Can anyone tell me where the intake heater relay is on my 2003? Is it right beside the passenger side battery below the tube coming out of my air box? It has 4 or 5 wires going to it all covered with rubber caps? Also, is my heater located inside at the base of the intake horn? Can I feel any heat with my hand if it is working correctly? Thanks

 

Yes to the location, there are 2 of them. Use a volt meter to check if working, also can see if the headlights dim and volt meter inside move.

I take it you are having a problem?

 

Yes, I am having a cold start issue. No symptoms of a leaking injector, but just trying to rule out everything else first. I did find three loose connections on the relay yesterday so I tightened them up. Can I feel heat on the intake horn or do I need to remove it to see the heater actually work. I will check for voltage but I also want to know for sure the heater is drawing volts and heating.

 

Anybody? I have also posted some of this in the help forum. As I type this, my truck is sitting at work because it would not start. Had to drive the Chevy work truck home. It was 55 deg on the overhead when I tried it. Let it cycle three more times and still no start. I am waiting on my brother in law to take me back over with a generator to plug the block heater in so I can get it started. I really think the problem is the intake heater. I did not notice a drop on my dash volt meter while the wait to start light was on. This is getting real annoying. If I can't get it figured out, I will have a 03 for sale CHEAP!

 

I can't believe nobody has had this type of problem. I just got home with my truck. After plugging into a generator for a hour and letting my water temp get to about 90 deg, it started right up. When the truck was cold, I checked the volts on the batteries when the grid heater cycles and the voltage dropped to around 10 volts then came back up after the 10 second cycle. Can the grid heater pull voltage and not be heating? Can my batteries not be strong enough to supply enough heat? The truck sounded like the batteries were dying before the water temp came up also. Drove it home and it starts right up. What is going on????

 

55 degrees isn't cold enough to cause starting problems, I've started mine at 19 degrees without letting the grids cycle just to see if it would and it fired right up, just idled real rough for a bit. I think your problem is elsewhere, sorry I cant offer any suggestions.

 

I agree. At 55 degrees I could hit the starter w/o waiting for the grid heater and it would fire right up.

Also, if the voltage is dipping when the grid heaters are on, I'd say most likely they are working fine.

Did it set any codes?

 

No codes. I am going to try a set of batteries out of my buddies powerstroke this afternoon. It seems to spin over twice as fast once it finally starts and I shut it off and restart it.

 

I'm no mechanic, but I have experienced the following. Hope it helps?
I have the same issue with a diesel truck (1988 Ford) engine. With the block heater plugged in, to warm the engine, it starts just fine. The glow plug controller, which supplies power to the glow plugs, needs to replaced after extensive research. No juice to the glow plugs. The glow plugs (indirect fuel injection) performs the same service to the engine starting combustion as the grid heater on a Cummins (direct injection engine). The cylinders, below the injectors, need to be a certain temperature in order for raw diesel fuel to ignite. Again..I am a shadetree mechanic, only speaking through my experiences and research.

 

I suppose you could put a volt meter across the intake heater and have someone turn the key on...

You could also unhook the grid heater and take an ohm meter reading...

Since you said the voltage drops, and you can feel heat, I don't think the grid heaters are the main problem...

 

mine starts right up down to 15* F no problems...either of my trucks have a grid heater. It hasnt gotten any colder than that here since i have had them...i think they would start at 0 no problem

IT was about 30 this morning...the 06 fired right up like it was 90 outside.


You have some other sort of problem. IS it turning over slow?

 

This is absolutly an issue with 03 dodge's. I have the same problem with my 03. the last time mine didn't start it did throw a code p2607 intake air heater relay #2 low. I have heard from many people that it is most likely one or more injectors are bad. I have no symptoms driving the truck ( ie: hesitation or smoke). Anyone who can find a solution to this issue is going to make several 03 owners very happy

 

A friend who bought my 03 just had this problem.

There is a procedure to measure the return flow from the injectors. It requires a fitting to seperate the return flow of the cp3 from the return flow of the injectors.

If the return flow is higher than spec, one or more injectors are failing. Basically the common rail pressure has to hit something like 4000 psi before the injectors will fire, and if one or more injectors are dumping excess amounts of fuel out the return the engine won't reach that fuel pressure easily when cranking.

If return flow is high, there is a fitting to cap an injector line. Measure return flow again, and do the subtraction to determine the return flow of the blocked off injector.

In his case the first 3 injectors tested were above spec, so they stopped there and all 6 got replaced.

My 06 has an accessory filter, which I am hoping will save me from having the same problem down the road.

 

This might be helpful

http://youtu.be/fvFHzrwiQfA

 

we remove our heaters and the truck will start at 20* below zero. they are for emission control and are not on the industrial 5.9's. warn injectors usually cause hot starting problems first. the 03 had a high failure rate pump that is mounted to the right of the fuel filter. most failed under warranty and was replaced to the tank. follow the link jeff in td gave to find the problem. you can do the test without the special miller tools. we have a fleet of dodges and the first 03 that had problems i did not want to wait for the tools and just used a freezer bag to catch the fuel. the tools only cost about $120 and can do so more testing. once you find the problem you need to add a 2 micron filter to prevent injector wear. you can make one for about $90 and that includes the filters. not to get to wordy here if you want you can pm me for details.