Hello all! I recently bought my crew cab long box F350 and have been working on getting it road worthy. It had sat for over 6 years, but ran when parked. I have replaced the glow plugs and return lines so far to get the truck to "run". I believe my current situation is an air intrusion from somewhere. The symptoms are as follows, hard cold and warm start(Usually goes with a tiny bit of ether) but when it starts its sounds like its firing on all 8 cylinders. It blows a decent bit of white smoke at the start and then will smoke a little bit after, but consistently. The truck will sometimes idle for a little bit but then will die out if i'm not giving it gas and will become hard to start again. The fuel heater has been tapped and epoxied in. When i went to check the water screw, fuel wouldn't come out unless i pressed the shrader valve in at the same time(but no visual water). When i crank from the solenoid while holding the shrader, the truck will chooch a bit as the stream becomes steady. My fuel levels have been a little wonkey as both tanks are full but the front tank now reads around 3/4 and the rear now is pinned far right. Ive bled the injectors a few times now, getting a solid spray from each injector when cracked.

My research has pointed me to believe the FSV has probably gone bad and is pulling air into the system(common failure) but i am unsure why it will sometimes start and run when i keep my foot on the petal. The selector gives off an audible click, but when i switched to the other tank air filled the fuel lines until i switched back. My other idea is possibly a leaky shrader valve. Unrelated but oil pressure is about 50-60 at cold start and goes down to about 30ish when "warmed up" at 1k rpms. Any input is appreciated, and if i left any information out i will update the forum as prompted. Thanks in advance, Andrew.

 

welcome to FTE
you should not need ether to start, and it can be very dangerous with a properly working glow plug circuit.
what brand glow plugs did you put in it, and where did you buy them?
to test your fuel system sucking air theory, find a portable fuel tank. i like to use a boat tank.
connect it to the lift pump and see how it runs. if good, go back to the outlet of fuel selector valve. if still runs good, connect to one on the FSV inlets. if it no longer runs good, you found your issue.
i would also remove the fuel filter and drain it( or get a new one) and fill it with ATF. fire the engine and let it idle for 30to60 seconds, then shut it off and leave it sit for at least 24 hours to let the detergents in the atf to work their magic. then fire it up and you should hear a marked difference in the engine as all the crud they was in the injector pump lines and injectors gets burned and pushed out the exhaust.
i like to fire it and drive it like i stole it, but as you are still in the fix-er-up stage, that might not be feasible for you

 

Thank you for the reply! I do know the effects of ether and why i shouldn't be using it, but i fall victim to not wanting to charge batteries(yes dumb). I replaced the glow plugs with OEM motorcraft ZD9 from rock auto. Good idea on the temporary fuel tank, i will give that a shot today. I will order a new filter and go from there when it gets in. I forgot to mention a key part of this "revival", this truck has been sitting since 2019. Ran when parked but wouldn't start again according to previous owner. I would drive it like i stole it, but the steering wheel infinity spins due to a broken steering box. Pulling that out today and going to tear it down to see whats all broken.

 

unfortunately, crockauto is one of the biggest sellers of counterfeit ZD-9 glow plugs behind evilbay holding #1 position. if the plugs do not have "BERU" stamped in them, they are most likely chinesium counterfeits.

when key is turned to run position, the wait to start light should stay on for around 15 seconds, then turn off and you should hear a "clicking" from the glow plug controller for another 10-15 seconds to assist engine run by cycling the glow plug on off for a few seconds.
and dont worry if the ATF sits in the fuel system for a few days, or even weeks. it will not hurt anything.

 

Dang i didnt know that! Luckily they all had BERU on them. Before i replaced them it would click nonstop, but i think that was due to 4 or more faulty connections. I went through and redid all the barrel connectors and they secure to the glow plugs well. I only hear one singular big click from the glow plug controller after the 15 seconds now. Roger that on the ATF, thinking a new fuel filter after 6 years of sitting wouldn't be a bad idea.

 

the big click after 15 seconds is the controller shutting off. the "after glow" is sometimes hard to hear.

 

You state it sat for 6 years, and the fuel tanks are close to ‘full’. Just for curiosity, how much ‘old’ fuel was in the tanks when you bought the truck, and how much(if any) fresh fuel has been added?

 

I was told when i bought the truck he had drained them and filled them with diesel. I did open them up and check them with a bore scope to see the condition of fuel. Smelled fine and looked green/yellow like normal diesel to me. Took some out to burn when i drained the fuel filter the first day i bought it and it burned great.

 

A little update, I replaced the lift pump as it stopped getting fuel for a while. I completely drained the front tank and filled all 19 gallons up with fresh diesel. I simultaneously replaced the filter and topped it up with ATF. Was able to get it started fairly easy, just had to cycle the glow plugs twice. It will run for a few minutes under its own power, but then if i give it gas and let off, it will die at idle. Then it becomes hard to start after, my guess being an air intrusion. The only thing i haven't replaced is the tank selector. I think my best bet is to hook it up to a jerry can again and see if it will soley run and idle off that. Any ideas?

5.0 Ranger, 4.0 Bronco II, 7.3 F350

 

The tanks were not full as i mistakenly saw. The rear tank had a good bit of fuel, but the front tank did not. The fuel that came out the rear tanked looked slightly yellow but still burned fine.

 

Toss a new fuel filter in there. The return lines may be leaking as well, have a look at those.

 

I just put a brand new filter, filled it with ATF. There are no fuel leaks anywhere on the truck. The hard lines look fine back to front.

 

Well i replaced the fuel selector with accurate diesels (MAK) valve and its still doing the same thing. Will start fine and idle for 3-5 minutes, then will hard stall(shakes violently then dies) at idle. It will start right back up and if i dont give it gas it will do the same thing. The previous owner said that he replaced 7/8 injectors, and coincidentally 7/8 are clean with no fuel around them. The front passenger side injector under the fuel filter is bubbling at the base, after i spilled a bit of fuel bleeding the shrader valve. Again, all new return lines, mechanical fuel pump, caps and O-rings, and a fuel filter. Its starting to get extremely frustrating at this point since ive replaced so many fuel related parts(which digging through forums seemed to suggest it being). I filled the front tank with a fresh 19 gallons of diesel and the exaust has no notible color to it. I hope this post isnt lost in the sea of forums, id really like to get this truck back on the road again. Im hoping its not a bad injection pump, not really wanting to spend a ton of money having it rebuilt.

 

Did you take Tom's advice and hook the lift pump directly to a jug of diesel? Did it still die while idling from the jug? Because you replaced the fuel selector valve, this suggests it ran ok from the jug and this is why you replaced the valve, or did you skip this step and just throw the part at it in hopes? It's ok either way, but be honest so we know what's going on.

 

No i didn't end up running it with a jerry can after i replaced the mechanical fuel pump. I tried it before i replaced it and it still didnt want to start. So i then thought it was the mechanical pump being weak. Then after i replaced the fuel pump i hooked everything back up and got the truck running again. I still had the same problem of a hard die out so everything i looked at suggested the selector valve pulling in air. The fuel filter housing has an epoxied plug in the fuel heater and the shrader valve doesn't leak either. I do have the copper crush washers from the reseal kit, im going to try to pull the one injector that is bubbling.