Lately my truck is getting to where it is hard to start. I wait for the wait to start light to go off and then try to crank it and it turns over, but just idles roughly for about 4 seconds and cuts off. Then I have to wait and try to crank it a few times before it finaly turns over and stays running. Whats causing this and how can it fix it?

 

FP when running? Possibly idle air control?

 

No, you have air in the fuel lines. You need to check for leaks. I have this as a recurrent problem with the hard lines that go from the injection pump to the head. Most people, though, have problems with the return line from the VP to the tank.

I check for leaks by taking some paper towel or white shop towel and ripping a piece off, and wrapping it around each fitting -any place the diesel can leak. Drive it for awhile and then take them off. If there's yellow, there's a leak.

Do NOT over-tighten the supply lines on the injection pump or the head. 18 ft/lbs is what it takes @ the head.

 

I had this problem of a 97 before. It ended up being the heater relay was shot and it was starting cold. It would start and quit unless I gave it a little pedal a first. But I would start out by looking at the fuel system first since these trucks are know to have problems with stock fuel pumps.

 

Thats whats its doing. And once its cranked its fine all day. Also its only been doing it when it has been cool the night before.

I'll check the lines just in case.

 

Mine started hard all of the time, not just the in the morning. If it is only starting hard in the morning after it has been sitting for a while then I would bet you are loosing your prime. I would start out by checking the rubber hoses in the fuel line to make sure that they aren't cracked.

 

Well it cranked up fine this morning and it didn't get that cold at all last night either. I'm going to check the hoses this afternoon.

Also I drive my truck every day, so its not sitting in the driveway for a long period of time at all.

 

Sometimes it only takes a few hours to lose the fuel prime. Another easy thing to check would be the heater relays which give power to the grid heater. If you have a volt meter they are pretty easy to get to and check. I am not sure what the voltage should be though. Maybe someone else will chime in and let you know or you could do a search for it. I am pretty sure that this has been discussed before.

 

Any body have those know what the voltage is supposed to be for grid heaters? I'm positive that it only does it when it has been cold at night. Last night it got to 28 and it would start for crap when I tried to crank it today.


Also it smoked white a little when I was trying to crank it up. It took me 6 or 7 times to get it to turn over.

 

Could some one give me a list of things that it could possibly be beisdes loosing my prime? I dont think it is that because I bumped the starter the second time I tried to crank it and my FP went to 12 psi as where it always is when I bump the starter, but it still took me about 5 more times before it would actually turn over, and then it choked down so then the next time it finally cranked. Sny other ideas? Heater relays? I can hear them working, but could it still be them? I really really do not like cranking the truck like this as it sounds terrible! I'm going home tomorrow so I will be able to check on some things then. Give me so more ideas of what it could be.... thanks

P.S. it runs fine after it has been cranked and it cranks up everytime after that first one in the mornings.

 

Have you checked the connections to the batteries, it could be the problem. As for the grid heater relay, check to see if there is any voltage after the relays, if no voltage before and after the relay then that is your problem. Have you tried pluggung it in to see if that helps it start better in the cold? Next time you try to start look at your voltage meter and see if it goes down when the wait to start light it on, if not then it could be the grid heater. Also, try looking at these other threads https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...searchid=91839 you might find you answer there or do your own search.

 

Ok well I just went out and bought me an extension cord so I can plug the truck up in the morning. How long do you leave it plugged up before cranking? 30 mins? Hour? Also I'll check the voltage as soon as I can get ahold of a meter. I dont have all my tools with me as I'm off at school, so it makes working on the truck kinda hard. When I turn the truck to start the voltage meter goes up and stops right on the white line between 8 and 14, as soon as I hear the grid heaters go off I looked at the volt meter and it didnt move but a hair and I mean a hair. Then of course it jumps up when the truck is running. Like I said I'm going to try plugging the truck in in the morning. I'll let yall know what happens.

 

I've found that 3 hours is just about right.
It gets the coolant as warm as it's going to.
Any longer, and you're just keeping it up at that temp.


phox

 

Well I think I've figured out that its not my grid heaters. It still did the same thing with it being plugged in for an hour and it was about 47 or so when I cranked it at 12:30pm so I could go to class. I noticed that my lift pump(holley blue) didnt come on when I first turned the key to start the grid heaters. I watched the FP gauge during all of this and it didnt even blip. Then I tried bumping the start to get it to come on and it wouldnt. Finally I got it to turn over and my FP was up to around 7 or so and slowly went up to 11. Could my LP(holley blue) be going bad? It only does this in the mornings after sitting over night. Once its cranked its fine. I checked all my Vulcan fittings and everthing seems to be tight. Any one have any ideas?

 

If plugging it in didn't make any difference and you re sure that the block heater was working then I would start looking at something else like you are doing. Even if the grid heater isn't working it should start fine in almost 50 degree weather. I have read some about the Holley pumps giving out. I am not sure if your is going south, but I would definatley keep an eye on it.