Alan Bowers

When the weather was warmer, I noticed the truck wasn't starting instantly sometimes, but still only took a couple seconds at most. Now that it's gotten cold, it has actually taken a couple of approx. 10 second tries to fire off with ambient temperature 22-34 degrees and had me wondering if it was going to crank at all. The times I have been able to plug it in, it cranked more easily of course. I know that batteries have less power in the cold and thick oil is harder to turn through as well, but I've essentially never had as issue before. I can tell the starter is turning slower because of the cold, but it doesn't sound any slower than in previous cold weather from past years. It certainly sounds fast enough to crank. The only thing different is a new fuel pump last summer and the fuel filter is the same age. The truck runs fine after it cranks and will recrank without issue after reaching my destination. I haven't dared try to shut it off right after it starts. It doesn't appear to be a battery or bad contact issue and it sure ain't the spark plugs, so I don't have a good guess. Any ideas?

Dr.Dizzle

What you are describing sounds like a failure of one or more injectors. This has been discussed and diagnosed in several threads on the forum. With that said, I would start by having the batteries load tested first just to be sure that is not causing the hard start issue.

Dr.Dizzle

Also, be sure to remove and wire brush (clean) the battery cables and grounds. Then clean the battery terminals as well. These trucks need clean power to operate properly.

Alan Bowers

And if it is the injectors, what is the approximate cost of replacing them with a non-dealer labor type price? I don't plan to upgrade to bigger ones if they're bad. Is this possibly a do it yourself job for someone who can only basically bolt and unbolt things?

Alan Bowers

Wow, I just looked at Rock Auto and they are $190 to $330 from them and that is remanufactured! Would I likely need to replace all 6 if more than 1 is an issue? I am at 188K now.

Dr.Dizzle

The costs associated with new injectors can range from 2600 to 3600. You would be best served by going with new injectors as in 100 percent new, not remanufactured injectors. Remans can be very problematic as soon as they are installed. I am going with BBI injectors very soon in my 03.

Dr.Dizzle

I recommend staying away from Remans of this type. Having the proper filtration is key to injector lifespan.

Yes! You could send them out for testing to a shop that has the correct test bench to test them properly ....and replace only those that require it.

Alan Bowers

At that price I would have to seriously consider it. Any idea on labor hours needed for testing or replacement? Do they have to be removed to be tested, thus requiring a little more labor cost to actually test and reinstall rather than just replace?

Dr.Dizzle

I believe removal and replacement is about 6 hours. I do not have any price information regarding testing costs. The best way is to test them out of the truck as a damaged or cracked injector can cause a meltdown to one or more piston/ hole(s). How is the oil level? Do you have fuel in the oil at all?

Jeff in TD

If your problem is injectors, the issue with longer crank times is due to worn injectors allowing excessive fuel flow through the return. The injectors will not fire unless the rail pressure is high enough, and excessive return flow can make it take longer (or prevent) this rail pressure from being reached while cranking.

There is a procedure to measure injector return flow, which requires a couple of special fittings to separate the injector return flow from the CP3 pump return flow.

The injector flow is routed into a graduated container at idle for a specified time, and if the volume is too high, at least one injector is bad. Then there is a fitting to cap off one injector supply line at the rail, to do the test with the engine running on 5 cylinders. A little math will tell you the flow of the blocked off injector and the flow of the remaining 5...

Alan Bowers

I'll have to check. I never have before.

Alan Bowers

So, if I am reading this right, the injectors as a whole can be tested without removing them, and this method will identify each one as good or bad as you go down the line. Is this determination of flow something I (someone with fairly limited skills) could do with said tools and if so, how much do they run? If I carry my truck to someone for repair, what should I ask them to do? What is likely my best course of action? It would be nice to say to them "Replace all the injectors" but at the price of them, I don't want to do that (nor really can afford to) even though I don't ever plan on getting rid of this truck unless it becomes a money pit.


How hard is it to add another filter as I have seen mentioned? My fuel pump is EXTERNAL/NOT IN THE TANK and is very near the engine/close to the location of the original. My cousin replaced it for me last year. I think I bought a FASS with essentially the same flow as the original, as I had no plans to ever upgrade the injectors. I might have done that differently now seeing this issue, but I don't need to increase my power and if I did it would likely come at the price of decreased fuel mileage, right?


Also, I just thought of this. For a couple of years maybe, I have noticed a fuel/exhaust type smell off and on when at a stoplight. I don't have any fuel or exhaust leak that I can tell. Would this be an indicator of a bad injector(s) somehow?


BTW, Go Ducks tomorrow. I'm from Alabama, but I worked in Oregon for about a year a few years ago. Since we can't win it now, I'm pulling for y'all.

Alan Bowers

I just thought of this as well. I never run the truck hard when not pulling and I usually only pulling my 5'ver about 50 miles a year. I have noticed for a few years that when I do get on the throttle hard and actually run it past about 2500 rpm, if accelerating hard, it puts out a good bit of black smoke, but when I change gears and drop the rpm, there's not smoke for a second until the acceleration/rpm's get up again. Normally, I don't get above 2000-2100 rpm before shifting. Steady high rpm's don't generate black smoke that I recall, or at last not to near the extent that accelerating strongly does. I kind of figured this had been going on since new and I had just never noticed it since I do this so rarely (my car is another story however). Could this indicate a bad injector? I don't ever recall feeling the truck miss at any time.

Dr.Dizzle

What Jeff in TD is correct! It sounds like you are experiencing one or more injectors with a high return rate. The strong smelling exhaust and plugging it in to start it is also telling. I experienced this issue several years ago on in of our company 03 CTD's and testing proved the injectors were compromised. The chances of one or more failing injectors is probable at the mileage you state.

As far as filters / water separators go, I have 4 on my 03. This includes 2 mounted under the vehicle ....the stock canister with a Baldwin PF 7977 water separating filter ...and one under the hood. The best filter to utilize in the stock canister is the PF 7977. You should perform a search on this as there are several threads and photographs showing several set ups and products used. Search for forum member AH64ID for the best information regarding filtration.

Alan Bowers

As long as it will crank and runs fine, is there any harm is waiting a little bit to fix the injector(s)? I realize I should add some filtration. Should I make sure to get that done first to better protect the injectors or do you think a few months would really make a difference? Thanks Dr.