jearl284

I Have 1999 F800 Ford With 5.9 Cummins. It Is Hard To Start After It Sits Over Night. I Half To Spin Approx 10 Seconds Before It Might Start. It Seems To Crank Better Once The Engine Has Warmed Up. I Have Checked The Fuel Pressure And It Is Fine. Also Once I Get It Cranked It Runs Great. I Have No Smoke Or Anything Coming From The Exhaust When I Am Spinning It Over. My Problem Is Not Consistant At All, Sometimes I Can Go Out And It Will Bust Right Off. Once It Is Warm It Seems To Crank Every Time. I Know My Grid Heater Is Not Working Could This Be A Problem. The Temperature Averages 80 Degrees Right Now. Any Help Is Appreciated.

dozer12216

If can relate my Dodge/Cummins experience to this vehicle (ugh). The first thing is park downhill and see if starts normally. I fit does, there is a air leak into the return fuel circuit. On the Dodge, three frequent issues are:
Return line fitting (banjo bolt on Dodge) at back of cylinder head loose.
The 3 way fitting that cnnnects return from head and return from IP to tank.
Inspect verrrrryyyyyy closelly for wetness at one or more Line fittings at head. Generally this indicated a connector tube O-ring leak. New O-ring required.
If nothing found, you didn't look hard enough. The rest of fittings on IP, filter, and LP are subject to leak. You might try pressure to fuel tank filler. No more than 3.5 psi (NO, not 35) and look for wetness to show up. Air will leak quicker than fuel because much smaller molucle. This assumes the F800 Cummins package is very similiar to Dodge.

nitrousn

I have a Ford F-800 1998 12 valve and It does not have a grid heater. All it has is a engine block heater. Is there even a grid on yours? I was thinking of picking up a grid and wiring it with a solinoid and momentary switch.

Seeing you have a 24 valve a fuel pressure guage is a must have. As dozer said check the fuel lines. I assume you have saddle tanks and they sit a lot lower in relation to the motor than the stock dodge pickups. So any type of fuel line problems will be amplified.

patdaly

Grid heaters arent required till it is very cold, they do not even function above 60 degrees.

Check you lines.

jearl284

I have done some more checking. My fuel pressure is right on according to my pressure guage. I have parked it on a hill and noticed that it will crank right up if I roll it off. Also it will crank alot better if I put a set of jumper cables on it. I do go ahead and put new batteries but that did not help. Fires right up rolling it off. I notice above you said if it does this, I could possibly have a leak on the return side. I do not understand the difference in cranking with the starter than rolling it off.

dozer12216

Rolling off gets the RPM up higher than cranking. Inspect for air leak.

MATTIEBOB

i had a similar problem with my dodge a while back. i changed my vp44 and put new sealing washers on all the banjo bolts, it worked great for a couple of days then it was hard to start. i started going through all the washers until i found one that was a little chewed up on the inside. changed it out, everything worked great for a month then it started again with the hard start. it was the same washer again. i used vasoline every time so i wouldnt damage the washers and somehow they still got damaged. so this is something i would check. mine wasnt wet anywhere from diesel leaking out the washers were just letting air in

nickg

if the issue is not fuel related (air leaks) and you say the starter spins faster when hot, it could be a weak starter, starters are known to have contacts that fail causing slow to no starts,
easy to check if you remove the starter and physically inspect the contacts

http://www.fostertruck.com/dodge/default.htm

john whiteway

My 03 5.9 cummins wont start cold if i plug it in for 45 minutes or so itll start any ideas

johnh

grid heaters

jearl284

What Does Anyone Think About The Injectors Leaking Down And Causing This Problem.

Mike Wood

I had my 2006 over to Tim Barber's place awhile back and he noticed my hard start problem that will sometimes pop a code. He clued me in on a couple of things I didn't know about these engines.
The starter has to be able to make 150 rpm to start these engines right. Mine is dragging a bit and I didn't notice it until he pointed it out. It doesn't take much before you'll have a problem.
I don't think any of the aftermarket companies like Powermaster, Tilton etc. are making one for the later model Cummins trucks yet. I ordered a used one off ebay. I hope it works out.
MW

austinart

GO cheap and easy before hard and expensive. I would go to a starter alternator shop or online and buy the solenoid contacts for 5 bucks or so. Easy to replace and in 30 minutes you will know. My truck was hard to start, fuel pump wouldn't come on with key on, had to crank like a ford(5 seconds) and this all changed with new contacts in my starter solenoid. Never throw away a nippon denso alternator or cummins starter. call me I'll help you fix it fix it.


If your truck is standard and it bump starts from a slow roll then the starter is the first thing I would do.

Mike Wood is right. But I would replace the contacts before I would buy an 800 dollar starter

Mike Wood

As it turned out the problem I had was caused by corrosion on the battery terminals that I could not see. Cleaning them restored my starters performance to better than it's been since I've owned this truck!

jfarris

I just got through replacing the contacts and the brushes in the starter in my 2001 24V Cummings and I couldn't be happier! I think the starter spins faster than it did when new! If your starter is dragging, do yourself a favor and order the kit from Larry B's. it's money well spent.