Wont start

SkipBurney

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My 89 7.3 runs fine but if I let it sit overnight it wont start without a small shot of starting fluid and I hate using ether, I have seen to many broken rings in engines started with ether. My truck has a Carrier electric fuel pump. Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I need to start and what to look for.
 

lotzagoodstuff

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Since you have an electric fuel pump, I wouldn't expect air intrusion. I'd suspect glow plugs and/or controller. How long does your wait to start light stay on for? Pretty easy to test your glow plugs with a multimeter.

If you don't have a multimeter and you have a block heater, plug it in for a couple of hours and see if it starts easy.
 

SkipBurney

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I forgot to mention that it will kill the batteries after a couple of days sitting could it be the glow plug controller is killing them
 

lotzagoodstuff

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Let's start over: Remove, inspect and reinstall all the battery connections and fully charge your batteries so you are starting with good voltage and current.

Now answer these questions:

1. When you initially turn the key to the run position, does the wait to start light come on?
2. How many seconds does the wait to start light stay on before going out?
3. Post your findings
4. Wait for more input based on feedback
 

snicklas

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Also, on thing to add to lotza's list

How old are the batteries? I have a set that will hold a charge and start the truck, if I leave it on a battery tender. But let it sit overnight, and the are dead.
 

SkipBurney

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these are Interstate batteries about 3 months old I checked them with my load tester and they are both good the wait to start light stays on for about 15 or 20 seconds
 

lotzagoodstuff

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So it appears your glow plug circuit is operating. 15 to 20 seconds sounds pretty long to me, but I haven't owned an IDI in 6 years now. If it was me, I'd pull all the glowplugs, inspect and test them, but you could simply test them in place. Pretty simple process: remove the bullet connector and measure continuity with an ohmmeter, should be .2 to .5 ohms. I would remove them just to see what brand they are. Be careful removing them and if they are not Beru or Motorcraft replace them. Lots of history of Champions swelling and breaking off in the head.

I know your batteries are pretty new and test good, but have you taken a look at the battery cables and connections? See if you can get a good tachometer reading when you are cranking it cold. These are compression to ignition engines and if you can't spin one fast enough they just won't start cold. If your starter is original, I would be suspect as the compression in these engines are pretty ******* starters.

Again, gather a little more info and post your findings.
 

SkipBurney

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Ok so the old truck made a liar out of me I put the good batteries back into it today and tried to start it and the solenoid would only click, I cleaned all of the terminals and still no start so I jumped across the solenoid terminals and it turned over about 3 times and started right up. I had gotten frustrated and let it sit for about 6 months before now. All of the injector return hoses are leaking like crazy so I need to fix them. My question now is does anyone have the part number of the solenoid.
 
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