when the truck is being driven. There is no check engine light.

The truck doesn't seem to exhibit any problems whatsoever when it isn't cold.

Will buying an aftermarket programmer (such as an edge) and using a more aggressive profile assist the truck in running better when it's cold?

 

Where in CA are you located? Sounds like a sticky IPR