Moved to Colorado, now I have starting problems

[LumbermanSVO]

Hey guys, Due to some problems at home(Seattle) I pickup and moved in with my sister in Colorado Springs. I loaded the truck as much as I could and took off.

The trip went pretty smooth. on my 4 fule stops I got 13.5, 13.8, 15.5 and 13.4 MPG for the trip at 50-55MPH, the best I've ever gotten with this truck. (6.9/C6/4.10's/4x4) At one point I though I hosed the tranny in eastern Utah but it was my me still not being used to an auto. It did pretty well with the hill below 4000 feet but after that performance started dropping. My slowest was 30MPH in second going over a pass at 11,100FT. I don't have a pyro gauge so I just tried to keep the smoke to a slight gray haze and not a black plume.

I left Seattle at 10:30 Tuesday morning and got here at 3 Thursday afternoon.

Yesterday morning I went to start the truck and it did not want to start. It tries to start but just does catch. I could hear the glow plug relay working but it just didn't want to go. It took a lot of cranking but it finally fired and took off. I had no problems the rest of the day. The same thing happened this morning. I grabbed my DMM and I have 11.9 volts at the glow plugs when they are on. the voltage gauge on the dash drops from the mid 12's like normal when the GP's are on. This morning it finally started when I pumped the pedal rapidly while cranking for a long time. My initial thought is the lift pump.

It started just fine when warm and doesn't act like it did when it had leaking return lines. I ran B99 in it until I set out for this trip, if that matters. I was at sea level in Seattle, now I'm at 6000 Feet.

All my tools are burried in the front of the bed of the truck so working on it is not gonna be fun. Where should I start looking?

 

[LumbermanSVO]

I just tested the GP's. On the passenger bank I got .9 .8 .7 and 323 ohms. On the driver bank I got .8 no connection 28 ohms and no connection. Looks like I need new GP's. Thanks for the help!

I should be looking for Beru plugs? I'll dig around on here for the part number.

 

[reklund]

Beru is what you want...try Autozone- they sometimes stock the Berus.

You'll need them if you're gonna be in Colorado for the winter anyway...

Ryan

 

[Compu Doc]

ZD11A is the glow plug part number for the 6.9. When you go to Autozone ask for Motorcraft. If you aks for Beru they probably wont know what you are talking about.

The plugs are made in Beru Germany. If they don't have Motorcraft then go to the nearest Ford stealership. DO NOT USE MOTORCRAFT or any other brand than Motorcraft.

 

[Diesel JD]

You should order them from autozone online unless you have an autozone that is running the $2.99 each special on them. These things are normally $9.99 each.If you do buy from an online vendor, you could plug in the block heater to get by until you get the new glow plugs. I also think you should go with a momentary toggle switch an ditch the stock controller. Its nothing but trouble. Alternately you could be our guinea pig and buy some 7G AC Delco plugs from a 5.7 diesel application. These are 12V plugs and would take quite a while longer to heat up, but would probably last you as long as you own your truck as long as you don't have severely advanced timing or a complete electrical infarction. Also, make sure to bring your cylinders to TDC before you work on them in case a GP gets stuck or breaks off. if that happens, stop and post back for advice. Find a post by Zigg. His site tells you how to wire up manual glow plugs and how to reduce your likelihood of losing a tip into the engine. These can do a lot of damage,or make you pull the head to prevent possible damage so be careful. Good luck and I hope things work out well for you with your truck and the other issues.
JD

 

[Mr_Roboto]

With the Autozone site, you have to change the quantity then click the "update quantity" button. If you don't click that button on the next screen it changes back to 1.

I just ordered a full set of Beru's for $33 shipped!

 

[RLDSL]

After the glow plugs, if you still have trouble, might want to advance the timing a hair. That and cutting the fuel back a little can help any diesel at altitude.
You've got less air up there.

----------Robert

 

[LumbermanSVO]

Hey, the new GP's worked like a charm. no tips broke o or anything and I was able to do it without creating any fuel leaks.

It could really use a turbo way up here. Probably wouldn't have to mess with the fuel much! I can sure lay a cloud of black smoke if I want. Now I just gotta find myself anther Bio supplier, this diesel smell and soot are getting old, I got too used to the Bio smell

 

[Diesel JD]

Yeah, the homebrewers are all around... try and get in with one of them. I'm glad it worked out for you ok....was concerned you might have problems. Still I do suggest that you switch over to a manual momentary toggle. That relay just cannot be trusted.

 

[RLDSL]

Woo hoo! I just grabbed a set of those cheap glow plugs myself
It's nice to save about $50. I wonder how long it'll take the bean counters to figure that one out

----------Robert

 

[LumbermanSVO]

Diesel JD: looks like I'll be ding the long haul thing starting sometime next week, I'll know by Thursday morning. If so I'll get years of use out of these plugs unless the controller fries them. I haven't had any problems with the controller so I'm not too concerned about it. I also know my way around 12v electrical systems better than most so if anything goes wrong I can fix it fairly easily.