I've noticed that my truck has been hard to start for some time. The batteries were replaced under warranty -they were genuinely bad- but it still takes quite a while of cranking.

Fuel lines look okay on the top of the block with no obvious leaks.

6 of 8 glow plugs test good, 1 does not, 1 unreachable under the turbo.

Manual glow plug control, normal start routine in the summer is 8-10 seconds if it's been sitting overnight and nothing if it's been shut down in the last 4 hours.

Symptom: If it has been sitting for over an hour I need to apply at least 6 seconds of glow plugs and crank it for 20-25 seconds before it will start. It starts of cranking really-slowly and then speeds up until it starts.

So -where should I start looking for the problem with this please?

thanks

 

Glow plugs and Starter

 

I have/had both problems.

If one GP is bad then correct voltage may not be reaching the others because the bad one's high resistance is taking the power.

Also, are you using Motorcraft/Beru ZD9's?

My batts also would crank slowly, etc till I replaced my battery cable connectors, now it spins like it should.
Corrosion, etc even on the Neg cables will cause so many issues, including over-heating of everything, as I even melted a batt cable connector because it wasn't attached tight enough, bad corrosion etc and all the juice was going through one of the clamping bolts and it melted the connector around it.

90% of all voltage/amp cranking issues are related more to bad connections than bad starter, etc. And bad connections can destroy the starter, etc.

 

There are brand new batteries of the proper class in the seats, and the posts and connectors were reamed before being seated. But I shall begin inspecting other areas as you've suggested.

 

I also cleaned, reamed mine but it didn't help till I replaced the connectors. I used a steel brush to comb the cable ends wires then reconnected the old cable ends but it still cranked slow, etc till I replaced the ends (when the one Pos cable connector melted is when I replaced all of them)

 

A buddy with a clamp-on ammeter found starting current averaging 600A. I'm guessing the starter is worn...

 

I agree with linus72, I recently went through to same thing with my truck and even though the terminals had been reamed and cleaned all the connections/grounds like crazy and I still had problems untill I started replacing the cables. The best batteries in the world won't do you any good if your cables are so full of crud that power can't get where it needs to go.

I'd be willing to bet your wires are full of corrosion and just need to be replaced. Especially since you said your starter isn't getting the power it should be. That was what I had to do to solve my starting problem. Changed out ground & power wires and my problems went away and my truck starts as it should now and before it would turn over but just not as fast as it should and was making it hard to get the motor started.

 

Holy crap, what a difference a new starter makes. It caught after about 2 seconds!

Lessons learned:
1. 600A is NOT a normal average draw during starting
2. the '94 turbo IDI engine had a pre-June and post-June version of the starter
3. the teeny control wire off the solenoid to the starter may be rusted in place, have an eyelet ready to graft on in it's place


Thanks to all for their help and suggestions.

 

Glad to hear, but just curious what is the appropriate starting amperage?

And how can I test this?

 

your welcome.

 

I haven't measured it yet but am told it's in the 60-80A range.

Edit: just borrowed a clamp-on and tested it - 125A average starting current.

 

glad to see you figured it out but i would like to point out for anyone and everyone that reads this, i took a wire wheel on a dremel to the block where the grounds attached on both sides and replaced my grounds and it made a world of difference

 

Blu3,
I also did that with my last F350 and gained the same results.