long story short, I need help.

I have a 2002 F-250 with a 7.3.

I have been having a no crank, no start issue off and on for a while. batteries are new, cables are new, connections are clean, and starter has been rebuilt and checked. I bought a "starter relay" which i thought was the top solenoid in this picture. I also replaced the lower solenoid in the picture. The bottom solenoid was replaced with what im sure is the correct replacement. The upper I think is wrong. It started but then shut down and will not restart. The upper solenoid also was very hot after it shut down.





Long story short what is the upper solenoid for? Im assuming its not the starter solenoid. If so where is the Starter solenoid on a 2002 7.3?

I really appreciate any help and if this is not clear just ask and ill clarify.

 

Those are your glow plug relay and your intake air heater relay, nothing to do with the starter. The starter solenoid is on the starter, and the relay on an 02 is an ice cube in the fuse box under the dash. The upper relay in your photo is for the intake air heater and most people here consider it unnecessary , truck will start and run fine without it.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but the brown one by my hand is the intake heater and the black one is the glow plug. If so I think the glow plug one is wrong and causing the truck to shut down and not restart.

 

The one with the green tie strap next to the finger is the air intake relay. The other is supposed to be the glow plug relay.

The GPR looks the same as a the starter relay that 01 and before trucks had. The only way to know is does that relay ever turn off when the key is on. If both big terminals always have power say 5 minutes after the truck cranks, it is wrong. The starter relay grounds through its case while the other one grounds through the other small wire via a signal from the pcm. Your alternator cannot charge enough to overcome the glow plugs staying on so you should also have weak batteries.It will read as though the alternator is bad.

Now that it shut down and will not crank (not spin over at all?), with the key on, does any of the large terminals have power? How about the small terminal with the key on, the "incorrect" relay that should be the GPR. If the small wire is not powering up, check fuse 22 in cab. If the large wire does not have power, then a fusible link blew.

By not cranking, does it power up, spin over but not fire?

In the fuse box, the top right Bosch relay is the starter relay. The solenoid is on the starter on your model. Can u crank in neutral or by holding up on shifter (may be sloppy shifter syndrome). I have also seen corrosion in a connector behind the passenger side battery where the starter solenoid was on the earlier trucks. It is a single wire connector (yellow i think) that completes the small wire connection to the starter solenoid.

 

Correct, I said upper but I was wrong

 

im sorry i worded that wrong. its cranking but not starting. Im going to check fuses and replace the glow plug relay with the correct one. The original crumbled when i took it apart.

 

Ok, new gpr is in and fuse 22 is good. Now it fires up and dies. The first time I tried it, it fired up, romped a few times and then tied. Now it just fires and dies. Also there is a continous clicking sound coming out of the fuse box in the area of the starter relay when the key is in the on position. Don't remember it doing that before.

Any help would be great I need it to pull my camper next weekend. Thanks for everything so far, I don't know what I would do without this place.

 

The clicking may be coming from the ignition switch under the dash. Also the glow plug light is not going out now.

 

If your WTS light does not go out, you have your KO control wire and PCM Ground Circuit wire backwards or mixed up on the relay.

 

So you are saying the two small wires may be switched? Would that make it shut down right after starting?

 

After replacing the flow plug relay I took this picture. I think all wires are the way they were but I could be wrong. At this point it fires and dies. There is also clicking under the dash with the key on and the g

low plug or wait to start light seems to stay on.

 

The Blue Wire commands the PCM to Illuminate the WTS for 1 - 10 Seconds.

The RED Wire is the Key On The Pink Wire is the PCM Ground

 

Are they in the right spots? If so what is causing it to fire but not stay running?

 

I think I see what what Thomas is saying. It looks to me....that you have two small red wires on the GPR. And that you have two purple wires on the AIH relay. IF that is the case. Remove the 2 red wires, get them where they will not touch anything, and turn the key on, do they both get 12 V? IF so, then one should be on the GPR small post and one on the AIH small post. It does not matter which goes where as it has the same source. It is also the same source for the IPR.

These two here matter:
It looks like you have two purple wires on the AIH relay. My schematic shows purple with orange stripe as being the one that goes on the other small post on the GPR. The solid purple would stay on small post on the AIH. At this age, the purple looks almost brown. You may peel back the loom a little to see them more clearly. If you mix them up, then the AIH relay would energize when the GPR should. THE aih relay rarely energizes.

The blue wire stays where you have with the yellow and brown big wire pair (the side of the GPR that gets 12 volt with the key on).

 

Your wires do look correct. Are you positive you have the proper GLOW PLUG RELAY. If it is not a glow plug relay you are causing a short and that could be your problem. An improper relay will look the same but will be grounded internally to the mounting bracket, a glow plug relay is not internally grounded to the mounting bracket. The wrong relay and wireing could also fry your trucks computer. Be careful.