Ok, I'm thinking this is a connector somewhere or bad battery connectors or something stupid and electrical but before I tear into and leave the country for my friend to use it to finish up some jobs for me....I need to make sure I'm on the right track.

The past couple months have posed a new challenge on this old beast. It does have a small fuel leak at the top of the filter houseing that the jb weld did not fix but other than that, it has been starting after a few seconds. Well the new list of jobs required me to drive an hour or two, work at a location for an hour or two and keep repeating until I couldn't go any further, or the van refused to restart. I replaced the glow plug controller because it was not working for some reason, I then replaced the one bad glow plug after the symptoms started coming back in the after noon. With the new gp controller, it started up just fine in the mornings and after the first couple of stops. After a few cycles of starting/stopping for a while, the wait to start light would no longer come on and the voltage guage would not drop or cycle after start...if it did in fact start.

The batteries are new as of last year, the terminals have new ends that don't fit quite tight and thus are shimmed with lead shims to the batteries. Batteries tested out fine. When trying to start it in the after noon, it will turn over like the batteries are almost dead (no wts light), crank for a few....if I wait 30 seconds or so it will usually start up but with some hessitation.

so, what I'm thinking is that I need to change the battery termials to fit right and tight but I'm wondering if the low voltage (if the batteries are not charging enough) would cause the wts light to not turn on and the controller to not work at all as well as all the glow plugs? Or does this sound like the harness to the gp controller is getting hotter as the day goes on and thus not getting voltage to the controller?

Help guys! I am flying out monday morning and I have to have this van working so my friend can finish up this project (My wife and I are adopting two little special needs fellas from overseas, so my weekend is crammed packed with other things to do before flying out monday).

Thanks in advance,

Joel

 

What kind of shape are the battery cables in,other than the oversized terminal ends? Are there any spots that look larger than normal? Corrosion can build up under the outer shell causing higher resistance, and not let the full charge threw. Another thaught, how old is the starter? Maybe you are getting more resistance from heat sink in the afternoon.

 

I'm not sure on the age of the starter, I think it sat for 3 years before I got it last year....so at least 4 years, cables are in good shape. Is it true that if the block is warm enough, the gp controller will not cycle? if so, that is what is happening there. That would mean I'm just looking for the cause of this mysterious warm no start issue

 

could it be the IP? Hope not...

 

What are the warning signs of IP failure about to happen? How do I test the ip? How long will it almost fail for? (that is an awesome question there) I have a friend helping me out who is going to be using it for a couple thousand miles over the next two weeks....I don't want to leave him stranded, on second thought

 

Have the starter tested. My did samething would turn hard when warm. I also would replace all glow plugs. Use motorcraft only. If the wts light dose not come on even when warm something is wrong. If the glow plugs work fine when cold and not when warm the temp sencor might be bad or dirty.

 

IMO, the IP will not cause a slow crank issue if it's going bad from wear. However a timing issue may which this does not sound like. It sounds like you need first to make sure of your battery connections and maybe also pull starter and go over it, grease ends etc. You did not give age of truck. The early 6.9 had a coolant temp bypass that the later 6.9 and 7.3 did not have. Early signs of IP failure for me and a few friends have been stalling when letting off fuel and refusing to start when hot, though cranking good, starting fine several hours later.

 

Starting easy when engine cold and hard starts when engine hot are signs that the IP is going bad, but if I'm reading you right the IP is not your problem. It sounds electrical to me. All electrical connections need to be clean and tight. The oversized ends might be the culprit. The shms give you twice the area for corrosion to build up, and sometimes it doesn't take much to stop the currant.

 

Hard starting or slow cranking? The three IP's I had go bad and the recent one of my buddies ALL cranked good, just wouldn't start. (Though, another one would start at wide open throttle, diagnosis was bad governor.) Lack of fuel pressure sufficient to pop inj. I assume. I feel you are correct on the battery and terminal issue. Simple things sometime cause huge problems.

 

sounds like bad batteries to me.
you can have them load tested for free.
edit;
oh my bad.they are new and tested fine.hmm.
must be something electrical for sure.

 

[quote=joelswork;10474833 "It does have a small fuel leak at the top of the filter houseing that the jb weld did not fix but other than that, it has been starting after a few seconds]

Joel, I am not saying that your problem isn't electrical, but in these IDI's there is no such thing as a "SMALL" fuel leak. Fuel out = air in and air in your fuel lines can lead to hard starting when warm. Does it start up right away shortly after you turn it off when warm? I had a leak on the top of my fuel filter also, and it was causing air intrusion which caused hard starts when warm for me. It is a pretty easy fix. It is worth giving a try.

Good luck,

Mac.

 

yeah,but i dunno if its fuel related.this is the line that lets ya know he's got a starting system issue:

"When trying to start it in the after noon, it will turn over like the batteries are almost dead (no wts light), crank for a few....if I wait 30 seconds or so it will usually start up but with some hessitation."

 

I vote for battery connectors as well. Also get the alternator and starter tested but start with the terminal ends.