Ok, I'm sure this has been covered as the mighty stroker seems to have a stroke every now and then but here goes...
97 f-250 psd, 4X4, auto, mods but they have been on a while. Put a new turbo on yesterday, truck run great. took it to get the oil changed today (new turbo). Drove it home, ran awesome, best it has in a while. It's got a remote start so I started it up, let the g/f put her face on and headed to dinner. Backed out of the driveway, put it in drive, got about 30 feet down the road in the 'hood and it died as I stopped. Cranked it, nothing, juiced it (starting fluid) ran for a few seconds, mashed the pedal as it was dying and no response. Have cranked numerous times, nothing. Checked the #22 fuse, good (saw that in a thread) took off the fuel filter, fuel bowl or whatever you call it full of fuel. Here's when I got worried, pulled the dipstick thinking the idiots just bought me a new engine as the new oil was still in the quarts, but it's actually over full, by what looks like two quarts...I know the newer ones take 16, but mine takes 14, maybe they confused it, whatever. What's going on, does it being overfull effect the truck? I think the injectors are run off oil pressure or something, could this effect it?? HELP!!! Oh, disconnected remote start and everything to see if that was malfunctioning, still nothing....AHHH! Ok, let er rip.

 

Oh, the tach shows rpm's when cranking, I know that is a sign of the CMP.

 

My guess would be the cam sensor. Some one else proably will give their two cents also. Just a humble suggestion, If ya value your PSD as we all do here please no starting fluid. Its a real easy way to ruin an expensive engine.

 

I thought about that so I looked it up (cam sensor) but the consensus seems to be that if you've got rpm's showing as you crank it's working...as far as the eather (sp?) I just had a bit left in the garage so I gave it about a 1 sec. shot to see if that'd kick it over...anyway, what else should I check guys? (and gals I guess if you're out there!)

 

I agree, ether is a BAD idea on the PSD. Your owner's manual will tell you not to use anything such as ether. FYI, the newer PSDs take 15 quarts of oil, not 16. I'm assuming by your post that you have tach movement when you try to start the engine? Overfilling the engine won't prevent it from starting. That's actually what Ford recommends doing (per my Ford service DVD), overfilling by 2 quarts, to help find an oil leak. Make sure the high pressure oil pump is putting out enough pressure and also check the fuel pressure.

 

Ok, college boy here, I fly airplanes, and have a wal-mart tool kit...ouch, miss dad's snap-on two story box. Anyway, how would I go about checking that stuff? Do I need special tools and gauges? Thanks.

 

Ck.the thread [99 7.3 no start] by toturdriver,it was on page 5.

 

Ok, checked batteries, both good, even hooked it up to my other truck to add some juice...still nothing. It just cranks and cranks, checked all fuses, shows rpm's so I think the cam sensor is good, going to get a socket so I can remove the allen plug on top of the engine (hpop?) guess there should be oil in there....any other ideas? Thanks guys.

 

looks like someone has been in the hpop before, the little allen head plug (I think that's the plug I'm supposed to remove and see if the oil is full) is stripped....now what?

 

does your "Wait to Start engine" cycle on when you first turn the ignition key on? If it doesn't, you need to double check the fuse furthest away from the wheel well. It it is burnt out and replacement fuses burn out then you may have a short in the fuel heater (located below the fuel filter). To double check, you can replace the fuse again and disconnect the fuel heater (there is a connector near the base of the fuel filter). If it starts and stays running you have isolated the problem. If not, sorry but that is as much as I know. I am learning about psd's ojt.

 

light comes on, I just called the battery place, my batteries are only a year old, but my connections were severly corroded...oops...I pulled them and took them in, the guy said he'd call me tomorrow after they both spent the night on the tester/charger, he said I'm like the 10th guy to come in with psd batteries and a dead truck! Guess the big bad boys just eat batteries he said. We will see....

 

I had problems starting my 97 that is similar to yours. a weak battery was the culprit. It would turn over fine and not being familiar with these trucks I thought it couldn't be the batteries because it was turning over at a good speed.

ETHER=
no ether, never, ever, ever.

ETHER=
no ether, never, ever, ever.

ETHER=
no ether, never, ever, ever

Don't take it personally, but your truck may not have eaten your batteries, it was probably the corrosion. Your charging system puts out a higher voltage in order to offset the losses due to the corrosion. This leaves your electrical system looking at 16? volts instead of 12. You may have cooked an electrical component somewhere. If possible have the batteries charged and load tested, and then hook up your batt. cables and load test again through the cables. An ohmmeter will not show corrosion inside the cables like a load test will.

The aviation equivalent of using ether a PSD is probably leaving your keys in the intake of a turbine engine, so remember:

ETHER=
no ether, never, ever, ever

 

I like the analogy...took the batteries to the place, dead as a door nail, but they were bought a year ago (interstate) and they say now they're only worth 24 bucks a piece!!! WTF!!!!!!! I'm going to go back in tomorrow, I guess the store manager will be in then so I'll see if I can't grab him by the throat and get a new pair...we'll see, I hate it when you purchase something thinking the warranty is good only to find out they won't honor it...I'll go corporate if I have to with an email or something, but they want 100 bucks a piece! BS! Anyway, thanks for lettin' me vent, I know we all get frustrated, I'm just glad the technology that plagues us at times at least has provided us all a way to communicate and put our heads together to get stuff done. Thank you all for your input, we'll see if this does the trick.

 

I wish you luck during your haggling. I have worked with lots of batteries and if your dealer is worth his salt, he will investigate closely. He will check the batteries with a battery analyzer, a hydrometer, and a load tester. Sulfation, cell reversal, cycles and other things come in to play. For a battery to last for a year with corroded terminals is not uncommon. I have sold many deep cycles that are only expected to last about a year and a half in motive power applications. They can reach $200 each. With poor maintenance a battery is doomed from the start. I have seen them last ten years when used daily and properly maintained. I have an interesting link you may want to see. It is possible to revive batteries in some circumstances. I can't figure how to get the link without losing this text so I'll post it in a minute.

 

www.uuhome.de/william.darden

Good battery info in here.