If it developed a sensitivity to the cold, then it sounds more like glow plugs, usually, (but not always) an air leak causes a stall after start condition, since the IP still has enough fuel in it to fire the engine for a few seconds. The glow plugs can be checked by connecting a test light to the positive lead of the battery and the probe to the tang of the glow plug, disconnect the glow plug hookup before doing the test. If the light comes on, than the glow plug is probably good.

Unfortunately, the 6.9 (excluding 1987) has a poor design of glow plug controller. If you run a manual switch, it could save you a lot of headaches. Even a luke warm 6.9 can usually start without glow plugs, so bypassing the stock controller will help the plugs last a lot better.

My stock controller started to stay on longer and longer untill one day it did not shut off, that was all I needed to go to a manual switch.

I ask about the fuel because the at 20L or less in my tank, I run the risk of stalling if I go on a steep grade (my driveway is about 12%), but if I am patient, I can restart the engine in 2 or 3 attempts once on flat ground. Sometimes the fuel pickup tube can also break off and cause a stall condition even if there is over 1/4 of a tank left, and the gauge is not always accurate.

At the very least, I would carefully remove the fuel filter and see how much is in it. It should be full to the top, but if the injection system has run dry it will be about 2/3-3/4 full.

 

I had a mechanic look at it today and he said the glow plugs are bad and are only drawing about 4.5 amps. He thinks the controller probably malfunctioned and burned them out. Makes sense to me.

Anyone know how many amps the plugs should be drawing if they are good?

-M

 

I think about 200amps.

 

Before I even type this , I know it's a dumb question. Have you checked the oil level??
On my 95 PSD if my oil level drops by 1-2 quarts it won't fire because oil is used to pressurise and run the injectors. However I don't know anything about your van.
The problem with diagnosing a new2you vehicle is it may have several minor issues that each contribute a little bit to the problem and you need to sort all of them out to get it running as you want it to.

 

To run an IDI needs very little,

fuel
air
engine turning over
enough heat to ignite the fuel

You can unplug every wire from the engine as long as you leave the fuel shut off solenoid plugged in.
There are no sensors that have anything to do with the engine running, they only hook to the gauges.

With a manual transmission, if you are parked on a big enough hill you can start an IDI as long as it has enough battery power to open the fuel shut off solenoid with everything else unhooked.
Even the glow plugs are not needed if the engine turns over fast enough and long enough.

Notice oil and coolant are not in the list of things required to start the engine, they only make it run longer after it starts.

 

Concidently I lost my oil filler cap the first time I added oil. But I drove all the way up here without it being on and it ran fine. Now im hearing about this oil pressure thing and wondering if that could be part of it. But it doesnt make sense to me seeing as I drove all the way up here without it. I'm going to track down a replacement regardless and check the oil level.

Are autolite plugs as bad as I've read they are on here? I seen a lot of people on here talk about how you should never use them. I called around yesterday and the found autolites cheaper and in stock where as the motorcraft are more and need to be ordered. The cost isnt an issue but are the motorcraft plugs that much better that I should order the motorcraft ones?

 

Autolite glow plugs are pretty much the worst you could get. They heat up very quickly, and if not controlled, the tip usually swells up and and either jambs the tip in the glow plug hole, or breaks off completely. This usually means pulling off the heads to remove the debries, a frightening prospect in an F-series, let alone an E-series.

Beru plugs heat up more slowly, and are far less likely to distort if they fail or are overpowered. My stock controller burned out an entire set of beru plugs once, but they all came out no problem.