Let me start off by saying my truck has been running immaculately with no problems until very recently. The first time my truck let me down was a few weeks ago. I was towing a utility trailer for about half an hour, stopped and parked to get a bite to eat. After about 20 minutes I returned to my truck to take off but the powerstroke would not catch and start. I kept cycling the glow plugs and turning the motor until the batteries were too weak to crank anymore. Luckily the local Ford dealership was about a block away and I got a jump from one of the guys which started the truck right up. The second time this scenario happened to me was today. I took a 100 mile trip and at the end I stopped and got out for about 15 minutes. When I got back in to try to start the truck the same thing happened. I cycled and turned until the batteries almost went dead. I then had to get a jump and the truck started right up. I would think it would be a bad alternator or bad batteries but the weird thing is this doesn't happen on every start up. It only happens after a good drive, turning the truck off, and trying to restart it 15-20 minutes later. I can drive to work, let the truck sit for a few hours and go out to start it and it fire right up. I can also not run the truck for a week or two, come out to start it and it start like a champ. I'm baffled by this problem and would really like to rectify it since it's causing me to lose confidence in this truck. I would really hate to be out somewhere distant and not have a jump if this is going to happen again. I thank you all for the help and suggestions ahead of time.

 

Just to note this truck is stock except for a Tymar intake and it runs perfect after it's started.

 

hello I think your alternator is bad but only does it intermittently right now check the alternator when is actually showing the problems!!

 

Thank you for the response. The alternator was replaced right before I purchased the truck which was a little over one year ago. I hope it did not go bad so soon. The thing is the truck will crank over strong but just won't catch. I keep cranking and cranking and that's why the batteries die. I'll get the alternator checked out soon though just in case.

 

Batteries tend to get weak once they are subjected to some heat. Not enough current when hot.
You know the truck is probably ok.......it starts right up if you jump it.
One other thing it could be, is a starter that's dragging when it gets hot. Needs alot of current to get it turning over fast enough.
I'd look at the batteries first.

 

You might want to have someone look at it with a code reader if the alternator checks out OK. My truck acted a little weird just before the CPS sensor died in the middle of traffic - worse, I got towed out of the street by a, ah, uhhh Chebby. Would not start, and I thought I might have had a fuel problem. Turns out the CPS is flaky, and prone to failure. I paid for a tow to my regular dealer, before they told me it was covered under warranty and they would have covered the tow to the nearest dealer... go figure.

Just passing along some personal experience, in case the electrical checks out OK.

 

Thank you all for the responses. My Superchips Microtuner is on it's way, that will allow me to read codes correct?

 

i gotta say... that sounds like a bad starter to me... i've seen this a couple of times before, but not on my mule... when a starter is dying, and gets hot, it doesn't make as much torque with the juice it is getting... you think the starter is fine, becuase when the motor is cool, no problems... but twice it has failed you when you stoped after running hot... and the motor actually gets HOTTER after you shut it down.. and so does your starter..! i wonder if it would do this if you ran your truck for 10 mins or so to cool it down, then left it off for 30 mins... anyway... that's my best guess based on past experiences...

 

hello i agree it could be your starter. had a starter pull so much it would melt the insolutation off the positive battery cable.

 

I would have the batteries load tested first then look at the starter or cps.
gseeders

 

If it's cranking fine, until the batteries die, I wouldn't think it's either
the batteries, alternator, or starter. 20 minutes isn't enough time to worry about the glow plugs either.
CPS is a possibility.
Wire chafing in the PCM harness is another. Heat expansion could be causing an issue.
just guesses.

 

were you getting any smoke while cranking???

sounds exactly like what happened last time i had a CPS die. grabbed a burger in my work truck. sat for 15 minutes. no start, no smoke. sat for 20 more minutes and truck fired right up. changed CPS when i got home and hadent had a problem with it since then.

 

No smoke at all. This problem is very intermittent, some days it will do frequent start ups fine everytime and others it won't. Any ideas on where I can purchase a CPS and installation?

 

Yep, take your rig to the international truck dealership... unless you want to pay the blue oval part surcharge. Get them to get you the right CPS and install it... or... research this site for CPS...good info here... remove the thing w/ 10mm wrench/socket....

Take it to the international shop... BUY TWO... did I say BUY TWO?

Install one and keep the other one handy (and the tools) so that if you have a flaky situation that indicates a CPS problem, you have the fix on hand.

If you have the warranty in force, take it to the stealership... buy an extra one ASAP and keep it w/you.

Good luck,

Phil

 

powerstrokeshop.com has good prices on CPS.

i would get batteries checked just to make sure a bad ground or battery will make it hell getting started