Battery Woes?

[Simp5782]

go your local auto parts store and pick up a battery pad heater. $30. They are small in size. Wrap it around your IP and plug it in when you need it. They only draw like 20-30 watts. which is better than the block heater watts.my 94 HATES anything below 0 without being plugged in. Even with a new fuel system and glow plug system. Don't know what it is.

 

[ninjai]

That's not a bad idea though I've never had problems even a bit below zero (-6?) and that's not even using my block heater.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

Cold Crank Amps. I just put new batteries in last year, and I can't exactly remember but they are like 650-750 CCA. If I recall correctly, that should be plenty. But is it really my batteries or something else?

It reads like you definitely have an air intrusion issue, maybe from more than one source.

Best to find/fix all the leaks; but, a strategically located check-valve or two would cure the situation and any later scenarios.

Most of the air leaks in the poorly designed Ford IDI diesel fuel system result in the fuel draining back to the tanks while the invading air takes it's place.

A check-valve located between the tank-selector-valve and lift-pump, plus another located at the fuel-filter INLET, will prevent the weight of the fuel wanting to drain back from sucking air into the lines.

If the fuel can't go anywhere, air cannot take it's place.




As for the batteries, those CCA numbers are okay for summer-time batteries on an easy-starting engine.

However, winter temperatures, far away from the warmth of a garage and the benefit of a block-heater, plus an engine that does not want to start/run, and those little batteries just aren't gonna have the "bottom" necessary to crank and crank and keep on cranking, nor do they have the amperage necessary to crank the engine with the authority needed to heat the cylinders and fire off the fuel.


Replace them with a pair of Group-31S "stud"-terminal batteries in the 1000- to 1200-CCA range and you will immediately tell the difference.

 

[RLDSL]

You have a leak, it's just figuring out if it's internal or external. Generally if you have to crank and crank before it will start at all, then it's an external leak ( olives, cap orings, etc ) but if the thing fires off almost immidiately , but then dies and then you have to go through the extended cranking to get it to fire again, then the leak is almost always internal ( as in leaking injector, the tip or tips dribble fuel overnight that pools up in one or more cylinders but pressure is lost to the rest. Upon cranking teh pooled up fuel ignites and it runs for a few revoloutions , then dies as that fuel is consmed from the prechambers , then the system has to crank extensively to reprime )

 

[ninjai]

You have a leak, it's just figuring out if it's internal or external. Generally if you have to crank and crank before it will start at all, then it's an external leak ( olives, cap orings, etc ) but if the thing fires off almost immidiately , but then dies and then you have to go through the extended cranking to get it to fire again, then the leak is almost always internal ( as in leaking injector, the tip or tips dribble fuel overnight that pools up in one or more cylinders but pressure is lost to the rest. Upon cranking teh pooled up fuel ignites and it runs for a few revoloutions , then dies as that fuel is consmed from the prechambers , then the system has to crank extensively to reprime )

Hm. Now that I think of it, on the top of my engine there are always 2 small pools of liquid in the pits where the glow plugs sit, on the 2 top most on the passenger side. I'm not sure if it's fuel, or oil from the turbo since the turbo sits right above there.

 

[redmondjp]

+10 on air leaks. Often they let air in, but not fuel out. Will happen more in the cold temperatures because the rubber hoses, O-rings and tubes get more stiff when cold and don't seal as well.

Best bet is to do all of the injector o-rings and return lines all in one shot. This should really be part of any diesel's "normal" 100K tuneup, just like replacing plugs, wires, cap & timing belt on a gasser.

 

[ninjai]

Problem is solved. My aftermarket fuel filter with hand pump was leaking at the pump. The model I have has been discontinued, so they are upgrading it to the new model.