I have a '97 F-250 in the shop right now that cranks over but will not start. All fuses have been checked and the fuel heater is disconnected. I scanned it for codes when it first came in and found two CMP related codes, so I replaced the cam sensor. Still no start. ICP shows 3500 psi while cranking, so I pulled the plugs on the oil galleys and tested the pressure on each head which also showed over 3,000 psi while cranking. I thought that seemed a bit high so I replaced the IPR but still no start. I've disconnected the ICP, no go either. While checking the glow plugs I found an open in the right side valve cover harness, so the gasket and internal harness have been replaced and I have verified I'm getting voltage to all of the glow plugs. Fuel pressure shows over 30 psi at the schrader valve while cranking and there is no sign of any air bubbles or contamination such as gasoline or water in the fuel. No signs of fuel in the oil or oil in the fuel either. Oil level is full and the HPOP reservoir is also full. I've checked the IDM and connector for signs of moisture but found nothing.

It will occasionally fire a few times when you first start cranking but it refuses to start. I'm showing a steady signal of about 150 RPM while cranking and the pulse width shows about 1.8 ms. I can hear the injectors clicking and there is smoke coming from the exhaust but it will not start. Cranking speed is sufficient, compression sounds normal while cranking and I don't feel any blowby coming through the valve covers while cranking. After extended cranking it did throw a P0344 code, but while graphing the CMP signal with my scanner I found no intermittent loss of the signal so I'm assuming this may be a false code set by extended cranking.

Any ideas? I'm at a complete loss as to what to try next and I'm buried too deep in this thing now to spend more money on parts without knowing for sure.

 

Any idea what lead to the no start? Have you tried plugging it in for a few hours or watched the injectors spit oil while cranking with the valve covers off? Can you buzz test the injectors to make sure the IDM talking to them?

 

I think the owner was having difficultly starting it until it eventually refused to start. I did a buzz test which it passed, but I haven't verified oil is coming from the injectors. If its not, what would this point to? I can hear the injectors clicking while cranking so the IDM must be trying to fire them. Its about 80 degrees here right now so it should start without the glow plugs or block heater.

 

Have you been running any waste oil, mixes, or additives? When was your last oil change? Did you use a ford CPS when you changed it out?

 

Its a customer's vehicle so I'm not sure if he's been using any fuel additives. He's an OTR truck driver so I think he knows better than to dump anything into it. Last oil change was about 1,800 miles ago. I used a CPS from Carquest since I don't have a Ford dealer close by, but I've used these before without any issues. I also tried a Ford sensor that I removed from another truck because of intermittent stalling.

 

Everything looks good on the parameters and the injectors should be firing. Here is some information from this site ...

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

OIL LEVEL
Low or dirty oil can cause intermittent low power, miss, rough run, no start etc. Make sure the oil level is correct and the oil is in good condition (less than 3000 miles before trying to cure any other drivability or starting issues.


DIAGNOSTIC CODES
Most PowerStroke that we see, with starting or performance issues don't set codes, if you have DTC codes, proceed to the DTC code section first. If you don't have a scan tool, the diagnostics, other than visual examination or parts changing, is difficult at best.


NO START
1. DTC P0340 Bad CMP Sensor
2. Are you getting smoke while cranking (after about 10 seconds) if no smoke then no fuel is getting into the engine
3. Low oil level
4. Fuel supply pressure low; Plugged fuel filter or no fuel in tank, minimum 20 psi cranking, and 99-03 should be 50 psi cranking
5. Refer to Hard Start or No Start Issues below


NO START OR HARD START COLD
1. Check to make sure that 10.8 or more volts are going the glow plugs from the relay. The glow plugs don't cycle until EOT (engine oil temp.) is below specification, which varies by vehicle year. The engine should start without the glow plugs energized down to about 40 degrees. Look at the volt gauge in the dash, the glow plugs will cycle up to 120 seconds depending on EOT
2. Refer to No Start or Hard Start Issues below
3. Bad wire harness connections at the valve cover gaskets, internal or external connections. Examine the connections, do pin tension tests also smell for burnt wires.
4. Injectors bad; Injectors with high miles on them can fail to operate cold. If correct PW displays on cranking you can remove the valve cover and watch the oil spill discharge, every injector should discharge oil when pulsed by the IDM during cranking. If no pulse of oil then the injector isn't activating and injecting fuel into the cylinders. Running several buzz tests cold will sometimes free up the injectors. This is typical in a high mileage situation with inadequate engine oil changes.


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If the truck has a block heater (optional for 97) plug it in for 3 hours to heat up the oil and thin it out a bit.


As mentioned it would help knowing the circumstances behind this issue and what oil was used on last change.

 

No oil spitting from the injectors would point to worn injector internals. Sometimes plugging the truck in for a few hours first will aid in starting up with worn injectors.

I've heard others refer to hearing the injectors click but really have no idea what they're talking about. Granted I don't hear so well in the first place, but what exactly are you hearing click in the injectors? Are you hearing the poppets move? Hearing the solenoid switch?

 

After I replaced the valve cover gasket and harness I tried starting it before I put the valve cover back on. I'm not sure which part of the injectors it was coming from but I could hear a clear, audible clicking sound coming from them. I wasn't watching at the time for oil coming from the injectors though. Even with the valve cover installed I can still hear the clicking from that area when I crank it by jumping across the starter solenoid on the fender.

 

I plugged the block heater in this morning and let it warm up for over three hours. No change though, it fires for a second when I first start cranking but that's all it will do. If you continue cranking it doesn't fire at all. If I let it sit for a minute or two it will fire again when I first hit the key, then nothing.

I guess I'll pull the valve cover off again to see if the injectors are pushing oil out but I'm not sure how soon I'll get to it. I've lost so much time on this nightmare already and I have other projects that need to get done too.

 

Time for an update:

I talked to the owner trying to find out more information and he said the truck had been starting and running normally up to this point. He just went out to start it one day and it wouldn't start. So that made me hesitant to suspect the injectors. In the meantime it got pushed outside for several days so I could get caught up on some other jobs. By coincidence we had an identical truck in the shop today for some other work, so I figured as long as I had it there I would use it as a test mule. After I was finished working on the running truck we pushed the dead truck in beside it so I could start swapping parts. I tried the IDM first but still nothing. Next I switched the PCM and it fired right up.

Very strange circumstances on this one. It never threw any PCM related codes and I was able to run the self tests (except the engine running test for obvious reasons). I could enter the output state test, access all PID information and all parameters looked normal. Smoke was coming from the exhaust but it still wouldn't start. By all indications the PCM was functioning normally, but it was the source of the problem the whole time. Finding a replacement has proven difficult so far. Ford wants over $700 for one and a nationwide search through several salvage yards has failed to find a used one. I'll most likely have to send it in to have it repaired.

Anyway, thanks to everyone. Just wanted to give a quick update.

 

Best I can explain it is, it's the same sound you hear when you buzz the injectors, just not as fast.

 

Did you try putting the original PCM back in and see if it would still not start. Make sure it wasn't the movement of the harness or connectors that made it start working again.

 

Yep, I tried that. Its definitely the PCM.

 

Good deal! Glad you got it figured out.