I am a newbie to diesel's and I am shopping for a PSD truck.
I found this one (this is what the ads says)....
"1999 Ford F250 4x4 this is a pretty good running old truck,bed has a dent in both sides, looks to be from a trailer,,3/4 ton auto,,cold air. -its cheaper for a reason, something not quite right, cooler mornings it has to be plugged in to start,but when it fires it runs good,, $4900 make me a offer".

I emailed him to ask (turns out it's a dealer too - so it makes me very leery) and this is his response....
"you have to plug it in to get it to start for probably 15 minutes then it starts just fine the rest of the day,and if you drive it regular its a lot better, the title is good one owner,, according to the title,no it don't drain the batteries it will crank forever,,really hot batteries in it,,no smoke at all.."

What is wrong with this truck?
Is it worth it?
How much will it cost to fix?
My guess (remember I am new to diesel's) would be glowplugs, but not for sure.
Please help! Thanks

 

More then likely its easier then glow plugs. Probably the glow plug relay. Pretty easy fix. There is replacement gpr that me, and others use. Its a stancor 586-902. You get it from mouser.com. ~$50 bucks IIRC. You would have to decide if the body was acceptable for you. Its a good running motor though. If I was going to buy it, I would want to watch it start cold (while plugged in since thats the only way he says it will start) And feel how the truck runs cold, then drive it, and feel how it runs warm. To be certain there isnt any injector issues. (Rough running truck while warm could be an injector issue) If it runs as good as he says, beat him up for price, and walk away pretty certain you can fix the no cold start for less then $100. Just my .02

 

Like Mike says.. probably in the glow plugs curcuit... I quick check would be to check the voltage right starting the engine. Read the voltage at one of the batteries with a digital voltmeter.. If the glow plugs are working properly, the voltage should be down around 11.5 to 12 volts.. After the glow plug relay kicks off after a couple of minutes, the voltage should jump up to 14.4 or so..
Also, the engine oil might need a oil change.. syn would help with quicker starts..

 

NOT the glow plugs. Not in Arkansas in September. My guess is low HPOP level.

 

I guess I dont know how cold the arkansas mornings are right now, but when I go to my truck in the morning, and its low 50s, the truck does not want to start without a couple seconds of glow plugs.

 

While you could be correct Joe, I dont see how plugging a truck in would facilitate any more oil flowing to the HPOP, since the HPOP only recieves oil from the LPOP when the engine is turning. BUT since the dealer says no smoke at all it leaves me wondering about whetehr he was refering to start up or while running.

I vote for GPR, or glow plugs.

 

Not to mention, sometimes it can be 78 degrees in the morning and my glow plugs will still cycle for about 20-30 seconds, depending on how cold it was overnight I guess. It's amazing what you learn about these things with a glow plug LED.

 

Could also be a bad set of batteries!

 

Plugging the truck in would warm the oil, thus allowing the LPOP to fill the HPOP a bit quicker.

The simple fact is that it is gonna be tough to narrow this down with the vehicle sitting on a dealer's lot.

 

Go look at the truck, tell the dealer not to plug it in.

Find the glow plug relay, its a small brown plastic relay that sits next to the fuel bowl. Bridge the large posts on the relay with a screwdriver, and have the dealer turn the key while letting the metal bridge those two posts.

If it starts, buy it.

 

Bingo!!! But don't tell the dealer man whatcha's doing. If it works and it starts, just say that it looks to be reeeeeeeeeeeeal expensive but tell him you are willing to "try" to fix it.

A new GPR is cheap.

 

If he goes, and it turns out to be just a bad GPR, I'm going to be GREEN with envy..

$4,900? Geesh.

Like stealing candy from a baby.

 

No kidding!

 

I vote for GP relay Or glow plugs.

 

Actually, it would be pretty easy to test if its the glow plug relay at the dealer. Just bring your own screwdriver to cross the terminals.