-- New portion of this little saga I wanted to share. So now that it has been very warm, I have been able to start and drive the truck for the last several days with very little warm up time. The starter began sounding a little funny about 5 days ago. Yesterday I got in it and turned the key and nada, zippo, nothing. Lookie here....



Must be from all the attempts to start it. It cracked the ring terminal right off. Fun fun fun...

 

That mitt of been your problem all along. Shorting and drawing to much power to warm the glow plugs completely. I'd pull the starter, have it bench tested, repair wire and go from there. Good luck,

Chet

 

That would be nice, but the glow plugs should have done their business before the starter came into play.

 

Is that the original intake that fits the stock turbo inlet? I have my original still. PM me your address and I'll send it to you. Riffraff carries these too if you want a new one.

 

Your right Tugly, wasn't thinking it all out. But it still draw juice when the starter was tuned on and lowered it just enough where it wouldn't start.

Chet

 

My money is on the injectors being bad. Hands down, bar none. If I was closer I'd help you change them that's how sure I am!

Anything over 100K and they are waiting to fail. They are a service item and will need to be replaced when they fail not at some predetermined mileage interval. Mine made it to 34x,xxx miles. My dad (luckily) has over 400K on his but they are starting to sound rough. Real rough, like next winter needing replacing rough...

You can dig back through my old posts from a few years back, 4-5 years. Same damn problem with mine. Chased it every winter. Never could find it. AE and other scanners don't find mechanical problems. Worn injectors are mechanical problems. I found this and it explained all my problems and will explain yours. I went so far as to buy a used 6.4 with 32K on it and drive it another 90K and still keep my 7.3 because I knew I'd fix it one day...

Diesel Diagnostic information for Powerstroke 6.0, 7.3, IDI 7.3 and 6.9 L, by Oregon Fuel Injection

This too

http://www.swampsdiesel.com/files/7....Diagnostic.pdf

I dropped $2600 the day after Christmas 2012 on new Alliant sticks from the local diesel shop. Took me 4 hours to get it cranked. Once it did I let it get real nice and warm so my hands wouldn't freeze while working on it. Pulles the 4 driver's sticks out, swapped in new, cranked it up and noticed an immediate difference , but still rough. Did the pass side and it runs like a dream ever since!

What I never realized was how smooth these trucks SHOULD run. It idles like a gasser now. NEVER did that before and I bought it with 228K on it 7 years ago. I always thought, and everyone always told me, "Oh it's just a diesel, it's supposed to shake and rattle"...


And I didn't see an answer anywhere... The HPOP reservoir is pressurized with LOW oil pressure while running. It's just a reservoir for the HPOP to draw oil from to make high pressure oil to feed the sticks. You can hook up a gauge to the inspection port on the top and get an oil pressure reading from there. DO NOT remove that plug while the truck is running! Been there done that! Huge mess...!

Now, FWIW. My truck, when running, always had good HPOP pressure according to my gauge plumbed into the HPOP rail. The injectors were so worn out it would never hold that HPOP to squirt the fuel properly to allow the truck to light off..

There are people on here that won't believe a letter of what I just typed either. Take the above story for what you think it's worth... Just sharing my experiences here. Looks like it's been kicking your *** for weeks... It kicked mine for years...

 

John good right up. I've read that before also. For us that haven't exsperienced this its hard to believe. We know it can happen its just one of those things. God bless,

Chet

 

Oh yeah John, we have pretty much decided on the almost certainty of that injectors is probably what it is. I am going to limp it through the summer by going with T6 Rotella 5W-40 more than likely, unless I save the money for some upgraded sticks before then. Thanks for the input though.

 

More intel from something I read while answering a fuel additive question: Dump a load of cetane boost in the fuel. Diesel Kleen does this without adding a bunch of lubricity (read - thickening of the fuel). If the instructions say one ounce per 5 gallons, double it up. I was assured by Ford and many other sources that it's difficult to overdo the light fuel additives. That might help.

 

Have a GTG when the time comes for new injectors..

 

Can't open up page 10.

 

I'd like to help, but I'm too far away.

 

I will add to make sure the obvious things are working and not broken. GPR, ICP, UVHCs, etc. I changed all of that and still had issues.

You'll be able to make it through the warmer months with little to no issue.

 

Update:5w40 Shell Rotella in it, with a new wire with a great connection to the starter, and 55-60 degree overnight temp equals awesome "cold start" this am.

 

The tropical heat wave notwithstanding, how's it sound while cranking and run at first?