I've hit my head against the wall on this one. Researched it to death... I'm now in analysis paralysis! Lol

Here's the situation... If truck sits overnight not plugged in, even in this now milder temps, it won't start.

If truck is plugged in for maybe 2hrs, starts fine.

The details

Just installed 3rd recent alternator...
Just installed 3rd recent Starter...
Just installed one new Battery...

Replaced GPR
Replaced GP
Replaced Fuel Filter

Oil was changed around 6 months ago (not a daily driver). Rotella

After replacing all the GP along with the GPR, and it didn't change the problem, i did check the HPOP oil level from up top before cranking and it was fine. I did top it off though just to make sure but to know avail.

I must say it does not crank as fast as it did when the starter was brand new.... I'm assuming this auto part store brand starter is wearing out. This is only the third starter in 6 months. This is a suspicion for the cause now that I replaced the above items.

I've also recently read that if the air filter housing is not sealed Well, this could lead to reduced compression and longer crank times.... I will say the housing is missing one of the clips and it's not sealed good at all.

I'm at wits in and I can't afford to chase these issues blindly If someone could please offer up any advice on what I should do next, I would appreciate it.

The long story short.... Truck plugged up, starts fine but runs ruff for about 5min and then it's great! Don't plug up, regardless of temp, it won't start.

Thank you for any and all suggestions.

 

Putting on wiring harness valve cover gaskets this wk.... Don't really expect anything to come of it.... Really looking hard at the crank speed via the starter. I think it may be a little sluggish.

 

Willing to bet your gonna fix it with that. Do you have access to a good scanner , ie snapon solus ultra, tech2, ect...? Do you have any codes. Just fixed a drillers truck that did the same thing and showed that the #4 cylinder was not firing. Found broke wire in pigtail to #4 injector. Good luck. If you have at least the codes I can give you some pointers to at least get you in the right direction but I believe you are headed that way already.

 

I don't have an immediate access to a scanner, but I'm gonna have to find someone that can help me with that.

So, here's an update...

I did replace my other battery, so I now have two new batteries. The starter speed has increased somewhat to an acceptable level (I think).

I did replace driver side gasket wiring harness. I have not installed passenger side yet.

The result.... No change so far. It started fine if plugged in followed by the typical "no power very sluggish" performance for the next 5 min or until engine temps rise and then runs PERFECT.

Over the weekend, I believe my block heater has died because truck will no longer start with just being plugged in. I also haven't checked prior to this weekend, but I believe temp gauge should have some sort of increase in temp if plugged in... Turn the key on and it stays flat.

Truck will not start unless you use the dreaded starter fluid ( glow plugs disconnected of course). I did have a diesel mechanic friend look at it on the fly with no diagnostics during this hard/no start over the week end and he feels like the truck is losing prime. The fuel is getting pumped to the filter. Doesn't appear to be sucking air... So, and knowing That the truck runs like crap for several minutes once it's started followed by running perfect, he believes it's an injector issue.

So, tomorrow I will replace the passenger side wiring harness and see if that makes a change. Maybe try some low tech temp reading on the manifolds to identify which injector(s) are not performing up to par as well.

I'll keep my journey documented on here so maybe some other PSD owners can find something that helps other than just throwing parts at their trucks. :-).

Thanks for the advice. I'll keep ya posted

 

So, this morning I pulled the passenger side valve cover off to replace the wiring harness, but before I unplugged the old harness I looked every thing over and didn't see any obvious loose connection, broken, or shorted wires.

I then had someone to crank the engine while I investigate if the injectors were cycling oil through them as they should. Almost immediately the #1 injector started to cycle oil and followed quickly by the #7 injector.

Injectors #3 and #5 never cycled any oil even after long cranking cycle. I then replaced the harness and repeated the test I only find the exact same result. I did not check the driver side because I just learned of this diagnostic tip.

So, the question is now... Are #3 and #5 injectors bad or could this be an HPOP problem or something clogging the system in the oil rail somewhere? Any thoughts or ideas greatly appreciated!

 

You have to have 500 cranking RPM for the engine to fire up also what kind of glow plugs did you put in it? If your truck is California emission auto lights don't work to well you need to put motorcraft ones in it there way hotter as for the oil cycling to injectors Mabey your reservoir is leaking off but what your telling us is it starts after it's plugged in kinda sounds like a glow plug issue I usually jump the air heater wires over to the glow plug relay so the air heater comes on with the glow plugs that helped my 7.3s a lot with cold start issues

 

I did replace the glow plugs with the Motorcraft ones.

I went ahead and pulled the two injectors and are going to drop them off at Dixie Diesel in Columbia TN hopefully tomorrow to have them tested.

I'm hoping these injectors are the problem. Cause I'm running out of funds faster than I'm running out of ideas. Lol. Hopefully, the test out bad so I can for once fix something I know is broken and start the road to recovery on my 7.3. :-)

As far as the Resvoir leaking down, I have considered that as well, but have found to be very close to the top the last two times I check it. I even topped it off but to no avail.

Gonna try these two injectors first. If that doesn't fix it, I will test the driver side injectors to make sure they are operating correctly. After that, I'll start working backwards. HPOP next. Let's hope it doesn't go past that :-).

 

Had the two injectors tested this afternoon and they failed. I don't know much about internal workings of injectors but the technician said something about a "Gap" check. Followed by they were completely shut down... Not sure what all that means, but hopefully this is a step in the right direction.

I'll try to install these two injectors Friday and I'll update the forum with the results. Cross your fingers!

 

They were probobly talking about the gap between the poppet valve and the solenoid when they start wearing out it causes hard cold starts and rough running until the oil is warm and can pass sufficiently through the injector that's good they found they were bad hopefully it cures the issue

 

That's almost exactly what the technician said. He said it would definitely be a big step in the right direction. Now it's got me concerned that I should take all my injectors out and have them checked. And while I'm at it, I'm concerned with the injector sleeves as well... I really don't ever want to remove these valve covers again when I close it up this next time.

Anyway, Friday is the day. I hope these two injectors will fix the cold start problem and the running rough after problem

Here was a good read on what was reported to be wrong with my injectors and they described the symptoms almost down to the "T"

http://www.swampsdiesel.com/files/7....Diagnostic.pdf