You take it to an injection service that services Stanadyne injection pumps.

They mount it on a piece of equipment that spins the IP at specific RPM's, supplies test fluid to the IP and measures fuel delivery and timing.
It also checks to see where the IP starts defueling the engine at top RPM.

Without the equipment, there is nothing you can test other that installing it, then the engine runs or don't.

If my truck don't start, my first move would not be to go out and replace the most expensive part I could change.

A simple test light can give me a fast test for burnt glow plugs, a digital multimeter can tell me their exact condition.

I know my glow plug relay is less than one year old.

I watch my aftermarket volt meter when I heat my glow plug, I see the voltage drop is exactly what it was the day I installed new Motorcraft ZD 9 glow plugs, so I am rather confident that my glow plugs are working correctly.

I know my injectors have less than 60,000 miles on them.

Here lately I have noticed my cranking RPM is slightly lower than it normally is, so when it stops raining I am going to go clean the connections on my one year old battery cables.

And I can tell you I have 6 PSI pressure and over 1/2 pint of fuel in 10 seconds cranking from my lift pump, which was replaced last November.

With my information I have eliminated the glow plugs since they are still drawing the same amount of current they did when new, the lift pump is delivering more than enough fuel and injectors are probably still in good shape since they have rather low mileage on them.
I have also indicated that I should look at the battery connections, but have eliminated the cables since they are almost new.
But you can bet, if I go up to the truck right now and it don't start, I am not changing the injection pump before I clean the battery terminals.

So far nothing has been eliminated on your engine other that the glow plugs were replaced three weeks ago with something new.

I can't tell you how many posts I have read, I replaced my glow plugs with Champion/Autolite/Bosch/Wellman yesterday and my engine started great. Now my engine won't start today, what is wrong now?

Eliminate all of the under 100 dollar possibilities before you go to the 500 dollar possibility.

 

either way i have it now. and im going to install it.

some body said to ask you dave for install steps etc.

for the IP...

thanks you!!

 

didnt see this post when i posted my latest post..

i paid the guy 150 for th IP. which i can get reimbursed if it doesnt work.

other than that, i will absolutely check all that you have mentioned.

and let you know.

but first, my question hasnt been answered, would bad glow plug(s) make a difference with the heat in az, and after it running and the engine being hot??

i cleaned my battery cables.
both batt's have full charge.
cranking speed is normal..

those are what i can cross off the list.

other than that...

i did replace glow plugs 3 weeks ago.(but i will check them)
fuel filter is full.


like i said i will check that other stuff and get back to you.
thx for the help

 

In that heat with a hot truck you do not need them to start.
what kind did you put in?

 

Diesel needs to reach almost 500 degrees to autoignite.

It may be hot in Arizona, but even at 110 degrees that still leaves 390 degrees for the compression stroke to raise the cylinder temperature for the engine to start.

Fast test, test light with the ground clip on a positive battery terminal, remove the wire connector and touch the glow plug terminal with the test light tip.
Light good, no light bad.

Best test use an ohm meter.
.5 to 1 ohm = good plug
Lower probably shorted internally, higher the element is about shot and the glow plug is not heating like it should.
It does take a decent meter to read the ohms that close to a dead short acurately.

Corrosion inside the cables is what kills them, inside the clamps where they can not be cleaned.
If it is turning over rather fast, that can probably be eliminated.
If the fuel filter is full after it has been sitting overnight and before any attemp to start the engine, I will also say air intrusion is probably out as well.

As for changing the IP, here are directions for removal.

If you change the IP, the important thing is DO NOT REMOVE THE IP DRIVE GEAR COVER.

Remove the air cleaner.
Remove the two bolts holding the plate below the oil fill spout.
Then remove the three 5/16" 12 point bolts that hold the gear to the IP drive shaft.
Remove the wires from all three electrical connections.
Remove the return line from the fitting on top of the IP.
Remove the fuel supply line from the filter header to the IP.
Loosen all the injector supply lines at the injectors.
Unhook the throttle cable frojm the IP.
Now remove the three 9/16" nuts that hold the IP to the drive gear cover.
Work the IP toward the rear, tilting the rear of the IP up as you move it back.
With a little finesse you should be able to raise the rear of the IP with the injection lines still attached.
The entire IP and injection line assembly should come out in one piece looking like a butterfly.

Does the new truck have a turbo on it?
The turbo does make it harder to remove the IP, the passenger side injection lines and the turbo need to be in the same place at the same time, but it can be done.

After it is removed, notice the alignment dowel on the IP input shaft.
Look where the slot for the dowel is on your engine, turn the shaft so they will line up when you reinstall the IP.

Care should be taken to not unmesh the IP drive gear from the cam drive gear, that throws the injection timing off.
To many people remove the four bolts holding the IP drive gear cover down and lift the gear, drive gear cover and IP out together.
Getting the gear back in the right place is tricky without removing the front of the engine to see timing marks.

Install is the reverse of removal.

Of course in the middle you need to swap the injection lines over to the new IP.

 

when i am not dealing with head gasket-ish issues i dont need my gp's as soonas the fast idle shuts off, and i am in 80 degree summer weather during the hit part of the day, phoenix, well lets say surface of the sun compared to here.

 

My glow plugs are manual, and I still use them if the engine coolant temp is below 120 degrees.
Just to save the starter.

6 seconds glow time, the engie is running before a complete revolution.
No glow plugs on a 90 degree engine, 15 to 20 seconds of cranking before it fires.
And that engine was rebuilt 60K ago.

Why kill a starter to start without glow plugs?

 

when under normal circumstances, i can start in less than 3 seconds if it has sat for under three to four hours, anything over that, a short 3-6 second is ideal. I see what you mean though

 

Well I know in phoenix it is a lot hotter. I live in South Carolina for example the past few days has been in the 90s at the hot part of the day. Af first in the mornings I switch my truck on and wait for the light to go out and it cranks on half a turn. after that it doesn't matter if my truck has sat for 2 minutes or 8 hours I can jump in and without waitin on the plugs it will kick off with a half a rotation. so in pheonix they will probably help you better on first starts and if you have air and trying to reprime other than that I don't see where it would be a problem. I would be really surprised if replacing the IP doesn't fix your truck. If it does, which im pretty sure it will, hang on to your old one and send it off to be rebuilt that way you always have a spare and won't be in such a bind if you should ever need another one.

 

ok. i tested the glow plugs w a test light(i do not have a volt meter)

and they were all good.

and to answer Bill they are auto lites.

other than that i dont know what else to test before i go to the IP.

-plugs are good. and brand new.
-clean batt connectors
-normal(nothing abnormal) cranking speed
-full fuel filter(and no visible leaks hinting air intrusion)(filter os 3 months old)
-recently cleaned injectors, from when i put the new seal kit on( also every 3 or 4 fill ups i always put a lil bit of diesel kleen in the tank w some ATF fluid
-6 month old air filter

 

to add to the last post.
i dont have a fuel pressure gauge but i got the truck to turn on, and i compresses the valve on top of the fuel filter and fuel squirts out at a pretty good pace. if for ten seconds i leet it go i would bet a lot of money it would fill at least 1/2 pint jug.

anyways... ths is driving me crazy!!!.

today i went out to work on my truck, and i wanted to move it into the garage(out of the heat) to work on it,

so i figured what the hell and i tried starting it normally,(let plugs warm up etc) it started after about ten seconds of cranking( which, i remind u it hasnt done since before i was stranded in the safeway parking lot last week)

so i moved it tino the garage, turned it off, checked all the glow plugs
ate lunch...

then about 2 hours later i tried starting it again. this time it took two cranking cycles(2o seconds cranking and 2 mins resting, 20 seconds cranking two mins resting) then it started.

which is crazy, like i said, it has not been able to start on its own(w out ether) since the beginning of this thread.

it took a while to start, but it started.

dont know if that changes anything as far as diagnosis goes.

since everything is pointing towards IP at this point, maybe the IP is working intermittently...??

 

OK, I do see a pattern here though.

When you started it the first time, the engine was cold and it started.

When you moved it into the garage, the engine temp was still almost cold, and it started again but slightly harder.

Start cold, no start hot is a sign of a worn IP.
Thermal expansion of the pump increases the tolerances inside the IP resulting in low or no injection pressures.

 

ok. well i will get started on the IP in the morning.

keep u posted.

 

Its almost impossible to realign the notches on the pump to cam if you remove whole housing. I did that by mistake once. The cam gear is an inch or two below the top of that plate.

 

so what did u do?