2003 E450 hard start after overnight or longer.

u2slow

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May be wise to check. During long cranking, the hpop can deplete it before the lpop catches up.
 

greenskeeper

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I can barely get my head in there as it is. Van body. Also, I hope the computers will pick up on any electrical anomalies.
with the doghouse removed you should be able to remove the valve covers and see what the HPO is doing at the injector spouts. No or little oil and the injector(s) aren't firing.
 

u2slow

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with the doghouse removed you should be able to remove the valve covers and see what the HPO is doing at the injector spouts. No or little oil and the injector(s) aren't firing.
On my '97, the pass side cover could not come off with the limited clearance. Not sure if an '03 has more room.

I managed to prove what I needed (electrically) through the gasket connector.
 

gmtech68

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Electrically the engine passes all the tests. While running, it runs rough and settles into a constant misfire.
 

gmtech68

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Tried to start this beast this morning. Rainy, 9C,(48F). Checked oil reservoir, normal. Cranked after glow plugs for 10 seconds. Tried to fire but died. Oil reservoir still good. 10 seconds more cranking. Still good. Didn't fire at all.
Got scan tool from shop. No codes. ICP reads 2800 to 3600psi while cranking. Fuel pulse width goes to 3.6ms. Tried multiple times after that. Would fire but not on enough cylinders to stay running. Never did get running. P1670 set after a few tries but battery voltage was getting to 9.5v by then while cranking.
Tomorrow I will charge the batteries and try again.
 

u2slow

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That's a lot of pressure for the sensor to indicate while cranking.

With a mechanical gauge, mine would struggle to build 500psi, but once it did would catch and fire promptly.
 

greenskeeper

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Tried to start this beast this morning. Rainy, 9C,(48F). Checked oil reservoir, normal. Cranked after glow plugs for 10 seconds. Tried to fire but died. Oil reservoir still good. 10 seconds more cranking. Still good. Didn't fire at all.
Got scan tool from shop. No codes. ICP reads 2800 to 3600psi while cranking. Fuel pulse width goes to 3.6ms. Tried multiple times after that. Would fire but not on enough cylinders to stay running. Never did get running. P1670 set after a few tries but battery voltage was getting to 9.5v by then while cranking.
Tomorrow I will charge the batteries and try again.
key on and let the glow plugs energize for at least 30 seconds prior to starting.

glow plugs and relay are known to be good?

Did you pull either of the valve covers to see if oil is coming from the injectors? If you can verify that oil is coming from all 8 injectors that would confirm that the HPO, IDM, and PCM are working correctly.

armature clearance issues would show up as no or little oil coming from an injector. This would make the engine difficult to start and miss / run rough once started.

Next item to check would be fuel pressure if there is oil coming from the injectors.

If fuel is ok, it might be time to grab the compression tester and see what the numbers are.
 

gmtech68

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Checked all glow plugs with a halogen headlight. Bad one is in #8. Will power that headlight through the glow plug harness. Looks like a compression test is next. Injectors all make noise during buzz test, some much louder than others. No codes set during test.
 

greenskeeper

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Checked all glow plugs with a halogen headlight. Bad one is in #8. Will power that headlight through the glow plug harness. Looks like a compression test is next. Injectors all make noise during buzz test, some much louder than others. No codes set during test.
A glow plug light test only shows continuity of the plug, not amps draw. I've seen plenty of glow plugs with continuity, but when hooked up to 12v they hardly glow at all. The entire tip of the glow plug should be red hot within 10 seconds of putting 12v to it.

Never checked for oil flow from the injectors? I know it's a van, but that would significantly narrow down the possibilities.
 

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