I have a '99 f250 SD with the 7.3L turbo diesel. I jumped in it tonight & ran up & filled it up. As I was heading out of town I dimmed my lights for a car & BOOM the truck just died. All electrical seemed to still be working, lights were still on, every thing was still lit up ect. The engine just died. I pulled over & tried to start it but nothing, it would crank but not start. So I started my diagnosis..........

First I checked every fuse, under the hood & in the cab. Not a single blown. Then I tried swapping relays, still nothing. I have HID lights so I completely unhooked them cuz I have read about those causing a truck to die but is usually associated with DP chips & I don't have one of those. I do have an edge evolution programmer though so I set the truck back to factory & completely removed it & still she wouldn't start. Next I moved to the fuel. Fuel shut off switch is ok, fuel pump kicks on when I turn the key, & the fuel bowl is full. I'm pretty sure it is not a fuel issue from the way it just died. No spitting & sputtering or chugging or nothing, it was running great until the second I hit my lights. If anybody has any ideas I would really appreciate them

 

Do you have a seperate light relay that you installed extra for your upgraded lights or are you using the stock relay and the stock wires all the way to the bulbs? How many amps for your HID lights? We need to know exactly where you tapped into for your lights to get power. Did you check the fusible links with a meter set on ohms? Did you happen to notice if you had a water in fuel light? Has the truck ever been in a front end collision. How many miles on the clock? What mods other than lights do you have? Have you washed the inside engine compartment lately and then rinsed it down? Did you stop at the normal place you normally fuel up at or a different place?

 

Do you have Daytime Running Lamps? Is there an Anti theft system installed in the vehicle?

 

Does your tach move while cranking? What color/brand cps?

 

Ok well......the lights r wired right into the factory plug. They came pre installed in the new headlights I bought & it was basically plug & play, no relays. They r 55W H1 HID bulbs. No water in fuel light, I went to the same place I always put fuel on. No front end collision that I know of, I just bought the truck this spring. It has just shy of 160,000 miles. I have washed the engine down but it was over a month ago. The only mod's in the truck r K&N cold air intake, 4" exhaust & the edge evolution programmer which is currently uninstalled. As far as antitheft I personally installed an Autopage starter & security but don't believe that to be the issue. I have been installing starters professionally for 5 years now so I know what to check for with them. Got one little tip from the girlfriends dad, he said they had something similar with their '01 PSD. When he would hit the dimmer switch the truck would sometimes die but start right back up again. They ended up replacing their dimmer multi switch on the steering column. Any one else have this happen?

 

I guess I honestly did not watch the tach while I was cracking it so I couldn't tell u. The truck is currently sitting in a friends shop till tomorrow & I am doing research lol. I also couldn't tell u bout the color or brand of CPS. I'm new to the whole diesel scene & have only done a little reading about it here, still not sure what it even does yet lol. I'm assuming that it is still factory but.......

 

Are you getting your wait to start light when you turn the key?

 

Yes I do. Everything seems to work just fine the truck just won't actually start. It seems like either its not getting any fuel (which it appears to be). Or almost like if it were a gas vehicle there was no spark. So in this case maybe something electrical stopping the injectors from firing? But what electrical would connect the injectors to the lights or light switch?

 

Could be low batteries. You need at least 10.5 volts while cranking for the injectors to fire. Try a battery charger for a while and then try it again. You would be surprised how fast the batteries will get too low to fire the injectors.

 

Don't forget to check the oil level in the HPOP. If it gets to low it will shut down your injectors.

 

I could see the low voltage while trying to start the truck but why would it just die like that? If my alternator quit working would it just kill the truck or would it act up a little first before it died? & why would it do it when I dimmed my lights?

 

It could of been a coincidence that it happened at that time.
If you have run your batteries down then recharge them before trying again. The truck MUST have 10.2v while starting or it will crank but not fire.

 

Fully charge the batteries independent of each other and take both to Advance Auto Parts or a place that will test them for free and have them test them. If you do not fully charge them before you take them in then the test and drive to the parts store is for nothing. The batteries have to be at full charge to test properly.

 

CPS is Crankshaft Position Sensor

 

High beams by themselves only have a 15 amp single fuse. The low beams have two 10 amp fuses, one for each lamp. The low beams actually draw more current flow.