My truck has recently been starting very hard after sitting all night. I thought that I had a leaking water sensor at base of fuel filter so I changed that and it had no effect. My guess now is that it might be the grid heater, I noticed that I get no changes in the head lights after I start it in the morning as you would expect the grid heater to do. Can anyone help with this? How do I check it?

 

Have you tried pluging in your block heater to see if it starts easier? Could be the grid heater relays or fuel lines sucking air. Fill out your signature so we can see what kinda truck you got.

 

what year is ur truck and describe hard to start (smoking? cranking alot?..clicking?) and we can help

 

I have a 95 2500 4x4 standard cab automatic. It cranks lots before it fires up. I have not tried plugging it in. I will try that and see if it makes any differance in the AM. I took it into a local shop and the guy could not find anything wrong. He is the one that pointed out I had a fuel leak on the filter. He didnt notice any thing else wrong. He said all the fuel lines looked good. One guy at work keeps suggesting I check the fuel pressure. But it only does it on first start up. I would think that it would do it throughout the day if it was a pump.

 

if your volt meter is not cycling after cold start the grid heater is prob. not working. is the wait to start light coming on
Clark

 

You are getting air in the system which is making the truck hard to start. The return line is the usual culprit.

 

Try hand pumping it about 20 times before starting in the morning. If she fires right over you have a fuel leak. Common problem for the early 2nd gens. The fuel lines rott out along the frame

A small leak would take a few hours to cause a problem on starting

 

You should go to the user control pannel at the top of the home page and fill in the info on your truck , makes it easyer for everyone to help .
This is anouther one of those problums that can be caused by 1/2 a dosen items , my 1st was mostly in the morrning or long rest periods 4-8 hrs. but as it on went longer [ before I found it ] it would happen at short shutdowns ,
Someone suggested watching the linkage from the fuel shutdown solinoid , it wasn't always pulling up , I ended up taking the plastic cover off the relay that controls the pull and filled the points , hasn't ben a problum for 1 1/2 yrs.
Now I had a similar problum , but when the tank got down to 1/3 or less and the truck sat for 4 hrs. or more , this time I replaced the lift pump [ becouse of the low tank issue & lower millage ] .
Then the next is the overflow valve , I will be getting one this wk. , that can keep the pressure from building as fast .
Theres more , but to know what realy fixs it you should only do one fix at a time , besides this is getting long .

 

Like they're saying, make sure the hard lines are in decent shape. Your truck is getting to the age of our 1st gens, and all your rubber lines/connectors are probably old and stiff. Just because you don't see a wet spot, doesn't mean air can't pass through. Your line is probably allowed to drain into the tank when sitting awhile and needs to be replaced. As long as your working on the truck clean all the elctrical connections under the hood too. At least you'll have that step out of the way if you find a further problem with the preheater, etc. That stuff has a good life span usually, but are capapble of going bad.

 

the fuel leak on the filter is enough to do it...is it coming from the water separator unit?...i had the lil rubber gasket/seal go out on me and leak as well during a trip i ended up finding a solid filter with no water separator on it fit perfectly....car quest # 86395 8$!!! good to keep handy during times like that....u can cross reference the numbers with the other places like autozone or napa....they're all about 8$

 

Ok. Last night I plugged in the block heater and it started great. If I get three mornings in a row like that then I will trust that it has something to do with the grid heater. If it is the grid heater what can I do to check it. Also is it spending to change?
Ryan

 

oops. I mean spendy.

 

is your wait to start light on, if so you should have a low volt reading on the gauge and after start the voltage gauge should cycle as grid heater cycles. if not check relays getting power, if so relay prob. not working(bad contacts)
Clark

 

My voltage is not dropping and my lights dont dim. Every morning since I started plugging in my block heater it starts fine. What should I do now. Is there something you all recomend I check on my grid heater like a relay or fuse or something?

 

I'm having the same problem and can't find the problem.