My Cold Start

[Silver91Hatch]

What brand batteries are you running? I am running "1100" CCA AutoCraps that the PO put in and they are going in the junk pile. 1.5 years out a "Titanum". Motorcraft BXT65850's here I come. I also took my starter apart and cleaned the oil sludge out of it from my leak VC gaskets and it picked up almost 100 cold cranking RPM's. I sanded the junk off of the armature and cleaned the brushes, lubed the bushing, etc.

 

[Cincinnati Guy]

I just remembered my dang fuel heater dont work. How much effect does it have on starting? I remember now I took it all out because the heating element was broken off.

Not sure the brand off the top of my head.

 

[Silver91Hatch]

The Interstates (good battery otherwise) that I have ran into here lately have only been 675 CCA in the group 65 series.

 

[Silver91Hatch]

My fuel heater is long gone on my 6.9L. Started today at 19 degrees in 3-4 revs. Beru's 7.3L controller and good starter(factory rebuild) did wonders.

 

[Reddually93]

starting problem

Hey cincinnati guy, my truck also had that weird start where it would crank kinda fast then slow down and then eventually spin enough to start. I was wondering maybe injection pump or timing was off a little bit but i replaced the starter and that fixed my problem. Have had no problem since then

 

[dyoung14]

When i have ever experienced an start off fast then slow down it was either the batteris or starter, please check yours before you start with timing

 

[Cincinnati Guy]

Been a few days again, and about the same temperature outside to. It started right up with about 15 seconds worth of cranking, and with one cycle of the glow plugs. I'm wondering if my injector pump may be going bad?

I have a spare, but I dunno the condition of it.

 

[dyoung14]

Been a few days again, and about the same temperature outside to. It started right up with about 15 seconds worth of cranking, and with one cycle of the glow plugs. I'm wondering if my injector pump may be going bad?

I have a spare, but I dunno the condition of it.

AN INJECTION PUMP WONT CAUSE THE ENGINE TO TURN SLOW, before you start swapping parts that may be worse than what you already have check the batteries cables ends and starter last

 

[Cincinnati Guy]

Dav im just throwing out possibilities, yea your right it wont make it crank slow, but a bad pump will cause hard starts. Im still hoping for a little warmer weather to take the starter off to get it checked out, since Ive already checked and cleaned the battery ends and grounds.

BTW I still have the torque converter for ya.

 

[93f250idi]

my black truck started doing the same thing when i had it. crank over fast then slow down. rebuilt starter took care of the problem

 

[dyoung14]

Dav im just throwing out possibilities, yea your right it wont make it crank slow, but a bad pump will cause hard starts. Im still hoping for a little warmer weather to take the starter off to get it checked out, since Ive already checked and cleaned the battery ends and grounds.

BTW I still have the torque converter for ya.

Sorry if i sounded a little growly i was just pointing it out but next check the starter cause if its turning real fast it should light off, mine cranked better with my old worn pump than with the turbo pump but i was running max fuel and hot timing, and the turbo pump was in better shape than the non turbo pump,

 

[Cincinnati Guy]

I had it on the block heater for a couple hours, it started right up! No cranking and cranking. Also it cranked fast.

I am beginning to think it could possibly have something to do with my glow plug controller. Is it possible for it to not throw out enough current to heat the plugs to the proper temperature? I know the controller controls how much voltage is applied to the glow plugs. They could possibly not be heating up hot enough?


I know im still not cranking fast enough, that's only when it isn't plugged into the block heater.

 

[Goofyexponent]

Because a pushbutton doesn't know what the resistance on the GP's are, so it keeps sending full current through them the whole time where the regular system drops off the current as the resistance increases.

This is a common myth.

If you think about it and look at a wiring diagram, you can see that there is NO WAY a controller can lower voltage to the plugs.

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The controller simply turns the relay on, allowing full voltage through the relay then onto the resistor and then into the plugs.

The controller can't lower voltage to the plugs.

Take a test light and check the voltage at the GP's. I did it once and came up with battery voltage.

With the pushbutton you could potentially burn your GP's out all at once.

This however is NOT a myth. If you do a 7 second burn though, you will be fine. She won't start? Burn em' for another 5 or 7 seconds and try again. I wouldn't personally burn for more than 10 seconds at a time though.

 

[Goofyexponent]

I had it on the block heater for a couple hours, it started right up! No cranking and cranking. Also it cranked fast.

I am beginning to think it could possibly have something to do with my glow plug controller. Is it possible for it to not throw out enough current to heat the plugs to the proper temperature? I know the controller controls how much voltage is applied to the glow plugs. They could possibly not be heating up hot enough?


I know im still not cranking fast enough, that's only when it isn't plugged into the block heater.

Your GP controller won't have any effect on cranking. Why she cranks so easily when plugged in is because the oil is WAY thinner and the fuel is also easier ignited when the cylinders are warmer.

My truck was a PIG to start in the cold last year, but since I replaced BOTH batteries, cleaned ALL the terminals and put dielectric grease on them all and fixed a couple air leaks in the fuel, she will fire up at -15F without being plugged in. I don't have the option to plug it in at work.

 

[Cincinnati Guy]

Thanks Goofy, makes sense. I am in the same boat as you I can plug it up at home but what about when I go places. It must be able to be started without being plugged in. I still need to find out if its the batteries or starter.

I have a load tester. Should I use it on the batteries before I start cranking on it or after?