93 7.3 E-350 electrical/ starting

[Misfittoy]

Ok so first post. I have a 93 7.3idi e350 just got it a week ago this is my first diesel my mechanical knowledge is moderate but this is a little new to me.
So my issue is I had a drain on my batterys over night, rear dome light grounded out and had to jump start the next morning. Truck ran good all day but voltage meter stayed around the O in normal lower then it previously sat. Glow plug light still stays on for around 8-10 seconds but now I get a click and the gauge jumps around.
Pulled both batteries and charged them and before firing voltage was still at same location.
Going to pick up a test light to check glow plugs or maybe just replace them for peice of mind. Any way to trouble shoot this draw? I really can't afford to be bumming rides all week or riding the bike.

Any other info I can give or anything to help just let me know
Thanks for the help

 

[Misfittoy]

Ok just an update, was headed out and went to try an start just for kicks and turned the key volts dropped to around the left side of the N wait to starts was on for about 12 seconds. When the light when off I let it set for about 5 and it started to click the. The alarm sounded like it died and when the volt gauge was done dancing I turned her over. When it started it sounded rough like a slight hesitation on a cylinder. But now she's purring fine?? Risked it and took her too work and I pray I don't get stuck here.

Still looking for any help.
Can anyone recommend a good manual to learn from and if theirs a downfall it's my electrical capabilities. So how can I start testing stuff. Going to replace all gps fuel filter and oil this week/end. Anything else I can replace to help. Checking fuel lines also

 

[smokinpipes]

Im surprised nobody replied to this thread... I'm not a genius but I have some thoughts...

First of all, I know glow plugs aren't exactly the most power conservative heating devices... I would expect your volts to be fairly low when they are running; i.e. when you first turn your key on. The voltage fluctuation you are seeing is the solid state controller moderating the power going to the glows to keep them from burning up, yet keeping them hot to aid in cold start situations top reduce smoking and rough cold idle.

The WTS (Wait to start) light will extinguish after the controller determined the glows are warm enough, but does not shut them off completely. That's when you hear that click and the volts will rise.. engine running or not. It started harder once you tried starting it for one of two reasons, either you have a bad glow, or they cooled off enough that it wasn't firing correctly in the first few moments of running.

Going back to your first post, to test glow plugs correctly, you need an ohm meter, or a multimeter that measures resistance. Each glow plug should read about 2 ohms once the meter stabilizes. any higher or lower than that, it needs to be replaced. I would load test the starting batteries, it sound to me either one of the two batteries is bad, or not making a good connection and that will make the engine crank slower. Also, I do not 'trust' the factory volt meters farther than I can spit. They are only accurate as an estimate. Take that handy dandy volt meter as mentioned before, and with the engine running, you should be seeing about 14.6 volts at the alternator's battery terminal, next take a reading at each battery directly on the battery terminals (not the vehicle cable terminals).. they should be no less than .5 volt less than the alternators output voltage... also the battery voltages shouldn't be more than 0.1 - 0.2 volts different from each other.

Good luck, and I would be interested in hearing the outcome of this if you have had it resolved already.