So i bought a truck. It's a 1990 f250 7.3L N/A. I drove it home for about 150 miles and it did great! I didnt plug it in and it got down to about 25F. I tried to start it the next day and it won't start. The guy said it won't start if you don't plug it in under about 45F....I was told this after I bought it. Now I'm not a diesel maniac but that seems like it should start down to about 25 or 30 without being plugged in! Does anyone have any tips for me? Thanks guys...

 

I would first check to see if the glow plugs are working

 

I'm still new at this myself. someone will be along with all the info you need, but by the sounds of it I would check my glow plugs how long are they cycling?

 

Well the wait to start light is only coming on for like 2 seconds at 45 or 50 degrees outside without being plugged up.What would that mean? I can hear a selonoid clicking when i turn thr key on. And how cold would it have to be to prevent it from starting with no heater?

 

Oh I forgot to mention that tried a little puff of starting fluid with upper cylinder lube(the good stuff) and it tried to bang over. But i think the Batt. was to drained from failed attempts.

 

Please don't use starter fluid.....its not good for your engine.

2 seconds of glow time on a cold is not nearly enough. you should get more like 10 seconds or more if its really cold. You most likely have some dead glow plugs in the system, its not hard to fix.

First you need to find out which plugs are bad. Heres how you do it:

1; Disconnect the bullet connector on the glow plug you are testing (test one at a time).

2; take a 12V test light and connect the aligator clip to the 12V positive side of the battery

3; touch the probe end of the ligh to the bullet stem of the glow plug. It should glow nice and bright. If not, the plug is dead.


Use only motorcraft / beru (made in germany) brand glow plugs. Other brands do not last and can lead to expensive internal engine damage.

 

So should this thing start around 30 degrees with no plug in if i fix the plugs b/c unless it sits at my friends house i wont have anywhere to plug it up....Thanks david i will try that hopefully tonite and let you know something keep an eye on my post because i am new to diesel engines and you seem very knowledgeable...again thanks man!

 

If everything is working properly it will start much colder than that even without being plugged in.

Mine was cold started down as low as about 15F only on glow plugs. I only use the block heater for the sake of getting into a warm truck in the morning.

I tried it as low as 30F plugged in without glow plugs and if fired after one full turn.

 

Mine starts at -6* w/o being plugged in, 1 10sec. cycle of the plugs and it'll start w/in 5 turns of the crank.

 

mlsc strated his truck at+5 with aheater he video it to

 

Actually now, it was a full day of 15F, then a sudden drop to -5, and I started it on just glowplugs, no heater. The other vid is a start at -2 but after a full night at near-zero, again no heater just glowplugs.

But I agree with the other suggestions, glowplugs seem like the most likely suspect, especially if you can hear the solenoid clicking on-off-on-off for a while after you turn the key. Also yes, weak batteries will interfere starting too, these starters take a lot of juice and turn real fast.

 

Problem is if you had any glows that heated at all the staring fluid most likely destroyed them. Only use starting fluid in an emergency and the glow plugs have to be disabled to use it.

 

OK so I know it starts on starting fluid and runs well that way! But per the advice I will no longer use the juice. So my wait to start light only comes on for about 2 secs even if unplugged. Now I also think it is the plugs, but my question is will bad plugs cause the cycle to be short like that?

 

ya or ur gp controler could be going out are ur blots tight and grounds good

 

not to sure but i will check tommorrow....but im thinkin glow plugs because the controller is soundin strong when it clicks and humms ya know?