7.3 surging, hard start when warm

[Sidewinded_idi]

helli forum, just saved this beautiful 92 f350 from the graveyard. Was sitting the last three years. Has the banks sidewinder kit with ram air. My problem is when cold it starts right up or even when I shut off if I restart within 10 minutes. Otherwise if it sits when hot it won't start I have to let it cool. Also when accelerating from a stop it will surge and puff smoke then seem to clear out and run good. Would these symptoms indicate an air leak?

 

[Sidewinded_idi]

Also it seems to get hot when on the freeway or revved up. I think the fan clutch is bad as it seems to turn slowly. At idle it will cool down so I'm going to test the clutch if it's good most likely it needs a radiator. Also can anyone tell me why it clicks upon startup? When you turn the key on it does a loud solenoid clicking about 3-4 times then stops?

 

[Sidewinded_idi]

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Here's a pic of the beauty

 

[DaveBen]

The clicking is the solenoid in the Glow Plug Circuit going on and off. Rapid clicking means that some of the glow plugs are dead and need to be replaced. Use ONLY Beru or Motorcraft glow plugs. Beru makes Motorcraft and all the others are JUNK. They will swell, making it impossible to remove easily.

 

[Sidewinded_idi]

Thank you. And any input to the possible surging and hard start when hot after sitting? I know I need to change fuel filter and it's moist around the filter gasket so maybe it's getting air there. Also the egts on this truck stay right at 300 on freeway unloaded. And with a trailer pushing it to the max of 7psi it gets up to 600. Seems to be way too cool as I can run around town under 300

 

[IDIBRONCO]

I know that you don't want to hear this, but your injector pump probably needs to be replaced. The hot start problem is a sign of wear inside the pump. You can test this by pouring water over the top of the pump to cool it off when hot. If it starts easily, then it's the pump. Most likely, your injectors need to be replaced to. If your pump and injectors are worn, you may not be getting enough fuel and that could explain your low egts. "Rebuilt" pumps and injectors are junk. There's three well known places to get good, quality injection parts. Justin at R&D IDI Performance, Mel (Agnem on here) at Conestoga Diesel, and Russ (typ4 on here). They all do good jobs and are recommended by members on here. Some people prefer one over the others, but they're all good. Personally, I run Mel's Moose Jr. pump and bb code injectors. They're not cheap, but neither is buying poor quality parts and having them only last a few thousand miles just to have to replace them again. I tried the rebuild route, but regretted it. I don't think I went 15,000 miles and had leaking injectors and a pump that I honestly didn't think would get me home the last time I used it. All to save about $300 over the cost of Mel's stuff which I've had absolutely no problems with.

 

[Sidewinded_idi]

I appreciate the feedback. You would lean towards that over an air leak? I was curious if maybe the lift pump was going out because it fires right up cold, or if it's within 10 minutes of stopping hot I thought maybe it was leaking down. What would cause the studdering under accel and can I adjust the fuel screw just to see if it raises egt?

 

[Sidewinded_idi]

So I noticed today when it starts surging it billows black smoke and the egts go up about 300 degrees. Idk what this could mean

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Now you're getting into more details about the inside of the injector pump than I know about. If I had to guess, I'd say that it sounds like your timing is somehow retarding inside the pump itself. I don't know i that's possible or not. Your hard starting problem is exactly opposite of what happens with an air leak. Usually they will start fine when hot because the fuel hasn't had time to bleed back to the fuel tank. When it's cold, the fuel has had time to bleed back and be replaced by air. As for the dampness around the fuel filter gasket, spray it off with some brake cleaner and then after it's all clean, watch it while running or look at it after a drive to see if there's fuel there again.