makes sense, but what do i look for?

 

Evidence of burning or getting hot. Carbon, melted rubber, etc.

When the connections get a little loose or corroded, their resistance goes up and the power dissipated across the connection goes up to where they get noticably hot. Then they get hotter. Then they fry, melt, and go open.

Best reason to keep them dry and tight.

Pop

 

if you undo the plug x4 from vc gasket it will be quite apparent if the problem is there or not. if you see nothing out of the ordinary it could be the uvc harnesses(under valve cover),but before you remove those you can take an ohm reading on em to see whats up. if it check out good with that and you are sure gpr is good. i dont know. maybe the pcm is jacked, or the whole harness is fried, or your eot sensor is screwing something up.

 

i dont mind busted knuckles, but this truck is starting to make my head hurt

 

Does 97 have mechanical lift pump or electric? open up your filter( take off the top} and crank your engine, if mechanical. If electric, just turn key and see if the bowl fills up, That could be your problem. Sorry thats all I got, ran into that one myself on a friend's truck.

 

dont give up on her. these trucks are so easy...... you said you changed glowplugs right???? how did the uvs harnesses look? have you ohmed the glowplugs at the vc connection yet?
and please dont be offended by this next question........
did you remember to plug the little black caps back on top of the glowplugs after install?