Getting hard to start lately

Autolite glow plugs tend to swell and stick in the bore?

IDIBRONCO said:

Sooo, let's see. At the rate you're going that will be some time in 2023, right?

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I'm with you IDIBRONCO on that thought!!! I know how busy I can get & get behind sometimes. I been watching Wes & he looks sort'a OVERWHELMED sometimes!!!

ttman4 said:

I'm with you IDIBRONCO on that thought!!! I know how busy I can get & get behind sometimes. I been watching Wes & he looks sort'a OVERWHELMED sometimes!!!

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Yes he does.

The front right one is stuck in the head, very hard to even loosen it and it’s autolite so it’s probamy gonna just live there. The two under the turbo is my deal currently I know it can be done but forgiving out how lol probably need a 1/4 inch swivel I tried 3/8ths but that stuffs to big to reach in there. We will see tomorrow!

One neat tip I learned on FTE was that once the GP is cracked loose you can shove some fuel hose over it and spin it out with the hose which bends and turns but wont really let go of the GP. Pretty smooth time saver.

ttman4 said:

I'm with you IDIBRONCO on that thought!!! I know how busy I can get & get behind sometimes. I been watching Wes & he looks sort'a OVERWHELMED sometimes!!!

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It happens, but at least I only have my self to be accountable. If I bring help in that goes out the door

Thewespaul said:

It happens, but at least I only have my self to be accountable. If I bring help in that goes out the door

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Yeah it could be great or a mess. Anyone that's in management will tell you how high quality the employees are these days....

Thewespaul said:

It happens, but at least I only have my self to be accountable. If I bring help in that goes out the door

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Yeah we was talking about that the other day!!!

5 of 8 changed now! All that’s left is 2 under the turbo and 1 autolite I may just leave because I don’t think it’s ever coming out lol though my motocraft plugs that have been in 5 years did look a little burnt and one even slightly swelled but that’s what I get for leaving them activated for 5 minutes a few times in the past years along with other 30 second burst. Anyone got any ideas about the surging while driving?

pelky350 said:

Anyone got any ideas about the surging while driving?

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Mine was always the fuel filter. I know you said you just changed it. But the 7.3 IDI I bought had been sitting in the Pacific Northwest for seven years, and it took a long time and a lot of filter changes to finally start getting clean Diesel out of those tanks. So my guess would be: fuel filter.

Well now I got another no start due to turning over till battery dead. Just replaced batteries due to warrantee from advanced auto again. Looks like I’m in for all the normal problems again trucks probably gonna go down for a while and drive the bronco unfortunately I’m starting to get discouraged now, I’d pay someone to fix it but it doesn’t seem anyone near me has much idea on how to fix any of it I know what’s wrong with it and I have the parts but not the time recently

Did you get it running? Sorry to hear about your issues.

pelky350 said:

Anyone got any ideas about the surging while driving?

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I had the same surging issue with my truck while driving. I found the culprit to be air in the fuel injector return lines. You are probably leaking air somewhere in your fuel injector return lines. This air is making it's way back to the fuel injector pump and back to your injectors which is why it won't stay running. Replace your return lines, plastic caps and o-rings around each injector. You can buy a kit for this that costs about $35 online. Once you replace the lines, o-rings and plastic caps, you'll have to bleed the air out. Crack the injector line nuts and crank the engine to push the air out of the fuel lines. As fuel starts to come out around the fuel injector line nuts, tighten those down and continue cranking until fuel is seeping out of all 8 fuel injector line nuts. When you are finished bleeding out the air, make sure all line nuts are tight and try starting the truck again. I have a mechanical fuel pump, so I need to crank the engine to move fuel through the fuel lines. However, I believe that if you have an electronic fuel pump, you can activate the pump to move the fuel instead of cranking. Anyone with an electric fuel pump want to chime in? Good luck with the problem solving.

Keep soaking that Autolite with Kroil or PB Blaster. I had to remove 8 Autolites when I bought my truck and two or three seemed swollen, but lots of patience and gently working them back and forth did the trick.

And FWIW I recall reading that the best penetrating lubricant was a 1:1 mix of acetone and ATF but I have yet to try that myself.