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I tested all of my glow plugs when I replaced my injectors 21k miles ago, and they all worked great. All I did was stick them to the battery with alligator clips and made sure all of them got cherry. I'm starting to think some of them are no longer working. It has been give or take 30 to 36 degrees these last couple of days and the truck just does not want to start in the mornings. I remember last year I wouldn't even have to wait past a full glow plug cycle. I remember it was getting below 30° and I would crank the truck right after the wait to start light with no issues. But now, I'm having to wait almost 2 Glow plug cycles and it seems like a hard start. It fires right up if I wait that long, it's just different than how it used to be. I know this is probably normal but, it's completely different from what happened last year. And considering it's only 30° I feel like you should start after the WTS light. Do you reckon it's time for glow plugs?
WTS light is just a reminder for absent minded folk like me. Glow plugs remain 'lit' for up to two minutes dependent on oil temp. So...before you do anything else, let them time out and see if you're not just jumping the gun.
WTS light is just a reminder for absent minded folk like me. Glow plugs remain 'lit' for up to two minutes dependent on oil temp. So...before you do anything else, let them time out and see if you're not just jumping the gun.
Unfortunately, I know all of that. When I said I was waiting for two glow plug cycles I meant two full two minute glow plug cycles. I have to wait 3 minutes on the glow plugs before the truck will crank. Wow, it sounds so much worse when I say it like that my glow plug LED mod is what I go off of. I know my newer trombetta relay is working and the glow plugs are receiving power for 2 minutes. My bad i should have said a little bit about that in the first message. I always seem to forget to write something
The good news is, if I have to replace glow plugs, I also have the paint that I wanted to paint my valve covers with. So I guess it won't be too bad if I have to take it off and replace the glow plugs. I'll also get to beautify my truck a little more
How does the starter sound when it is attempting to start? Does it sound lethargic?
Have you tested the batteries for voltage while the GPR is on and off with the truck ON?
What about resting voltage of the batteries prior to turning the truck on?
Have you disconnected the batteries and checked the voltage individually?
How is the oil level?
Does the truck stumble after it starts or does it kick off like normal?
Truck kicks off like normal. Battery voltage is good. Both batteries are new. Oil level is good. I just changed the oil too so it's fresh. Voltage when cranking is 10.8 I believe. Have to check in the morning. I have a volt meter in the dash to read that. I didn't really pay much attention to see how much voltage dropped when the glow plugs came on. I'll check that this afternoon when I go to leave work. As for how starter sounds, I'll try to video it in the morning which should help all the way around. It does sound kinda slow but I have 15w40 and it was below freezing. Not sure. I'll post a vid tomorrow morning if I remember.
I have a glow plug led mod so I know the GPR is working.
Don't believe everything you see. Just because the contacts are good enough to light off an LED light doesn't mean they aren't carrying the load required to the glow plugs themselves. Jump the large terminals with a screwdriver and take it from there.
One of the mechanics in my employ many years ago was fooled by his LED test light when trying to diagnose something on an old vehicle. I went over with my old school light and showed him in seconds where the problem was and he shook his head in unbelief because his light showed the bad circuit as good.
Have you tried plugging it in for four hours or more and see if it helps?
I haven't but I'm sure it would crank right up. I'll try that sometime this week. I know that my glow plugs have at something like 200k miles on them because I know the previous owners. They could have more than that but I don't know the guy that owned the truck for the first 240k.
Don't believe everything you see. Just because the contacts are good enough to light off an LED light doesn't mean they aren't carrying the load required to the glow plugs themselves. Jump the large terminals with a screwdriver and take it from there.
One of the mechanics in my employ many years ago was fooled by his LED test light when trying to diagnose something on an old vehicle. I went over with my old school light and showed him in seconds where the problem was and he shook his head in unbelief because his light showed the bad circuit as good.
I have also learned that lesson with the LED test lights. I use incandescent test lights as well. I have a new trombetta relay and new valve cover harnesses but, I will load test the circuit sometime this week.
I made a little video, but there's not much of a point in posting it because it was kind of warm this afternoon. But, resting voltage after setting all day for 10 hours, was 12.1 volts. That seems a little low to me but, that's the voltage coming to my cigarette lighter that has the voltmeter in it. When cranking voltage dropped to 10.2 volts. By the truck fired right up being as it was already warm outside.
So resting voltage was 12.1, and when I turn the key on and the glow plugs came on it dropped to 11.5. and then again, when cranking went to 10.2. these batteries are relatively new from O'Reilly's. How many years do you typically get out of batteries?
I'm remembering now that I still need battery cables. The cable going to the starter had some of the sheathing eaten by a rat or something before I got the truck, I didn't really look to see if any of the copper was compromised but I didn't have any issues before. Now I'm having issues so I might should unwrap some of the electrical tape. I don't have time to make battery cables because of how busy I am. Wasn't there a really nice set of pre-made battery cables for these trucks that I could get? It may not fix my problem but I do need to address it at some point.
Truck kicks off like normal. Battery voltage is good. Both batteries are new. Oil level is good.
Originally Posted by Hyakkimaru
I made a little video, but there's not much of a point in posting it because it was kind of warm this afternoon. But, resting voltage after setting all day for 10 hours, was 12.1 volts. That seems a little low to me but, that's the voltage coming to my cigarette lighter that has the voltmeter in it. When cranking voltage dropped to 10.2 volts. By the truck fired right up being as it was already warm outside.
So resting voltage was 12.1, and when I turn the key on and the glow plugs came on it dropped to 11.5. and then again, when cranking went to 10.2. these batteries are relatively new from O'Reilly's. How many years do you typically get out of batteries?
Please see bullet points 3 and 4 in post #7.
Even the new batteries coming out of the stores today can fail well before they are supposed to. I was getting 2 - 5 years out of parts store/Walmart batteries and finally gave up on flooded lead acid batteries. All of my vehicles have AGM and the truck is Northstar. I don't buy parts because of the warranty, I buy parts because of the quality.
If a battery dies after 3 years and I get a replacement under warranty, that is still a loss in my opinion.
Not all AGM are created equally. Pure lead AGM like Odyssey and Northstar are superior to others.
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my glow plug LED mod is what I go off of. I know my newer trombetta relay is working and the glow plugs are receiving power for 2 minutes. My bad i should have said a little bit about that in the first message. I always seem to forget to write something
