I just did a ton of work on my super duty because of an air leak in the fuel system. What a pain to find that leak. I worked on the fuel system from one end to the other and replaced a bunch of stuff. Lines, o-rings, lift pump, and injector pump, and fuel filter base cap. You think the truck wanted to start easy? nope.... I assumed something and I learned my lesson. I had changed all my glow plugs a year and a half ago. I assumed they were good but I in the end tested them and found that they were all bad! When I first had the air leak problem I used the clear line and could see the air. with everything I did things got a little better. I assumed it did not want to start because of still leaking air. Well when you go change everything and it still did not want to start easy it was time to look at other things... the glow plugs... duh... I guess what they say is true throw enough money at it and you will in the end will fix the problem... In the end I guess if I would have slowed down and not assumed things I could have fixed the truck with more smarts and less money...

 

Good point. biglex, your first post said you have new glow plugs and relay, Are you confident that part of the system is working right? Still you should have a higher cold idle that kicks down after warmed up to about 112*F warm idle speed should be 650 to 700 rpm, cold idle advqance on 800-850.

 

Well, I changed the glow plug relay myself with a brand new one, but when I got the truck they said they just put new ones in it, that COULD very well be the problem. I will have to change all those this week. As for the temp sensor and solinoid, here is what I did. I unplugged the back wire, it seemed to start just the same (mind you its all warm now from all this testing ive been doing), I plugged it back up, and unplugged the front one, would not start at all. I unplugged what to me looks like the high temp solinoid and it still started just the same. Ok, so I am NO diesel mechanic, I am posting a pic of the parts I just mentioned, so if they arent what I said they are, please let me know.

http://www.kingarthurracing.com/images/solinoid.JPG

 

The bottom left wire in your picture is the fast idle solenoid.
Top right is the cold start timing advance solenoid.
Bottom right is the fuel shut off solenoid.

The wire that goes behind the fuel line and to the left in the picture goes directly to the temp switch.

There is a picture of it when I had the engine out. The silver thing is what the top radiator hose hooks to and you can also see the #1 injector. You can only see it because the fuel filter bracket and alternator are not installed.

Since you said the previous owner changed the glow plug relay, and you changed it again as well as replace the glow plugs I wonder if the wires are hooked up right.
What brand of glow plugs did you install?

 

Electrical check of the glow plug relay and controller connections.
Battery terminal has positive battery power at all times.
The black ground wire must have a good ground connection.
The ignition switch terminal must have power when the key is in the "ON" position.

 

I installed the relay, they SAID they installed new plugs. I am doubting they really did. So you think I should change the plugs and maybe the fast idle switch?

 

I would check the wiring of the relay.
I would also test the glow plugs.
Test light with the ground clip on a positive battery terminal.
Remove the harness connector and touch the tip of the testor to the glow plug terminal. If it lights the plug is good, replace the wire and go to the next.
If it does not light, replace the plug.

Only use Motorcraft/Beru ZD 9 glow plugs, if you pull one and see another name on it get them all out and replace them good or not. Autozone has the plugs for 9.99 each.

Parts are expensive, it is far better to find the problem than it is to just throw money at it till it works.

When the engine is cold and the key is turned to on, you should have power to every terminal you circled in your picture of the IP. If you have power and the fast idle solenoid is not up against the throttle lever, either it is bad or it needs adjusted. You should see the plunger drop back when you unplug the wire from it.
If you do not have power the temp switch is either bad or the wire is off the terminals.
Since the engine runs after you get it started we can assume you have power in the temp switch connector, it gets it's power from the fuel shut off solenoid power wire.

If you have power at all the right places on the engine and glow plug controller and your glow plugs are good, your problem may be fuel related instead of electrical. No sense dropping a couple hundered for the electrical parts when you need new O rings or something else fuel related.

 

Ok, so I had NO power to the top right terminal, so I am going to change the temp switch as soon as I get a day off. I will keep you posted.

 

Ok, so I go to change the temp switch and I test all the connections. The front and back terminals on the injecter pump have power, and there is power going to the solenoid, however the plunger does not move, it just floats freely. With power to it, I can move it in and out as I please, so I am guessing that is bad. Also, when I do pull the plunger all the way out, it is nowhere near the throttle lever. Any ideas?

 

Hmmn, I'm having almost this same problem. With 3 minor differences

1) My GPs are on manual control, so I know the relay is closing. I've tried hitting the button for varying amounts of time anywhere from 5-10 seconds, but it doesn't seem to make any difference. The relay is brand new and the GPs are brand new Berus, so I'm pretty sure they're getting hot enough.

2) Mine produces quite a bit of smoke when it is cranking and over but not starting. Smoke is pretty white and smells strongly of diesel. I've tried cranking it with myfoot off the pedal, at 1/4 throttle, 1/2 throttle, and pedal to the floor - seems to make no difference in starting - just in the amount of smoke.

3) I'm not using ether in mine, but I am giving it a shot of carb cleaner (a LOT less explosive and - I hope - less likely to stretch the headbolts or do other damage). With just a 1-2 second squirt into the air cleaner she fires right up and runs fine.

I thought it might be the timing until Spectramac and I set it last Sunday. That didn't make any difference either. I still have the clear line installed from the filter to injector #1 and it has NO air whatsoever in that line - which leads me to believe that air in the system isn't the problem. Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong about that.

When I had the controller in the GP circuit the WTS light would only light up for a couple of seconds when it was 70 degrees out - which I understand is normal. Just as an experiment I connected the pushbutton switch wire directly to the battery and toook the controller out of the loop completely - thinking it might be the problem. Didn't make any difference.

I just plugged in my block heater for the first time this morning, but since I'm working a swing shift tonight, I won't actually get to see if that affects the starting until tomorrow night. I'm not going to try firing it up when I get home tonight - at midnight - LOL!

Anybody got any other suggestions?

 

biglex it sounds like your fast idle solenoid is dead and needs replaced.

CheaperJeeper, let us know if the block heater makes any difference.

 

Well, it started up just fine with the block heater plugged in.

Guess that means I still have some work to do on my GP system, huh?

 

Cheaper, I have simular problems as you but I'm quite sure its the return line from the filter head to the #1 injector draining the system of feul...so leaving me [you?] with only the feul in the IP to start up with...I'm going to cap each end as others have and hopefully that will be the end of it?!

 

Well, like I said, I still have the clear hose installed from #1 to the filter. It is full of fuel and has NO bubbles in it. Does that mean that there is NO air in my system? I dunno, there could still be some air getting in between the filter and lift pump or lift pump and tank. Since it didn't need the shot of carb cleaner to fire right up with the block heater plugged in, I'm 99% sure that my GP system is where the fault lies. If mine were a fuel issue the block heater wouldn't help, right....?

Interesting that we have such similar symptoms but different causes. I take it that plugging in the block heater doesn't make a difference in the way yours starts - or rathr doesn't start?

 

well I am still at a loss with mine. seems like nothing I do matters. I do know the solenoid is jacked. I cant seem to get my test light to work at all, so I am still fighting with that to see if the glow plugs are working.