I have a 2001 E350 Superduty Cube Van, Automatic with the 7.3 PSD. Here in the St. Paul Minnesota.

1. 2 brand new batteries, brand new alternator. excellent cable connections. in the cold mornings my truck is a slow cranker. Whats left? the startrer. If i have it tested does it really matter. I don't think the tester is going to tell me the grease is very old and thick causing slow cranking right? So i need to replace it anyways, right?

2. I came from a 7.3 IDI now I have the PSD. So i am saying i could read the mind of the IDI but when it comes to the PSD I can't read its mind. Meaning. When its cold. You know 5 to 15 degrees outside. I turn the key till the wait to start light goes off. I crank it. but if it don't start popping within 2 cranks it aint gonna start so i have to turn the key off then forward again then crank it for 4 seconds and if it don't pop off, I have to do it all over again. So it takes 10 to 30 attempts to start the van. If I were to hold the key forward and keep cranking, absolutely nothing happens and I can only crank for about 30 seconds before the starter starts slowing down very quickly. Mind you this is with the van plugged in all night. It progressively gets better with each starting attempt. Sometimes when it pops off but don't start, I get a big poof of smoke out my intake system. Technically like a backfire through the carb. I did discover that it wants to start better with the foot off of the pedal. But I did notice that if i put the pedal to the metal while starting. Then it starts, it won't rev up at all until you fully release the accelerator pedal. Then its back to normal. When it starts, which it always does. There is never smoke. All is good in that department. Truck has 150K So the question is. can my glow plugs be "worn" down. Or are they either they work or don't? Is there such a thing as a tune up for a diesel? like timing is what I am thinking. I only had this work van for 30 days now. When it runs, it runs beautiful. I love how the computer idles it higher and lower depending on the temp. OR are these multiple attempts to start related to the first question above. Maybe because I don't have very fast cranking, it wont start as quick as it should? Bringing all the blame back to the starter. Or is the starter slow because its out of time?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Krazy, Have you checked the Glow plug relay to see if its working?

 

Coming from an IDI. Im not sure what you mean. I was told like on an IDI after the wait to start light goes off. If you hear clicking, that means you have a bad glow plug. So I was told that you won't hear that clicking tell tale sign from a PSD. My Van starts, wouldn't that mean my relay works? There is no multiple fast irregular clicking noises either.

 

There is a relay in the valley of the engine. There are 2, the rear most one is the GPR. The other is for the air intake heater. That is if it is the same as the F-series trucks.
Never heard mine click before..

 

Have you read this thread already?
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ky-thread.html

(It's a sticky at the top of the forum for this time of year....)

 

Here's a pic of mine. Easy to see on a truck, proabably not so much on a van.

 

Krazymaan,

Leave the key on for about a minute. The GPR will stay on after the WTS lamp goes out. The WTS lamp is only a timer, about ten seconds, and has nothing to do with how long the GPR is operated. Waiting longer before you try to start will better heat the combustion chambers.

Some have even determined that their GPR stays operated for over 3 minutes.

 

Definately sounds like glow plug issues to me as well.

 

First thing I would do is check the glow plug relay, then ohm the plugs. As for the slow starter, well it could just be getting old and slow. The truck should still start with it if everything else is in order.

You don't adjust timing on a PSD like you would with the IDI or 6.9.

 

Subscribing. This is the exact same thing I have going with my truck. First time cranking is very slow. Second time is a little faster. Third time is faster yet and it may or may not fire up at this point. Almost like the batteries are low on cca but they're a 1 month old matched pair. Seems to me that Krazy and I are both getting a draw on the batteries from something. I was thinking starter also. Would the GPR or plugs cause a slow crank or draw on the batteries?

 

After looking and reading all this information. Heres what I am going to do. first thing i will do is replace the already rebuilt starter, who knows how old it is. I have on my PSD with a higher quality starter. Mine is the 3 bolt. I understand what everyone is saying to me about the GPR. But the GPR isn't causing my engine to crank with only what feels like 70% power. If the engine cranks with lets say that 70% power, it going to draw harder on the batteries which in turn leaves less power to keep the glow plugs glowing, in turn makes for harder starting. This is probably why my engine only wants to fire with in the very first few moments because after that, the starter is gobbling up all power. FYI, I have two quality 1100 cca brand new batteries in this puppy. I'm guessing this is the real problem. But... I seen that photo of the GPR opened up and looked at all the pitting on that particular unit. I know first hand how bad that pitting is in real life. So I am not afraid to spend another 120 for that thing. Which I will do, right after I do the starter. I'll put the starter in this coming weekend and keep you posted. Especially Lanidan. I am sure there are a few people that would be interested in the cranking speed of a new starter compared to a possibly worn down starter.

 

Hmmm Confused here.
I see the solonoid realys that are in the photos up above. But i just went online to look for one. The only ones i come up with is a finned aluminum rectagular box that has two male connectors hanging off the bottom of it where my female connectors would connect to. And this item i am looking at is a Diesel Glow Plug Relay. Wells Part#1R1391. Now i gotta wonder if a van is different than a truck.

did some more looking. some show like above photo $45. and some show finned aluminum block $150. I wonder if they just have the name wrong.

 

Sounds to me like it is a glow plug module(GPM) instead of a glow plug relay(GPR)

EDIT:
Yep, looks like the vans have the module(controller) instead of the relay.

I found both parts listed for the trucks bot only the controller listed for the van.($116 for a Motorcraft one on Rock Auto)

 

Yeah, I found it on Rock Auto. Being its not Mechanical, I will Go for the starter first then i will look further if i have more issues.

 

Check under Electrical-Switch&Relay, Diesel Glow Plug Switch. That's where I found the Motorcraft part, less $$ than the Airtex and Standard units too.

Sounds good on the starter, hope that fixes your issue with the slow cranking.