Low voltage on fast idle and cold timing advance
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Low voltage on fast idle and cold timing advance
1991 7.3
Starting hard... so i decided to check the cold timing advance solonoid and found the voltage to be around 9-10 volts... the battery measures at 12.something...
I measured from the negative of the battery as well as from the chassis ground and still i see around 9-10 volts. This seems abnormal to me and i wonder if someone out there has seen this before.
Could this be causing my hard start problems?
Do you know what the problem could be?
thanks
Starting hard... so i decided to check the cold timing advance solonoid and found the voltage to be around 9-10 volts... the battery measures at 12.something...
I measured from the negative of the battery as well as from the chassis ground and still i see around 9-10 volts. This seems abnormal to me and i wonder if someone out there has seen this before.
Could this be causing my hard start problems?
Do you know what the problem could be?
thanks
Post Fiend
Joined: Nov 2004
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From: Manitoba
9-10 volts is normal............ Your running 3 solenoids....FSS, CTA and CIA
Fuel shutoff solenoid, Cold timing advance and Cold idle advance.....plus when the CTA and CIA are on so are the GPs for a while..........lots draw there....
Fuel shutoff solenoid, Cold timing advance and Cold idle advance.....plus when the CTA and CIA are on so are the GPs for a while..........lots draw there....
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I was reading somewhere (can’t find it now) but the guy had low voltage coming out of the cold start sensor, but I think it was like 5 volts? If you can locate yours (believe it's above the thermostat area) run a test lead from the + side of battery to the sensor when the engine is cold and do not turn the key on. Then using a meter check to see if your getting 12 volts. On yours however I agree with PLC7.3 that there is a lot of stuff drawing juice when first starting the truck – just watching volt meter on the dash…
What is it doing exactly?
Does it just crank a lot before starting for 5, 10, 15 seconds?
How cold is it by you?
When it does start is there a lot of smoke when below 20F – backyard fogger?
Do you turn the key on, and while the "wait to start light is on push the throttle to the floor and release - makes sure the cold idle has engaged?
Do you give a little throttle while cranking when it's cold?
How old is the IP?
Did you check to see if the glow plugs are good?
I reset the timing on mine, and disconnected the cold advance and it smokes about as much on a cold start (so far under 15F) now as it did on a 60 degree morning – maybe even less.
Read the thread "Cold Idle Solenoid Disconnected"...
What is it doing exactly?
Does it just crank a lot before starting for 5, 10, 15 seconds?
How cold is it by you?
When it does start is there a lot of smoke when below 20F – backyard fogger?
Do you turn the key on, and while the "wait to start light is on push the throttle to the floor and release - makes sure the cold idle has engaged?
Do you give a little throttle while cranking when it's cold?
How old is the IP?
Did you check to see if the glow plugs are good?
I reset the timing on mine, and disconnected the cold advance and it smokes about as much on a cold start (so far under 15F) now as it did on a 60 degree morning – maybe even less.
Read the thread "Cold Idle Solenoid Disconnected"...
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It will crank and crank, firing once in a while but not taking off... If i happen to be downhill and clutch start it, it takes off immediately. I replaced one of the batteries last year, but the second is at least 4 years old, but it still seems to be turning over quickly.
At first i thought it was a glow plug problem since the wait to start light didn't come on very long... so i found two bad glow plugs and replaced them. Now the wait to start light comes on normally (10-15 sec). But it still won't start properly.
It's not too cold here. 50 deg or so... and once it starts it runs smooth and clean. The fast idle solonoid does work and once it warms up it slows down as normal....
I'm thinking my next step it to change out the older battery.... and check the compression....
The problem came on slowly, that is that it got harder to start as time went by, over a period of about 2 or 3 months... so hopefully it's as simple as a new battery. I don't know how old the IP is...
I have a spare IP, but if it runs well once it starts i didn't think that would be a likely proplem.
What do you think?
At first i thought it was a glow plug problem since the wait to start light didn't come on very long... so i found two bad glow plugs and replaced them. Now the wait to start light comes on normally (10-15 sec). But it still won't start properly.
It's not too cold here. 50 deg or so... and once it starts it runs smooth and clean. The fast idle solonoid does work and once it warms up it slows down as normal....
I'm thinking my next step it to change out the older battery.... and check the compression....
The problem came on slowly, that is that it got harder to start as time went by, over a period of about 2 or 3 months... so hopefully it's as simple as a new battery. I don't know how old the IP is...
I have a spare IP, but if it runs well once it starts i didn't think that would be a likely proplem.
What do you think?
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I'd pull all battery cable connectors off, starters, grounds you name it and clean them with a wire brush, battery post cleaner / chemicals. Dry them off good and bolt them back on. Maybe put a little grease on them to keep the moisture out. I had my batteries checked at AutoZone but it just didn’t seem to turn over like it did a few months before. All the connections looked tight and clean so I was thinking the starter might be going. Well I needed to figure out why my block heater wasn’t working, and replace a screw on the radiator overflow. I pulled the batteries out did the work put the batteries back in clean the connections and viola; it’s as if it was new!
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I just recently experienced hard cold starts....
-I have a push button for my glow plugs
-tested and replaced one glow plug
-plugged fuel return line
Still had hard starting issues...replaced all the glow plugs, starts like a dam?!!
-I have a push button for my glow plugs
-tested and replaced one glow plug
-plugged fuel return line
Still had hard starting issues...replaced all the glow plugs, starts like a dam?!!
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Originally Posted by greaserig
It will crank and crank, firing once in a while but not taking off... If i happen to be downhill and clutch start it, it takes off immediately. I replaced one of the batteries last year, but the second is at least 4 years old, but it still seems to be turning over quickly.
I'm thinking it might be batteries or a connection because - as you stated you can pop the clutch and it takes off. The engine might not be spinning fast enough to get it going just using the starter. Start with wiring, go to a place like AutoZone or any place where they can load test the batteries. Nothings ever 100% but I would at least have it done. If the wiring and batteries check out I'd start looking at the starter.
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Another reason to save beer cans – new battery cables. I’m getting a set of these whether I need them or not!
http://www.custombatterycables.com/contact_info.htm
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http://www.custombatterycables.com/contact_info.htm
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