Ford 7.3L Power Stroke (1999-2003) :: Hard Time To Start Intermittently
May 18, 2015
Just got myself a gently used Econoline E-350 7.3 Diesel and was loving it when she ran:
E-350 7.3 Diesel
Recently I have been having some charging issues. It started with it intermittently having a hard time to start, especially when it was warm. I carried a jump box with me and that always seemed to work. Then I noticed the voltmeter on the dash dropping. It went down to the 8 and I was like something is wrong.
Checked the battery voltage, it was at 9.6v. OK, maybe alternator isn't charging. Advance Auto tested the alternator, said it was bad. I replaced alternator. No difference. I pulled the battery and ran it on a conditioner to bring it up to proper voltage. It's now at 12.6v resting. Starts the van no problem. When running though the voltage doesn't increase to 13-14 volts like it should though telling me the alternator isn't doing it's job. Increasing engine RPM actually decreases voltage? Checked all the obvious things like bad grounds but everything seemed clean.
The only thing that was fishy was when I pulled the three way plug from the alternator, one of the pins had corrosion on it. I cleaned it up before installing the new alternator. I didn't do a diode test on the new alternator because I figured it was new, but hey maybe I got a lemon?
Anyway I'm going crazy trying to figure out where the problem is. All fuses are ok. Is there an external regulator or something I should be on the lookout for? Is there anything else that could be causing a non charging issue? The battery was manufactured in 2014 so it's relatively new.
And on a random note my ABS light is now on?
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The past few weeks my truck has occasionally shown no signs of life when trying to start it. It goes through the "Wait to Start" routine and then when the key is turned ... nothing. No clicking, no cranking, nothing. All other electronics seem to work just fine.
This might happen only once ... or up to three times before it decides to crank. So far, it has eventually started on subsequent tries. When it does finally crank, it fires right away as usual and everything is as it should be and it runs great. No unusual smoke, noises or anything else.
This may be unrelated to the above issue but I noticed that lately once in a while, the back up sensors remained silent while I'm reversing and close to an object when I know they should have been beeping. (the audible override was not turned on either).
I may be grasping at straws here but would anything going wrong with the gear selector shifter cause both of these problems to surface? Like the lever isn't seating correctly and causing these issues? I also realize the two problems could be (and possibly are) totally unrelated.
I can live with the backup beeper not working but I can't survive with the truck being unreliable and not starting whenever it feels like it. It has newer, strong batteries and when it does crank, it's a "strong, fast" crank like normal.
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2002 F350 7.3 intermittently wont start after I've shut it off, it runs fine but sometimes won't start when it's (warm)? Wait hour or more and it starts right up.
Is there something I can look for before I bring it to a mechanic?
Just to clarify I am a gal with little wrenching skills but I can look at videos and follow directions if it's not too involved.
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I have an issue with my 2001 f350 7.3 PSD. Intermittently it will not start. It will crank really quick, but will not even try to start. I think it is not getting fuel. There are no CEL codes and I have a WTS light and the tach is moving while cranking. I hear a clicking/buzzing sound coming from under te center opf the dash. When I hear that sound it will not start. checked fuses and relays and it started before. not sure if removing the fue made whatever reset. this has happened a couple times. Now it will not reset. When I remove the number #24 fuse under the hood, the clicking stops. when i crank it, but still doesn't start. When it starts in runs perfect. Drained the batteries trying to trouble shoot, but have them charger now.
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I have a 1999 f250 7.3 psd. it cranks and will not start, it use to crank for a bit of time and then start and now it refuses to start. If I leave the key in start position for like 30 seconds it use start and now it wont. I am thinking it is something with the glow plugs?
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My e99 f250 has been getting harder and harder to start over the last year.
I think one of my batteries is dying or dead but it still cranks fast while it does.
For instance when I tried starting today it seemed to crank just like normal but their was some relay clicking inside the cab that was abnormal.
My understanding is aside from cranking no power is required to start the motor? what if the dead battery is taking some cranking amps from the good battery preventing the computer from getting juice?
would the truck throw a code if it was a glow plug?
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The first has I replaced my tranny with a stock 4r100 tranny and torque that only has 75k on it. The guy was doing a 6-speed swap. After I had the tranny and torque converter and a new tranny cooler installed, the tranny shifts real hard. I think it may be from my DP Tuner. Even on my economy tune driving it very easy sometimes, it jolts into gear pretty good.
I was wondering if I could just get a shift kit to maybe correct that and if so if I would have to drop the tranny to install the shift kit. I saw a bully dog kit for like 75 bucks, however, I don't really have the money to have the truck in a shop and I would really like to not drop the tranny and not lose all my tranny fluid if possible (very expensive).
Also my other issue, the truck in warm or cold weather is very hard to start. Half of the time it takes two tries to start it. It will crank and crank and no go. Then the second try it fires right up. It has two new batteries, where do I start? Is it possible that the starter is just getting old or is it fuel or oil pressure related possibly?
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2001 F 350 7.3 183,000 miles.. The problem is the longer it sits the harder it starts.. when it does start it runs VERY ruff!!! it takes 10 min or so to run on all cylinders.... This is my first diesel..
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My truck is hard to start when cold and I suspect glow plugs. But it is not showing any codes? If it is a glow plug or glow plug relay at fault , should it throw a code?
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My 2003 7.3 f250 has trouble starting whenever the temperature is less than 65 degrees. If it is less than 50 degrees I have to plug it in for it to start. Once it starts it runs rough. I let it warm up and it still runs rough. Once I start down the road I'll get on it a bit and it takes off like something lets loose. It then runs geat for the rest of the day but does seem to still crank a little more than it should when I restart it through out the day.
The pickup has 152000k
List of repairs I have done to the truck:
-new gpr
-new glow plugs
-new uvch both sides
-new valve cover gaskets
-new blue cps
-new fuel filter
-new batteries everstart maxx 65n
The truck has an afe air intake, straight exhaust, and a super chips tuner set on mileage saving. It blows white smoke when first started but clears up pretty quick.
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So I've been having issues with starting my truck lately. It was really hard to turn over, would start really hard when it did and would blow some black smoke. Turns out my starter was bad so I replaced it with a DB Electric high torque starter. Now it starts up great... for the most part.
I'm still having some black smoke when it's a cold start and/or I have the key set to "On" to warm the glow plugs for a few seconds. It's almost like the starter is turning over the engine, but for the first few turns it sounds empty or hollow (at least that's the best way I can describe it). After the first turns it will sound normal how it's supposed to and will fire up shortly after but with some black smoke.
If my car is already warm it cranks right up without any smoke unless I have the key set to "On" for a few seconds to warm the glow plugs like I said earlier. Pretty much if I warm the glow plugs it makes it harder to start up for some odd reason.
What might cause this or how to fix it? Maybe some of my glow plugs are going bad, or possibly my IDM? I used to have the P1670 code by itself, however, that went away when I replaced the starter. I also just replaced my camshaft position sensor just to be sure it wasn't going bad. I've also been having some boost pressure leaks if that's relevant at all.
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When it is cold out side like 20 degrees I'm having problems starting my 2000 7.3 I'm cycling it about 5 times and misses smokes white for a bit then stays running I was thinking of changing out the fuel filter. What it could be?
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But it starts. '99 F250 PS. Had code P1670, cleared it. No other codes. Started truck back up and ran KOER test with AE(which I'm not very good with). The code did not come back. It is hard to start plugged in cold or warmed up. I have WTS light and it goes out(glow plugs are original). RPMs are slow to come up (almost starts before it kicks in). Doesn't matter if fuel tank is full or not. Oil level is fine. Batteries are charged and check good. Starter checks out ok. Buzz test was ok. Now when I run KOER do I need to do anything other than hitting the initiate button?
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My wife has been telling me our '01 E-350 (Econoline) with 7.3 is taking several attempts to start in the mornings, like it's not even trying to fire. It will crank like wild but no fire and then it will fire usually and sometimes run a little rough but no always.
Tonight she called me from across town and it won't start at all, cranks like wild but won't start, chug or anything.
The WTS light is working fine, the truck runs great and idles smooth all other times, just been giving grief when starting in the mornings (warm outside 70 degree plus ambient temp). I haven't had the truck do it to me but she has explained it well enough.
I do get a SES light for overboost when I run it hard (PHP tuned) but it always goes away and hasn't caused any issues. Could this be the ICP acting like this? If so, is it true that I can just unplug it and the truck will start by using default pressure?
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It's been a while but thats because the truck has been performing well.
Current problem: The truck has been hard to start this year as if the glow plugs are not working or are bad. It will start right up if I use the block heater.
Just recently, I also noticed that the EBPV is not coming on when warming up the truck.
Also, This winter season, the engine temp is not coming up to normal. the engine temp needle is more on the low side towards the C and definitely less than 1/2 way up where is normally is. When driving on the highway, the temp comes up more. but sitting at idle it barely gets warm.
So not sure if all 3 are related or not, but looking for a starting point.
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20 degrees out this morning truck not plugged in, didn't want to start had to cycle 4-5 times, each time waiting for glow plug Light to go out.
Finally cranked didn't sound pretty but cranked. Once it started idling on its own got out and seen a puddle of oil under the front of the engine drivers side center kind of.
Got up on the truck and shined a light in the valley and seen a puddle in intake valley. Heres my question? Where did this oil come from? Once it warmed up it quit and oil kinda disappeared from valley???
I had turbo off a few months ago because I thought I had a bearing down in it, but found some bolts lose. When I put turbo back on I broke the wire plug on front of the pedestal so I just left it unplugged. Very hard to cold start now that that is unhooked.
Did leaving this unhooked create a hard cold start? Should I put another pedestal on it with the plug or install one without it? Also will it hurt to leave plugged in overnight?
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What's up power stroke fam. I have a 1999 F250 Super Duty 7.3 liter this is what happen, was leaving the job site the truck started just fine ran for about 3 city blocks stopped at a stop sign and it started to run ruff like it was out of fuel but had a half tank then poof it shut off. After towing the truck home and trying to start it I could hear a relay clicking very sporadic the service engine light came on then when off and the truck started and the exact same thing happened started running ruff and shut off. Where should I start other than taking it to the shop?
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I'm having Hard start when Hot problems, starts fine when cold. It takes a couple of minutes of cranking for ICP numbers to hit 500.
So far I've replaced:
ICP sensor
IPR
Injector O-rings.
Still didn't fix the problem.
I also washed out the engine, and put uv dye in the oil, let it run, to find any external leaks, but I found nothing. I don't thing it's the HPOP, because it's able to sustain high ICP numbers when I hold down the throttle.
My next step was to remove the HPOP and replace all it's o-rings, but I assume since I don't see any leaks, the o-rings aren't the problem. Is there anything else to check, that could be causing low crank ICP numbers when hot?
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This is kind of strange, I have a hard start problem, when I crank it the first time, it fires immediately, kind of like a romp, but doesn't start, then when I crank again I get a lot of whitish smoke and no start. I read to try and unplug the ICP and try it. That worked, and I had oil in the connector. I replaced the ICP, but have the same problem. I still have to unplug the ICP for the truck to start. When it does start, it runs great! No injector stiction, no smoke, no rough idle, it runs and sounds great. Why unplugging the ICP is still required to start? (Only after sitting for more than 10-12 hours).
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2003 F350 7.3L 164k miles. Got towed in with hard to start cold complaint.
Hooked it up to the Snap On Verus Pro scan tool and we get up to 3000 psi on the ICP cranking, IPR value seems within spec, we have rpms over 100 on tool, pulse width within spec, computer voltage above 10v while cranking, verified output of glow plug module (California) and glow plugs get voltage for approx 50 seconds @ 80 degrees farenheit, glow plugs all read 0 ohms resistance.
injectors do NOT sound the same during buzz test.
Vehicle takes EXCESSIVE cranking cold to eventually get it started. LOTS of cranking. Just had to replace starter and a battery because driver burned em out. It feels like the vehicle shakes when it gets running. Black smoke when revving cold. Sometimes white smoke while cranking.
Once the engine has been warmed up, it starts perfectly every time.
I have spent two days in the engine bay looking for chaffed wires and doing diag and my current diagnosis is bad injectors. I feel there COULD also be high pressure oil leak, or a mechanical issue such as low compression. No compression guage yet for this truck. We have the ICP and IPR fittings to do a shop air test. Recently did a 6.0L and went thru everything and eventually diagnosed it as bad HPOP. LOW ICP pressure.
I noticed two of the cylinders were at maybe 8% Perdel on the data. Seems too high. Also, it "passed" the KOER self test and "passed" the injector buzz test with no codes after, but the audible sound of injectors didn't "seem" right to me, but I am new to these engines.
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My 1999 F550 7.3L has been hard to start when it's cold outside since I got it with about 150k on it (it has 200k on it now). Last year we tested the glow plugs and sure enough 5 of 8 were bad. So they are all new now. It worked a little with the hard start, but not much.
When it's cold out the engine will crank forever amongst clouds of smoke and the smell of unburnt diesel fuel and sometimes eventually start, followed by smoke and sputtering until the cylinders clear out. However, what I have noticed recently is that it will sometimes start in the first few revolutions. It seems like the best way to start cold is as follows:
1. Let the glow plugs heat up for a minute or two,
2. Crank engine for 10 or 15 seconds and stop,
3. Crank engine again, but stop if it doesn't catch in the first couple of revolutions,
4. Repeat step 3 until engine starts.
When it starts using this method, it's immediate and it's running smoothly immediately with minimal smoke. This is making me think there's a computer or sensor issue, but I have no codes.
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