starting problems on 6.9 idi

[acey4342]

I recently bought an 86 f350 4x4, 6.9, t19, bw1345, d60 front, ford sterling 10.25 c9 rear in washington and drove it to texas with no problems. Truck has 110000 original miles. runs like a champ. problem....when it sits overnight it will not start the next day, however when you get it cranked up finally it starts like it should the rest of the day provided it dosent sit to long. after it starts it will keep runing. water separator work fine, new fuel filter, clean diesel, new mechanical lift pump. My thoughts are 1 or 2 glow plugs out, or faulty bleed valve next to fuel filter. any thoughts?

 

[suv7734]

Air intrusion can cause this problem. The most common cause is the return line o-rings. You may not always be able to see fuel leaking. Get yourself an injector installation kit and it will include all the o-rings, caps and return line to replace everything. One supplier with a good reputation is mwfi.com the kit is P/N: OTHDPE69120 for the 6.9 engine.

 

[Diesel JD]

The first thing to check is the glow plugs. On the 6.9 system the light will come on and the system will cycle normally if any of the glow plugs work. I'd get out the test light and go looking for opens. Whatever you do if you replace them don't use champions or autolites. Its best to use Berus if you can find them but delphi, SLM and other premium brands are acceptable substitutes especially if you convert the system to a momentary toggle switch. If it were me I'd probably use AC delco 12 V plugs from a 5.7 or the Bosch equivalent if you can't find them. If you want to stay factory system the beru ZD1A really are best,. hard to find and expensive these days unless your local autozone happens to have a few of this discontinued item hiding. If you want though, I have a box of still working but used ZD1A I'd let you have real cheap.

 

[towcat]

sounds like you have some diagnosis work to do....
check for air in the fuel system and juice going to the gp's. i have put in PVC tubing in all my trucks to monitor for air in the return system. just a segment from the filter head to the nearest return line cap.
Gp's should be an issue in TX at this time of the year though.
bottom line....more info needed. go dig
oh yea...welcome to the site!

 

[acey4342]

hard to start 6.9

Hey folks, thanks for the quick response. This is the first 6.9 i've owned, how does the bleed valve next to the fuel filter work?

 

[towcat]

Hey folks, thanks for the quick response. This is the first 6.9 i've owned, how does the bleed valve next to the fuel filter work?

the same way you let the air out of a tire

 

[acey4342]

hard to start 6.9

does the engine have to be running or cranking

 

[towcat]

does the engine have to be running or cranking

for checking for air in the filter head....no
to purge the air out of your filter...yes

 

[acey4342]

if you have someone crank the engine and you push the valve will diesel come out after the air and purge the system

 

[towcat]

if you have someone crank the engine and you push the valve will diesel come out after the air and purge the system

yup

 

[Mr_Roboto]

Basically if you plug in the block heater for a few hours and the truck starts OK then the problem is GP's. If it still doesn't start then your problem is probably air.

GP's are pretty likely, they burn out like light bulbs. You never know when and they burn out at different times.

 

[unclewilson]

diesel jd how much for the glow plugs ? tks

 

[acey4342]

how do you test the glow plugs and what do you test with

 

[suv7734]

Test for ohms (resistance) with a multimeter. The resistance should be < 2 ohms between the connector and the base when the engine is cold.

 

[acey4342]

starting problems on a 6.9

just replaced the return caps o rings and return lines. any ideas on how to purge this fuel system of air know. Schrader valve wont seem to do it. Would it be better to crack injector lines while someone cranks on it. Or would it be ok to just pull start it?