I may have a lemon. I just got this truck (83 F250 XLT Lariat SC LWB 4x2) 3 days ago, and now it won't start. The truck is clean and straight and the deal was good (under $3k) considering it has a Banks turbo kit on it. I'm new to diesel ownership and am still learning. Judging from the way the engine ran and complete lack of any smoke during normal operation conditions, I know it's fine, but it just didn't want to start this morning and I haven't yet been able to start it. I've read on here about the "wait to start" circuit having some issues with burning out glow plugs and discovered that a previous owner had converted this truck to a momentary switch on the dash for the glow plug warmup presumably because of the stock circuitry being faulty. When cranking, a lot of white smoke comes out of the tailpipe and smells of diesel. I'm assuming that means my fuel delivery is ok. I'd like to pull the glow plugs but am unsure what to look for and I've also heard they are easy to break pulling them out. Can someone give me some advice on where to look first and any techniques gained by experience to successfully remove the glow plugs without breaking? Thanks in advance and sorry for the long post.

 

Howdy . I have a momentary switch on mine as well . First you should check for voltage at the glow plugs . A 12v test light should do . When you have the test light probe in the glow plug connector , have someone hit the switch . Most likely your ignition switch will need to be in the run position . If there is juice you need to buy new glowplugs . If none we will have to trace the power source .Let me know what you find with the test light to go from there .
Harold

 

The glow plugs are inside the runners of the intake manifold.
Right above the rocker covers look down on the intake and look for the wire that hooks to the glow plug.
A quick test is to remove the wire from the glow plug.
Then using an automotive test light with the ground clip on the positive battery terminal, touch the glow plug connector.
If the test light lights, the plug is probably good.
If the test light does not light, the plug is bad.
using a 10 MM or a 3/8" socket carefully unscrew the glow plug, the threads are long on them. Hopefully they will just pull right out when unscrewed.
The turbo will make several of them a real fun thing to change, or at least my ATS turbo does.

When you reinstall the new ones use Motorcraft/Beru plugs, that is the best you can install to avoid the tip deforming.
Also use never sieze on the threads, it makes them easier to change next time around.
10 ft lbs is the torque on the glow plugs, so don't crank them down to tight.
When you hold down the button to heat the glow plugs, shoot for about 10 seconds of on time.
The 83 glow plug system was a great thing while it worked.
But once it started to go bad, it was a nightmare.
The controller is located in the rear of the passenger side head.
It is an expensive piece to buy.
It is in a very hard to work on place and when you try to remove the old one it will probably break off in the head.
If this happens you will have a coolant leak, the only way to fix it is remove the head.
You do not want to do that either.

As far as the tips breaking off I have heard several ways to remove the broken tips while on here.
Try sucking it out with a shop vac.
One fellow ran his down the road till it blew out.
Several people have pulled the head.
When the plug was tight in the hole after unscrewing the glow plug, several people have had success with PB Blaster sprayed in the glow plug hole while turning the glow plug gently.

Hope this helps you with your new ride.
Also welcome to FTE, we like helping old Fords run forever.
That 6.9 is going to run for close to 300,000 miles.
Mine died at 270,000 but you should see the work it did for 20 years.
Also in the blue bar above the forum, if you click User CP and put your truck info in the signature it will make it easier to help you with problems and you won't have to type your truck info every time you ask a question.
If you hold your mouse pointer over the signature word to the right of my post header you will see what I mean.

 

Should I avoid Autolite Plugs? I've seen a couple references for later engines saying that the autolites should be avoided.

 

avoid autolite and champion like the plague. Dont listen to the snot nose punk kid at the autoparts, get MOTORCRAFT/BERU glowplugs only. $9.99 a piece at Autozone, I dont know that the dealer charges. Autolite is NOT the same as Motorcraft. I bought 3 kinds of glowplugs when I did mine, Autolite, Champion and Motorcraft/Beru. I can gaurantee that each plug is made in a diffrent factory. My Beru plugs were made in Germany and packaged in Motorcraft bag. The other plugs have a nasty habit of deforming and breaking off when you pull them out. This is a bad thing, unless you have lots of free time and a spare truck to drive, and like to wrench.....

 

If you have to pull any glow plugs or I would even pull one or two anyway, if they are not Motorcraft plugs I would change them all just to be safe.
My truck has only had Motorcraft plugs in it, no problems with broken tips in 20 years.
The other brands are like playing Russian Roulette with only one bullet missing from the six shooter cylinder instead of five missing.

 

Before I change anything, I decided to plug in my block heater and see if it helped. So I plugged in my block heater on Sunday for about an hour and it fired right up. I gave it a try again this morning using the momentary GP button for about 10 seconds and it didn't light right off, but it took a couple seconds of cranking and rattled to life. I may replace the GP's anyway but don't really want to shoot my head off (russian roulette!).

That said, I've developed a new problem: Coolant leak. It appears to drip from right above the starter on the block somewhere perhaps from a freeze plug or HG? Knowing that I just plugged the block warmer in and the leak started after that, is that a likely culprit? How hard is it to change the Block warmer? Is it a press in or screw in deal?

 

The block heater is located just above the starter . Not hard to change if you remove the starter . Also you need to check for a cracked block or head gasket leak . Mine leaks just above the block heater and near the dipstick . My truck has a small crack in the block . I use a little stop-leak in it once in a while to slow the leak .I have driven it all over the country like this for the last 3 years . Keep her full of coolant and she is fine . It's not bad enough to change out the engine and it runs great .So i just check it regularly .
Good luck .

 

Block heater has a o-ring . It is held in by a backing plate setup that grabs the inside of the block as you tighten the bolt if i remember correctly . Loosen it some and it should wiggle out . You may want to look at a picture of one before you start , or do like me and just jump into the middle of it ..lol.

 

it does sound like glow plugs would be a good idea .

 

Glow plugs in top notch working order are a must during winter weather. You never know when you will be somewhere you can not plug in or when the block heater will die. Either of the above could prevent you from starting your truck after several hours of not running at cold temps.

The worst part about changing the block heater is you always get to wear some antifreeze when you do it. Wear safety glasses when you pull it out of the block. Also change it before it gets real cold, antifreeze up your arm at 40 is a lot better than antifreeze up your arm at -15 when the truck won't start.

The second worst part is sometimes they get stuck in there kinda tight.

When installing the new one I put just a very light coat of silicone sealant on the O ring to help stop leaks.
Also do your best to not have the heating element touch the block, if it does it will fail in very short order.

 

Luckily it almost never goes to zero or below here in the Willamette Valley (Portland Oregon area).

So is there any reason besides the glow plugs the my truck may not have fired Saturday? If it got a lot of diesel in the chambers, would that make it harder to start making it more difficult to fire once it didn't fire initially? Thanks for all the help -- hopefully some day I can return the favor.

 

Without the glow plugs or the block heater , you could run down as many batteries as you want to and mine still won't start when it's cold . Keep in mind I live in Louisiana , it doesn't really get cold . 10 seconds on the glow plugs and she fires right up regardless of the amount of diesel in the chambers . Smokes quite a bit though...lol.

 

I dont think diesels can foul due to too much fuel... can they? Or can they??? Mine just smokes alot but still fires.

 

It would be hard to get enough diesel in the cylinder to make it not fire.
But then you also have to remember the diesel has to make enough heat from the compression stroke to ignite the fuel.
Air gets hot when you compress it. But diesel fuel auto ignition temperature is about 490 degrees F. So till the engine compresses the air enough times to raise the cylinder temp to almost 500 degrees it will not start. That is where the glow plug comes in to play in the starting process. That several hundred degree glow plug provides the extra heat to get the fuel to start burning at the low RPM of the starter motor. Once the engine fires, the faster speed of the compression stroke generates enough heat for auto ignition of the fuel.

Now you know all the poop on glow plugs and diesel engines.