I am a new diesel owner and I cannot get this thing started I bought it as a project and have replaced the fuel lines from the pump to the injectors and also replaced the glow plugs. Now it will not start!? When cranking i get puffs of white smoke comming out of the intake manifold! is this normal or an indcation of valve issues?

 

try a VERY small squirt of starter fluid. When it rains my air cleaner will collect water on top due to a bent hood and I get every symptom you just described but a quick shot of starter fluid should do the job.. alot of people say that its a terrible thing to use on a diesel but i have used quick bursts quite often and NEVER had anything bad happen

 

this there an yfuel leaks on the intake or pools of fuel

 

I do not see any leaks or pools of fuel. I did replace all of the fuel lines from the fuel filter to the injectors after dirving it home and there being several small leaks. My concern is the puffs of white smoke coming out of the intake. I have heard too many ugly stories about using starting fluid, so I will continue cranking with out. Can I purge the air out of the fuel lines?

 

theres a sherder vavle on the fuel flitter head

 

disable the glowplugs and give it a small squirt of ether.the horror stories you hear are from idiots overusing it.you only need about a half second or less squirt.

 

have someone help you crank the engine while you depress the shrader valve on the filter head to see if you are getting fuel to the there. If you get fuel there, loosen all the nuts on top of the injectors till you get fuel there and just snug them up. While doing all this plug in the block heater and see if that helps get her running.
Glow plugs are big problem when they are not all working.
DONT CRANK ON THE STARTER TOO LONG AT ONE TIME... the starters are very sensitive to over heating. Also make sure your batteries are up to snuff and crank the engine over fast enough.

 

I will work on these and keep you posted. this is my 1st diesel, so, I have alot to learn.

 

rupes right i forgot to say no gp before you use starter fluid

 

I wouldn't use either at all since that won't tell you whats wrong with it anyway. Yes, the glow plugs should be disabled if you insist on using it, but I'll never use or recommend using it.

For cranking, the general rule is: up to 20 seconds cranking with minimum 2 minutes cool off time for the starter.

Fuel flow checks at the schrader valve and the fuel injector high pressure connections.

If fuel is being injected into the engine, you should see some small amount of white mist pumping out of the tailpipe after about 5-10 seconds of constant cranking. This is raw fuel and verifies that the injection system is probably working properly. Crank with the pedal to the floor and back off as soon as you feel it starting to catch to prevent high RPM start. High throttle positions will help purge any air more quickly and spare your starter from extra cranking time.

Look on the top of the injection pump and verify that the electrical connections are in place like so:


How long are your glow plugs coming on for? Should be 10 seconds for cold start.

Use a test light to verify that you are getting 12V at the glow plugs.

Trace the 10 ga orange wire back from the glow plug controller (rear driver's side head) across the engine to the glow plug relay on the passenger side inner wheel apron. Check any and all connections for signs of frayed wires or corrosion. No need to open up the wire loom or other covered harness unless it looks to have been tampered with or spliced.

 

Which year is the 6.9?

86 and older used the old style glow plug system.
87 used the new style system.

Two different animals.

 

this is an 86 6.9. I see the wires that Dave is talking about and they look good. When I turn the plugs on it is about 10 sec., but when I bought the truck I would hear several clicks when I turned them on, now I just hear 1. Should I be concerned with that??

 

Find the connector circled in red, near the dip stick.



Inspect the end of the connector that has two large oragne wires, bottom in the picture.
Does the connector look like it has been hot?

If so, the connectors inside are probably not making connection and the glow plugs are probably not getting hot.

The fix is to splice the wires around the connector.