89 Ford Diesel 7.3 hard to start

[franklin2]

Hm just a thought OP but since you mentioned the voltage going down to 8(?) when cycling the glow plugs - are all the battery cables/terminals in good shape? Could possibly be ground related

My factory voltage gauge in the dash goes down to 8v when the glowplugs are glowing. Who knows what the actual voltage is. You have to take what a Ford gauge tells you with a grain of salt. Always has done it since I have had it. It's a way to tell if the glowplugs are working or not. Has always started, even down in the teens without being plugged in.

 

[Black dawg]

Here is another video after it sat all night. Currant temp is 72F... If yours won't start it's most likely low on compression.

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That is pretty impressive, but for some reason the 6.9s (when not worn out) started really easily.

I have worked on very few that started that easily without glowplugs.
Most all will need glow plugs to start at anything under 100 degrees regardless of compression.

 

[Old Goat]

My 86 starts like that with 329K miles. UKN miles on Pump and Injectors.
Our days now are up around 78 - 81 and nights down to 36 - 45 or so.
Plugs are manual, hold toggle down and count to 6 and she lights off like in your video.

Any time the rest of the day never need to use the GP`s.
Now when the white stuff starts piling up in the mountains, and the nights get down in the 20`s, need to glow to a count of 10 or so and she starts pretty much like your video.

You really need all good electrical connections, grounds etc... and good cables that are not cracked from age.
2 good group 65 batteries that are fully charged along with a good strong Starter to spin the engine over fast.

Winter is coming, good time to do a through cleaning of the system. OH, and a Block heater that works, it can be a life saver if the plugs decide to not work...


Goat

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Any time the rest of the day never need to use the GP`s.

I LOVE that about my manual set up.