The past few days I've been reading threads about starting problems, because I have one. The biggest problems I have right now is lack of experience and no troubleshooting manual. The service manuals are in the mail and, today I began the experience building. 1993 F250 7.3 IDI, Auto trans.

Three possible causes were dominating the various threads I read; 1. was electrical focusing on good grounding connections, battery strength and starter system.
2. Fuel delivery and the fuel pump and injector pump.
3. Air in the fuel system.

My problem is this; I start the truck cold, and it starts fine, within 4-7 seconds, then drive it a few miles and turn it off for less than an hour. I start it a second time, she usually starts right up within 1-4 seconds.

This is where it gets weird.... When I try to start it a third time after a second short drive it fails..... I mean it won't start at all, until she completely cools down.

This has happened the last five times I've used the truck locally. I think I can rule out air in the line because it runs and idles fine when she starts.

Today I disconnected both batteries at both ends and cleaned and sanded all grounds and cleaned the terminals and connectors. After reconnecting everything with lock washers I drove about five miles to pick up my wife. Then we went a mile or two to the store. After about an hour in one store we came out and the truck would not start......

There was another store around the corner, so we went there, and gave the truck another hour. When we got back, it started right up.

So now I'm wondering if the heat of the engine is causing something or, if it is one of the pumps starting to go out and, the third start failing is just a coincidence.

Since I don't have my books yet, can anyone tell me the next troubleshooting sequences.... Like....
How do I test the FP and the IP?
Any special tools I should have? (I have a voltmeter, but not a fuel pressure gauge.)
What are any other possible causes?

I need to sell my other truck but, I can't until this oll 7.3 is dependable....

Any thoughts?

 

is there any fuel on the top of the engine did u clean the grounds on the block

 

I cleaned all the battery grounds including the block and I even added a lock washer to both grounds and the starter relay.

Fuel on top of the engine? Are you talking about the shrader valve on the fuel filter mount? I haven't tried checking that as yet, or do you mean something else?

 

in the pan under the intake

 

I have heard that when the ip is getting worn out they don't work as well once the engine is warm. Dave s is your man for this but I'm sure someone with more knowledge than myself will be able to help you out. BTW what manuals did you end up ordering?

 

You want I should take off the air filter cover and look down inside the intake manifold?
I haven't seen any fuel sitting anywhere on the engine.... Yesterday when this happened I thought I smelled diesel from the tailpipe like it was flooded, but I didn't follow up on it to make sure.

Sorry joe, I'm a fair mechanic on gas engines, but until my manuals show up I'm kinda in the dark without a flashlight..... Plus my truck isn't right in front of me where I can possibly deduce the correct part if I'm wrong.

 

I got the Motor n Drivetrain with the body and chassis and the turbo supplement. Unfortunately I paid for them before you told me the turbo supplement won't help me... But I have an ebay account and a amazon account so I'll just roll it over. Looks like I'll need to hunt down one of those electrical and vacuum manuals though. Paid about $74 for all three from Helm.

 

One more thing joe, after I rebuilt all my batteries connections and went to start it up, I heard a soft whirring sound from the upper firewall. Like a small pump motor would make, right about in the center. It was significant to me at the time because it was distinct and I don't recall ever having heard it before..... At the time I thought my electrical work paid off and the IP was happier for it..... Then she pulled the fickle no start about an hour later.

 

I paid around $350. aus for mine including freight. I might sugest you offer the turbo supplement to some of our members if only for the sake of keeping it in the family. The elec and vac manual I got from auto-repair-manuals.
The whirring are you sure the heater fan wasn't on. Or were the glow plugs cycling.

 

what years is ur truck i think that ur fuel watter septaor and the a fuel filter in there to was it on the driver side

 

Nothing was on, I made sure of that and, the dash lights all behaved in what I believe to be a normal manner.

 

1993 F250 4X4 7.3 IDI with an auto trans.

The filter is on the passenger side of the intake plenum. I think the IP is smack in the middle on the backside of the block, right next to the firewall.... At least I saw something there today which I couldn't match to my gas motor experience and thought that the IP was a likely possibility for the part when I later heard that whirring sound.

 

Ip at front driven off gears above water pump. Do you maybe have an aftermarket electric fuel pump?

 

get us some picks know iam me

 

Not really sure, I haven't mapped everything yet. I figure all that'll get done as I change all the fluids and filters.... and it looks like a gasket or two too......

I just made a brake fluid pump for flushing the brakes.... I got my rotella and napa gold oil filter but, I'm gonna flush my coolant first cause I have some oil leaks and I want to wash down the engine so I can track the leaks better in case I have to change any gaskets.... No need to change the oil twice to fix a gasket if you can get it all at once.

Then depending on how this starting issue goes, I'll either be repairing that or continuing with the tranny and gear boxes for fluid changes.

I just got the truck a few weeks ago and I had to get it legal and fix the windshield to get to this point. Now I just want to give it a baseline for maintenance documentation since nothing came with the truck. The good thing is that the guy I got it from bought the truck from a ford dealership last winter, so it hasn't been neglected for too long. The poor fellow wasn't the brightest penny in the drawer either, I think he sold me the truck cause of the starting issue and, his total lack of mechanical aptitude. I mean the guy broke the dash trying to get to the light switch, when the only problem was a burnt fuse....