1988 F-SuperDuty, 7.3, 5-speed,

Ok I've read all the posts that I think my eyes can handle this is my problem maybe someone can shed some light here.......First start of the day is extremely hard almost imposible.....(dont shoot me but will start with alittle sniff) glow plug system appears to be operating properly, two brand new batteries (cranks fast) kinda new to this diesel thing here. All plus test sat with test light, WTS light comes on for about 8 sec. then goes off can here relay/controller clicking, brand new fuel pump, vacume pump on rt side of engine does not have belt on it and hasnt for a long time as per last owner, does this sound like I'm getting air in the fuel system? thanks in advance for the replys.

 

ok, say the first start of the day, and you use just a little ether, does it fire right up after about 1/2 a revolution? like boom and it fires as opposed to when you dont give it no ether and it just sits there and cranks over. have you ever tried the ether before you ever crank it in the morning? if she fires right off like its still warm with the ether, that means that it isn't a fuel problem. this means low compression usually. if it fires up real good then dies soon after firing, then is hard to start, its a fuel problem. if it just straight up wont start in the morning, ether or not, then it probably is the fuel shutoff solonoid inside the pump, to check this, when its still cold in the morning, before you fire it up, turn the key on and pull the front wire off the i.p. and put it back on and make sure it clicks like its supposed to. if it dont, just pull it off and put it back on a few times till it seems to start working. i have seen them get gummed up and especially when the fuel is cold it wont let the switch work inside there. are yuo absolutely sure you can hear the relay clicking on and off and you can watch the battery guage jump up and down in the morning, sometimes, i have to turn my key on and off a few times to get my glow plugs to kick on when the motor is cold. sometimes i turn my a.c. on and off and it starts working too. next time in the morning, just turn the glowplugs on, and when they shut off, turn the key off for about 3 seconds and turn the key again, let the glowlugs warm up again and then fire it up, they call this double cycling the plugs. theres lots of little tricks you need to know when you own a idi ford. tell me if these tricks dont work. and dont use too much ether.

 

vacuum pump has nothing to do with fuel. but don't you like having good brakes??!! and cold a.c.?? and make sure the volt guage corresponds with the wts light. sometimes the light and the actual on-time of the plugs are longer-shorter and they need to be on for a good 8 seconds total. this is why you may need to double cycle. is your truck burning any oil? or leaking any fuel on the ground or on to of the motor? any at all, a little drop every now and then could mean the difference in life or death of the old ford.

 

the vacume for my brakes comes from the power steering pump????? this is a new one on me vacume line from behind master cylinder to powersteering pump not really sure how that works.....the only problem I can see without vacume is the heater doesnt shift between floor/panel/defrost I'm gonna fix it though. To answer your question first cold start cycle GP's 2-3 clicks then try to start cranks and cranks very small sniff of ether and will pop right off and stay running and no more probs starting the rest of the day. I'm stumped like I said this diesel stuff is all new to me.

 

ok, ok, i forgot it is a superduty. on the superduties, the brake booster is hydraulic!! thats not vacuum. if you mash the brakes pretty hard, it will make the motor slow down a little when its just idling right? the power steering pump runs the brake booster. its hydraulic instead of vacuum. the hard start i don't know what it is about the fords. they just dont like to wake up in the mornings, a little sniff of ether will work every time, i do it to save wear and tear on my starter. you get the right ammount and it really goes don't it?

 

yeah I really hate using the stuff but she will start I'm at a loss here hopefully I can get this thing fixed it's really starting to pi$$ me off....like I said this diesel is all new to me......I am pretty mech inclined though built a 5.0HO Ranger 4x4 acouple of years ago and its been my daily driver since.....just needed a bigger stronger truck for work

 

the motor don't go klunk klunk klunk klunk klunk vroom does it?? if it does, then just try about 1/2 a second shot. 1 whole second is way too much and 2 seconds will blow a head gasket eventually. when you use ether, don't even wait for the glowplugs to warm up, just go straight to cranking. 1/2 a second or 3/4 is plenty. i think that old motor just has a little low compression. if you really want to get all fancy about it, i guess you could have a valve job on it. it helped my ol 7.3 a little. about 800 bucks for parts/machine work labor. my granda had a valve job done on it shortly before i got the truck. i would have just used ether on it and bought a banks turbo for it myself, i am savin up for one right now, got 2000 in my pocket, need 500 more, it would make a nice christmas present to myself.(just gotta get rid of the g.f. before christmas) i know, im a stingy *******

 

Well its got a "new" Ford 7.3 that only has 40,000 on it so I would doubt low compression but with a little pst pst she will pop right off and run perfect no chug chug chug or anything like that.....I know not to use the GP's when using the spray and dont would like to get this figured out before it gets too cold

 

well, have you tried lugging in the block heater?? i think the block heater is more of a pain than using ether. how cold is it now and how cold does it get???

 

i just don't know what to tell you. they just don't like waking up. umm kick it a couple times, walk around the truck 3 times, sprinkle some dirt on top of the hood then get the water hose and wash it off and see if that hepls, never tried it, but with the info you have given me, it should start by itself. try flooring it when you are cranking on it. thats about all the tricks in the book.

 

When your wts light is on is it pulling the volt meter down,also when its cycling can you see it in the volt meter?

 

Do not use ether! Try silicone spray, make sure it is spray. This will not hurt the engine

 

well guys after many hours working on this thing I have replaced the entire return line set up glow plugs and controler guess what fired right up this morning and it was a brisk 20' and that was with no plug in either so it looks as if I may have gotten her licked this time thanks for the responses