Long start time

FlatbedCowboy · Jun 27, 2016

This is been going on for a while and its driving me nuts:

e99 F350 260,000+ miles, newer HPOP, Glow plugs a couple years ago, synthetic oil.

When I try to start up, no matter the temperature, I turn the key on wait for the light to go out and then sit there and crank and crank and crank. Then I turn the key back off, turn back on, wait for the light, and she will usually fire up after a crank or two (sometimes more). Even if I just drove all day run into the store and 20 minutes later same problem.

When Im doing this, sometimes It acts like the batteries are dead or cuts out. But the batteries show on a load test that they are good.

There is a little bit of white/grey smoke on start up (definitely more in the winter).

So is my lpop bad, injector o-rings, CPS, IPR, or something else?

I believe the IPR was changed at the same time as the HPOP but I cant remember, and I rebuilt the fuel bowl like maybe 5 years ago and cant see any leaks.

Other than that she drives like it should.

dmd · Jun 27, 2016

Is the HPOP full of oil after sitting for awhile?

FlatbedCowboy · Jun 27, 2016

Will I be able to see the oil if I take out the little plug with the hex head out on the top or do I have to do more?

joe d · Jun 27, 2016

Yes. Take littel plug out.

ghohouston · Jun 27, 2016

Oil wont be at the very top when you pull the allen plug out, but should be within 3/4 of an inch or so

Arisley · Jun 27, 2016

Use the same tool you remove the plug with for a dipstick.

FlatbedCowboy · Jun 28, 2016

Looked into the HPOP last night and it is full of oil, least about 3/4 of the way up

David N · Jun 28, 2016

Are you sure your glow plug relay is working? Short the terminals next time with a screwdriver and see if it starts faster.

joe d · Jun 28, 2016

Plug it on for a few hrs to see if it makes a difference in starting.

StandAlone · Jun 29, 2016

check to see if your PCM is seated completely in that plug on other side of firewall.

Mine wouldn't start yesterday when I left work and found it wasn't very tight. So I tightened it up and she fired up

Arisley · Jun 29, 2016

Would cause a no start, won't cause a slow start.

FlatbedCowboy · Jul 2, 2016

joe d said:
Plug it on for a few hrs to see if it makes a difference in starting.

Im not sure plugging it in will help as it was a 103*F here yesterday and it took a long time to crank.

FlatbedCowboy · Jul 2, 2016

David N said:
Are you sure your glow plug relay is working? Short the terminals next time with a screwdriver and see if it starts faster.

I installed a Stancor relay like 2-3 months ago and it helped with cold starts, not as much as I had hoped though. Maybe it was bad out of the box?

Maybe I need to put a voltmeter on there. What voltage are the glow plugs and relay supposed to be at?

What about the IPR? does it have a certain volatage or a way to tell if it already went bad as well? I think its only 3 years old but who knows maybe older.

If thats not the issue Im leaning towards injector o-rings, how does one tell if those need replaced or is it just an educated guess?

juniort444e · Jul 5, 2016

Here's a link to Tarms write up on. I am having cold start issues to, and by cold im referring to the motor sitting for a certain duration of time without running. So far i have unhooked the hpop lines and elevated them over night. That shows there was not a leak in the injectors. I have my truck in the shop now to continue to dig into this issue and also replace a cracked oil pan. Hope this helps. Let us know what you find out.

http://powerstrokearmy.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-51214.html

FlatbedCowboy · Jul 5, 2016

juniort444e said:
Here's a link to Tarms write up on. I am having cold start issues to, and by cold im referring to the motor sitting for a certain duration of time without running. So far i have unhooked the hpop lines and elevated them over night. That shows there was not a leak in the injectors. I have my truck in the shop now to continue to dig into this issue and also replace a cracked oil pan. Hope this helps. Let us know what you find out.

http://powerstrokearmy.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-51214.html

Well my problem is Im not losing oil anywhere. But one of the posts mentioned injector poppets, which reminded me that I have some injector noise that I asked about a few months ago and I think it was narrowed down to the poppets.

Do you think that they would attribute to a long cranking time?

brewer · Jul 5, 2016

What is your oil temp reading from the PCM when doing a "cold" start?

FlatbedCowboy · Jul 6, 2016

brewer said:
What is your oil temp reading from the PCM when doing a "cold" start?

How do I get that? I dont have a reader or software to tell.

brewer · Jul 6, 2016

Yes, you would need AE, IDS, etc. Not sure if handheld scanners can pull that up even but I may be wrong.

The PCM uses your oil temp sensor to determine glow plug relay on-time.

Seems like first step would be to probe the relay to verify it's being switched on at all for a cold start.

Arisley · Jul 6, 2016

When it is the middle of the summer, you should be able to remove the glow plug relay and start the truck just fine.

FlatbedCowboy · Aug 15, 2016

OK heres an update. I havent really looked into my starting problem much just lack of time.

But here is whats happening now:

Turn key on wait for WTS light to go off, turn to ignition and it cranks and cranks and cranks. Turn key back off, wait for the light, crank and crank then it fires up and chuggs/coughs for 3-5 seconds and then idles smooth. Also a little white/grey smoke.

Also before, after I had it running then turned it off (after some driving) it would fire right back up. Now I have to go through the whole process every time no matter hot or cold.

Ideas?