03 6.0 cranks but won't fire at all, please help

[RampageFSJ]

I bought an 03 F-250 with a 6.0 in November, it's the first diesel that I've owned. It's been going great so far but today my brother borrowed it for a few minutes and after it sat for 10 minutes or so, I went to fire it up and it would crank but it wouldn't even attempt to fire, no smoke out of the tailpipe, nothing. It was even still at operating temperature. He says that it was running fine while he was driving it, and he allowed the glow plugs to warm up before starting and everything.

We've been at below freezing temperatures all last night and all day today, so I was wondering if it was possible that there's some water or moisture in the lines that froze up. I haven't added any kind of additive that would eliminate moisture from the system yet. I took some advice from someone locally and added some Diesel 911 to the tank with about 5 gallons of new diesel and let it sit with the block heater on for about 6 hours. It still wouldn't fire when I came back.

This truck has been my DD since my other pickup is broken down, I'd really like to get this thing running before Monday so I can make it to work. Any help is extremely appreciated.

The truck has 81,000 miles, I haven't noticed any major issues driving it aside from taking longer to warm up since it's been getting colder around here, I've been driving with a little over 1/4 tank of fuel for the past few days, and I changed the oil on it last weekend for the first time and I believe that I did everything correctly with the oil change. I can give any more information as needed but I'm fairly stumped as to what the problem might be aside from the fact that it seems to be fuel related.

 

[NCheek]

probably gelled fuel/water. from what I understand, cold weather + partially empty tank = condensation.

Someone with coldweather experience will chime in...

 

[Doggy Daddy]

Well, there are plenty of things that can go wrong, but if I were going to shoot from the hip with no other information on your '03 I would guess that the ICP sensor failed and contaminated the connector and harness. It is on the driver side under the turbo. Oil leaks through the sensor and contaminates the connector and wire harness.

Unfortunately, on this truck you really need information from the computer. The best way to get that is with the Ford IDS. The next easiest way for the average guy to get almost that level of communication is with a laptop and Auto Enginuity (scan tool, get the Enhanced Ford version).

Otherwise, I'd do this as a general rule:
1) Get used to replacing the fuel filters and draining the water separator on the HFCM (lift pump POS on the frame). If you get the water drain plug for an LCF it has a knurled knob and stays in the hole when loosened; helps the drained fuel avoid splashing on the front driveline. Catch it in a clean pan and then you will know if there is any water in the fuel.
2) Use Stanadyne Performance Formula with every fill up. Helps wate separate out, increases cetane and lubricity. Most people see enough fuel economy increase that it offsets the cost of the product.
3) When you replace the fuel filters cycle the lift pump 3 times to purge the air out of the system. The lift pump will run about 20 seconds, do not confuse it with anything else that you can hear running; give it at least 20 seconds each time. For your emergancy fuel additive application I would do it at least 4 or 5 times to have the fuel pump push the treated fuel all the way to the front. Don't forget that the additive doesn't mix into the tank just because you poured it in there, it needs a little agitation.
4) Once you have run the lift pump enough that the additive gets up to the upper fuel filter, since the fuel dead ends at the injectors it wil take several crank cycles (not more than 15 seconds cranking, then at least 2 minutes rest to let the starter cool) to actually get the treated fuel out to the injectors. And that is if the injection system is working and not crippled by something like a failed ICP system.

 

[unclewilson]

how do u cycle the lift pump? turn key? and how do u check for a failed icp . oh and i like my 40 glock .. be prepared >

 

[RampageFSJ]

Well, there are plenty of things that can go wrong, but if I were going to shoot from the hip with no other information on your '03 I would guess that the ICP sensor failed and contaminated the connector and harness. It is on the driver side under the turbo. Oil leaks through the sensor and contaminates the connector and wire harness.

Unfortunately, on this truck you really need information from the computer. The best way to get that is with the Ford IDS. The next easiest way for the average guy to get almost that level of communication is with a laptop and Auto Enginuity (scan tool, get the Enhanced Ford version).

Otherwise, I'd do this as a general rule:
1) Get used to replacing the fuel filters and draining the water separator on the HFCM (lift pump POS on the frame). If you get the water drain plug for an LCF it has a knurled knob and stays in the hole when loosened; helps the drained fuel avoid splashing on the front driveline. Catch it in a clean pan and then you will know if there is any water in the fuel.
2) Use Stanadyne Performance Formula with every fill up. Helps wate separate out, increases cetane and lubricity. Most people see enough fuel economy increase that it offsets the cost of the product.
3) When you replace the fuel filters cycle the lift pump 3 times to purge the air out of the system. The lift pump will run about 20 seconds, do not confuse it with anything else that you can hear running; give it at least 20 seconds each time. For your emergancy fuel additive application I would do it at least 4 or 5 times to have the fuel pump push the treated fuel all the way to the front. Don't forget that the additive doesn't mix into the tank just because you poured it in there, it needs a little agitation.
4) Once you have run the lift pump enough that the additive gets up to the upper fuel filter, since the fuel dead ends at the injectors it wil take several crank cycles (not more than 15 seconds cranking, then at least 2 minutes rest to let the starter cool) to actually get the treated fuel out to the injectors. And that is if the injection system is working and not crippled by something like a failed ICP system.

Thank you for the replies. When I added the 911 stuff, I poured it in and then added 5 gallons of new diesel on top of it to mix it up.

I just replaced both of the fuel filters, they were in horrible condition. I let the engine run completely through its cycles several (4-5) times before cranking and tried cranking it for extended periods like you said, still nothing. I also tried to turn the valve on the water separator but it seems that the PO must have stripped it out.

I've had it in the garage with heaters all over it for the past few hours while I changed the filters, it's still fairly chilly out there and it's probably in the low 20's outside if I had to guess. If anybody has any more suggestions, I'm wide open to trying anything right now. If not, I may just attempt to get to work in one of my brother's vehicles and borrow the company's diagnostic computer to see what I can find out. I'm still hoping for the best because all of the shops around here SUCK and I don't want to take it to them.

 

[RampageFSJ]

I just borrowed the scanner from work and got these codes, I'll post them here for now and search them out when I get back from getting my other truck scanned.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[RampageFSJ]

I didn't get much from the searching of those codes, I cleared them and tried again to see what came back and got this.

You must be registered for see images attach

Ugh, back to Google.

 

[RampageFSJ]

From what I looked at, the last code there doesn't really mean anything. I spoke to a ford tech at a shop out of town that I'm thinking of taking the truck to and he said that it's possible that when I changed the oil, a part of the old filter or a defective part on the new filter broke or melted off and caused the problems. I pulled the oil filter to check it out and saw nothing, I put it back on and cranked it to check for oil pressure and it fired right up, I f'n kid you not, this is even after attempting to fire it earlier in the day during lunch break.

It ran like a champ when it was running but after adding some more 911, fueling up, and driving around I shut it down and tried to refire it to see if it would start again. It took quite a few more cranks than usual to get it to fire. Now it seems that it will fire right up when cold or after running for a little, but it doesn't like to fire after running for a while. The tech thinks that it's either the injection pressure regulator or the high pressure oil system that is causing the problem. I'm thinking of taking a half day off on Friday to drive it out of town (if possible) to take it to them for a proper diagnosis and possible repairs.

I hate to say this, but this truck has me beat. I don't want to risk screwing things up worse than they are now by working on it myself.

 

[Double-S-Diesel]

what kind of oiiul filter did ya use

 

[RampageFSJ]

what kind of oiiul filter did ya use

Wix, I believe.

I just found out what the damage is. It needs a new IPR and fuel pump. It's at a shop now getting repaired. I'm not looking foreward to seeing the bill if it's anything close to the estimate.

Oh well. I dug my grave, now I'll sleep in it.

 

[RampageFSJ]

Truck's back from the shop. Needed an IPR and a fuel pump. They also did a couple of recalls that were needed. So far it runs much better and seemed to get better mpg on the way home.

 

[RampageFSJ]

The truck won't start worth a damn in the mornings yesterday and today and it hasn't even been cold enough to use the block heater. It blew out white smoke while cranking and shot out a mixture of black and white at first when it finally fired. Also, after it was warmed up and driving around today it took 2-3 tries to fire it back up after shutting it down on two separate occasions. It took a little bit longer than usual to start when I first picked it up but I figured that it wasn't a problem because they "supposedly" test drove it and it checked out. I'm calling them on Monday to see what they think is up and see what I can do. I can't afford to keep this crap up between this truck and my other truck being broken down, I just hate having vehicles that I can't work on and diagnose.

 

[OLDBULL8]

I know this is a week later , but did they change the CPS ? Those can give you all kinds of trouble. With your diagnostic read out that would be the 1st thing to change. Some times the CEL will come on and other times not. With that 2617 & 0341 code's it's a good indication the CPS is intermittent . The 0603 code is Keep Alive Memory and the 2209 code to me would indicate a low battery power from all the cranking you did. Slow cranking does not build the HPOP pressure high enough to trigger the injector's.

You might want to check your Alternator output, should be 14+ volts after a minute or two of running. Could also be one or both bad batteries.

 

[RampageFSJ]

This shop sucks, they checked it over and found that the glow plug controller's wiring plugin was messed up, they repaired it then supposedly test drove it and cleared it to be picked up. I let it warm up and went to a store across town, when I came back out to fire it up it took 2-3 tries with the final try holding the pedal to the floor and cranking for about 15 seconds to get it to start. I promptly took it back to their shop and left it there.

After "discussing" it with them the next morning they kept on trying to find out what the new problem was. They tried replacing the old batteries since they were only giving out 400 cranking amps even though they were spinning the engine over fairly well. They think they have it today but this time they're keeping it for a little to make sure that it's right this time (it better be fawkin right this time). They think it's the PCM that needs replaced. I'm thinking about selling this truck for a gas powered truck now, I just can't justify the cost of possible repairs and future maintenance on a diesel at the moment for as little as I use it to its full potential. Anybody have a 2500 or 3500 chevy with an 8.1 they wanna get rid of?

 

[OLDBULL8]

What ever garage your taking your truck to sure don't seem like they know what they are doing. Just throwing parts at it and hope that will fix it. If they don't have a good diagnostic's and pull all the codes, they are just guessing. They have to pull the codes from the IDM and PCM . They should have done a buzz and a continuity test. The oil filter that you are using should have a check valve in it, otherwise some oil will drain back and it takes awhile before oil pressure builds to operate the HPOP. Did they change the CPS ? The UVC connections can also be defective, loose or corroded.

Engine start requirements.

200 RPM or more cranking speed.

500 PSI HPOP pressure to fire the injectors.

Glow plug operation when cold (below 40*F)