Hello all, I have been reading some threads trying to figure out if I have a problem or not. Most of the hard starting threads i have read involve vehicles that shutter after starting, or they have hard starting issues every time they try to start the vehicle.

Under normal circumstances, my truck will start within about 2-3 seconds. It dont matter if its 8 degrees outside or 100. But some times, I will let it crank for 5-6 seconds and it wont start (should I let it go longer?). When this happens (like a said maybe once a month) I will turn the ignition off and then turn it back on until the glow light turns off and most of the time it will start within a few more seconds. Up to this point, I didnt think much about it, but the other day something changed. I had been driving the truck in the mountains and the engine was warmed up. I stopped at a gift shop for about 20 minutes. When I went to start it I let it crank for about 8 seconds and nothing. I had to try this about 5 times ( the longest I ever had to try since I owned the truck) and then when it started it ran perfect with no shutter or other issues. While driving in the mountains, I was not pushing it hard. I would lightly accelerate on the hills, and coast down them.

A few things to note:
-The glow plugged light turned off pretty quickly, just as it normally does when the engine is warm
-I did not hear the the ticking sound that I normally hear ( I believe the ticking noise is the glow plugs). However, I dont always hear the ticking when I start the truck anyway, so I dont even know if its an issue.
-I had both batteries individually checked a few months ago and they were fine
-Do I even have an issue brewing here or do these trucks just sometimes take a bit longer to start?
-2006 F250 6.0, Oil changed every 5k miles with rotella t6, using ford filters. I keep up regular maintenance like fuel filters, oil etc. I bought the truck at 37500 miles, in May of 2010. Based on the year and miles when I bought it, it was driven less than 10k a year. Seems the truck was well taken care of. It now has 61k on it, mostly highway miles. Thanks in advance.

 

It sounds like a high pressure oil leak. IIRC the late 6.0 had an sct fitting that was a problem. Do you have any way to monitor your ICP while you crank? A scanguage II would be a great investment. its $160 at autozone and it will pay for itself if it saves you a tow or a trip to the dealer. If you want something a little more intuitive look into the Auto ingenuity I just bought one from Riff Raff.

 

Sounds like a HPO system leak. No SES lite? Do you have a ScanGauge by chance?

 

ok so 2/2 say it sounds like a high pressure oil leak. I do not have a scanguage. If I buy one, what will it tell me? What am I looking for to determine if it is a high pressure oil leak? The bigger question, how does one fix it? I'm hoping its something I can do myself. Lets say it is a high pressure oil leak. Its been like this for awhile so is there any serious damage that could have been done? Thanks for your help.

 

Is this the scanguage device you refer to?


Amazon.com: ScanGauge II Ultra Compact 3-in-1 Automotive Computer with Customizable Real-Time Fuel Economy Digital Gauges: Automotive

 

I would also check the voltage output of your ficm.

 

That would be the one. IIRC Scan Gauge II has a model with and without X Gauge. You specifically want the one WITH X Gauge. This will allow you to program custom gauges for your 6.0. I say this because I am not seeing X Gauge mentioned in that link.

BTW- Best 160.00 you will spend...

 

It will tell you the reading of allot of things. Like bobcat said FICM volts. This is important because it can take out injectors and at $300 a piece its worth it to know if your ficm is going out. High pressure oil is part of your fuel injection system. Your injectors need upwards of 500 psi to start. But with virtually almost anypart it seems like i have paid for being expensive the scanguage is a very good investment. This will keep you from throwing parts at your truck and hoping you have diagnosed the problem correctly (in most cases) . I wish I would of had a scanguage I could of been monortoring my oil temps and my coolant temps along with my exhaust gas temps and I very well could of saved myself the head gasket repair, oil cooler repair I just got done with. I did this job myself and it cost me over $4k with all the preventative stuff I did while I had it apart. Goodluck. The reason we are pointing at a HPO leak is as the oil thins out from getting warmer it will thin and leak more oil making it harder for your HPOP to build 500 psi to start. This is only a guess because we dont have any solid readings from something like a scanguage. The readings will help steer you in the correct direction. Although you might mis diagnose the problem it will definately help narrow it down. Hope this helps sorry for the long post.

 

The reason I asked whether or not you had a ScanGauge is because it is capable of telling you the Injection Control Pressures (ICPs) and the Injection Pressure Regulator (IPR) duty cycle. When you experience hard starting, low ICP numbers would indicate a HPO system leak. So would high IPR duty cycle numbers. If you had a ScanGauge, you could tell us the IPR and ICP numbers to help verify a possible HPO system leak diagnosis.

However, the ScanGauge won't fix your HPO system leak if you have one, and air testing the system is easy and doesn't cost anything. So I think you should pull your ICP sensor and use a rubber-tipped air gun to pressurize your HPO system through the ICP sensor port. Then, while the system is pressurized, listen near the back of the engine for air leaks. Very small hiss is normal. However, if the system barely holds pressure at all, you'll know you're on the right track.

 

Ok, none of my local autozones had the scangauge in stock so I ordered one and it should hopefully be here tomorrow. Once I get it in my hands I will figure out how to use it and report back what i find. Also, now that you have all stated that this could be a high pressure oil leak, Im going to start reading threads on it. I'll need to get a socket for the icp to try the air trick.

Thanks again for everyone's input.

 

Have a Coke and a smile while you read this thread. It has a ton of X Gauges you may want to program in your new Scan Gauge.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...injectors.html

Good luck bigred!

 

Dont forget if you do it this way you need to command the IPR to close or apply 12 v for no more than 30 sec. If you dont command the IPR to close the system will not pressurize

 

Ok, got my scangauge in and now I know what all the hype is about. This is an awesome little tool. I was looking at speding 4-500 dollars just to get 4 guages and a pillar. Ok, so back to the subject. My FICM voltage was 48.5 and from reading the forums here that is right where it should be. I also checked my EOT VS ECT and they were only about a max of 5 deg apart(I will check this again while on the freeway tomorrow).

Now for the testing that is related to the high pressure oil leak. I programmed the IPR and ICP into the scangauge. What numbers/percents should I be at? Also, I dont have a compressor or so I'll have to wait until I go to my dads to test the system with air. Besides running the air in the system and monitoring the IPR and ICP, is there anything else I should look for?

 

Well your ICP needs to be 500 to start or there abouts. Look for numbers above 500 on y our icp while turning the engine over. Dont mistake the "I" in the ICP for a 1 like I did once and thought I fixed my hpo leak cause I had 51I instead of 511 like I thought lol. My IPR is at 14.4 and when I start cranking it jumps up into the high 70's
congrats on your new truck toy

 

I think dukie has given you the correct range of numbers.

Also.... "I think" your IPR should be in the mid-to-upper 20's at idle. If it gets into the 30's or more at idle, "I think" that would indicate a HPO system leak. "I think" if the IPR number continues to rise at idle as the oil warms, that might be another indication of a HPO system leak.

It would be nice if Cheezit, M-Chan, or one of the other great Ford Techs we have here would verify my numbers and my "I think" statements, because I'm not entirely sure of their accuracy.