WTS light only stays on 1/2 second

[texcl]

So last summer I was at the lake and I went to start my truck and the WTS light just flickered, the engine was warm so she started right up. The next morning the wts light worked normally. I went to start her yesterday and it did the same thing, but the engine wasn't warm so no start. Plugged her in and she fired up after 12 hours of warming. after parking her back in the barn the wts light and gp's are working normally. What should I suspect here? Glow plug controller? It's my 93 NA F250.

 

[Hydro-idi]

Could be solenoid on passenger fender. Same thing happened with my truck years ago. Ended up being a cheap and simple fix

 

[riotwarrior]

Check connectuons, sounds like something moving and causing failure. Clean and use decent dielectric grease or an anti corrosion lu e specifically for electrical connections.

If that doesnt cure what ails yer truck then its time to isolate parts in the system for intermittent failure like a solenoid or gp controller

JM7.3CW

E D I T

Ideal brand...NOALOX is one product primarily for aluminum wiring however it can be used for copper. I use it and like it myself...but whadda I know

 

[icanfixall]

My guess is a bad connection somewhere. Try the engine main wire harness plug. On your year engine it should be on the drivers side fender well area. Open it and look for corrosion around the 2 yellow wires area. Those 2 yellow wires feed power to the glow plug controller.

 

[texcl]

I'll start with the connections then, its getting power to the glow plug controller since it feeds the wts light right?

 

[icanfixall]

If the controller can't get enough power from the main engine wire harness you may still have starting issues.

 

[chris142]

About 2x a year I must spin my connectors right on the GP's to clean the contacts up so it will work correctly again.

 

[texcl]

OK, I took apart every connection I could get to cleaned them and replaced them. I also replaced the solenoid on the passenger fender since it was so cheap and it was rattling inside. So now the WTS light seems to be working but I'm still having a hard start scenario. I checked the batteries, they are at 12.5v's , the alternator is putting out over 14 volts when running. Thinking I have a bad plug wire or GP. I did check them first but maybe I should check again.

 

[OLDBULL8]

OK, I took apart every connection I could get to cleaned them and replaced them. I also replaced the solenoid on the passenger fender since it was so cheap and it was rattling inside.

That relay/solenoid has nothing to do with the GP system, it triggers the starter solenoid.

The GP relay is mounted on the GP controller.

Defective glow plugs will cause short GP cycling.

If you have a test light, connect the lead to the battery POS terminal, remove the wire on the glow plug, touch the test light to the GP, if it lights then it's a good GP. Do all 8 of them like that. No light means a defective GP.

 

[texcl]

Well I disconnected both batteries and charged them individually overnight. The next day the truck started like it's old self. Took it to napa and have them check the batteries. They are 875ca batteries and showed 880 on one and 800 on the other. They lower of the 2 showed some fluctuations so I'm sort of suspecting a bad battery. Rather have a bad battery than a short somewhere.

 

[madpogue]

Did you isolate the batteries for the load test?

 

[texcl]

yes

 

[texcl]

forgot to mention I had tested gp's with test light and they are all good. I had replaced them 2 to 3 years ago with good motorcraft beru plugs also.

 

[Kheg]

My guess is a bad connection somewhere. Try the engine main wire harness plug. On your year engine it should be on the drivers side fender well area. Open it and look for corrosion around the 2 yellow wires area. Those 2 yellow wires feed power to the glow plug controller.

^^^ The two yellow glow plug feed wires were the gp issue on my truck. The gentleman I bought it from said it never did start worth a "darn". (He wasn't kidding, not even in the summer) Using a volt meter I found 11 volts at the glow plug relay. While back tracking the yellow wires I found the plastic molded connector for the wires on the wheel well had melted some time ago thus causing a bad connection. I simply cut out the connector and soldered each wire to its other half. After heat shrinking the joints, problem solved! (I believe my yellow wires are on the passenger side tho)

 

[texcl]

Ok, so after isolating the batteries (disconnecting them every time I park), I found it wont start again today due to slow cranking and rapid depletion of battery power, tested the batteries and they are both below 12 volts, but I cranked them a while. They cranked real hard for the first spin then went down hill real quick. Wondering if it's the batteries or the starter maybe? After going through and cleaning and greasing all the engine connections the WTS light issue has gone away.