Just picked up a 2000 F250 7.3 Powerstroke, the guy told me it wouldn't start in the mornings without a shot of ether and I have been trying to figure out the problem but have had no luck. This is my first Powerstroke and only my second diesel so my experience is limited. The truck has just hit about 249,000 miles. It has some blowby, the oil cap won't stay on the fill tube for long, but it isn't blown off. It also seems to always have a bit of blueish smoke coming out of the tailpipe, which doesn't get worse when I drive.

Here's what happens, in the morning when its a bit cold the truck turns over good, I was told it has a new starter and I can see it has new batteries. So the truck turns over nice a fast, and it starts to catch right away and it almost wants to start but it won't. After I give it a single shot of ether it fires right up. And will continue to start fine the rest of the day, even after it sat at work for about 6 hours still started right up.

What I have done is tried testing the glow plug relay, and on my multimeter I get about 11.5 volts on the glowplug post when the key is turned on so it seems the relay is working. I also watched a video and the guy had similar symptoms to mine saying it was the contacts in the PCM that weren't sending enough power to the injectors so I replaced mine and nothing changed. Additionally, it seems that the second glow plug relay, the one that goes to the intake, is not working on mine because I don't have power on the plug side but I don't see how that one intake glowplug would stop the truck from starting up. I tried unplugging the ICP sensor but that didn't change anything either.

So I picked up some new glowplugs and I will replace them soon, however, if anyone has any ideas I would appreciate the help. I've heard of some other problems like the IPR valve and the HPOP pump and the CPS however as far as I know those all cause no starts, whereas mine will fire right up after a shot of ether when it's cold.

As for the blueish smoke, I got some injector o-rings that I will change out when I do the plugs, not too worried about the smoke more annoyed with the not starting when it's cold.

Cheers!

 

Ether is a very bad idea in a 7.3 due to the possibility of the glow plugs randomly igniting it at the wrong point in the cycle and bending the push rods. If all your glow plugs are working, you should see the battery voltage take a big hit when you turn the key. Test all your glow plugs as you replace them, so that you know if dead ones were contributing to the problem.

Also, I would put this posting question in the 7.3 forum.

 

Double check your glow plug relay. Make sure that the contact is closing when the coil is energized, just because it is receiving power from the truck doesn't mean it will work. A properly functioning relay will show +24V on three posts (two larger posts, one smaller post) and -24V (ground) on the remaining smaller post.

That smoke is likely unburnt diesel. I had my glow plug relay fail in the winter and the truck took a few minutes of cranking to start up, unless I had the block heater plugged in.

FYI I replaced mine with a Warn winch relay, It's the same part but cost me $25. I had to clip one of the mounts off but it fit just fine.

 

First thing....put the ether back on the shelf.

Go over to the dedicated 7.3 forum with this question. When you get there look for the tech pages, then find the 42 pin connector diagram (it's the big connector on the top side of the drivers valve cover) Once you get the diagram you can ohm each glowplug without having to remove the valve cover.






The "second glowplug solenoid" isn't a glowplug solenoid, it is the auxiliary intake heater solenoid. (AIH)

And lastly. The only glowplugs you should install are either Beru or Motorcraft.