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No start - bad IPR?

40K views 21 replies 7 participants last post by  Jay24bal 
#1 · (Edited)
I have noticed over the past 3-4 weeks that my cold starts were taking a second or two longer to fire than normal. I did not think much of it as the temperatures were starting to drop as fall arrives. Well this morning my truck would not start at all. Ran through multiple key cycles and it never fired.

It is cranking (and cranking well) but it will not start. Here is what I have done and what leads me to believe the IPR is dead. I would appreciate any feedback.

1. Both batteries are only 6 months old and I verified they have a full charge and are still good.
2. FICM voltage is good, even while cranking (49.5 I believe it was). FICM is also only 6 months old.
3. Fuel is filling the bowl.
4. Oil is filling the filter bowl.
5. ICP is showing as well over the 500 psi needed to fire (1300-1500 while cranking).
6. ICP was indeed wet.
6. I pulled the IPR and while the screen was slightly gummed up and one of the three support brackets was broken, it did not look bad enough to cause a no start.
7. Double checked all electrical connections, did not find any loose (glow plugs, injectors, FICM). After multiple attempts to start it though, I could have sworn I smelled electrical burning, but did not see any smoke and could not verify where it was coming from.
8. IPR jumps up to 84ish right when cranking begins, but quickly falls to 50-54 after a second of cranking.

Just wanted to hear from some folks with their thoughts before I start throwing money at a part that may not be bad in case I missed something.

Thank you.
 
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#2 · (Edited)
What does ICP read KOEO? You mentioned it was wet...

Unplug your ICP and see if she fires.

-jokester
 
#3 ·
I do not recall what the readout was with engine off.

And yes, I probably should have tried firing it with the ICP unplugged before I took out the IPR and everything in its way. I have a couple hours to kill tomorrow, guess I will put her back together and unplug the ICP and see what happens.
 
#4 ·
Sounds like it is not a high pressure leak because there's definitely enough pressure.

Do you have a way of reading IPR voltage? If you do check that to see if it changes during the cranking cycle. If the IPR is bad, the PCM can go into inferred mode, which will cause the computer to use an inferred algorithm where it uses IPR if what it thinks it should be. The IPR can lie, but the IPR voltage can't if the IPR voltage is stuck, then that points to the IPR or wiring being bad.

Can you check fuel pressure or FICM synch?

Clogged and broken screen points to a bad ICP, but the pressure still seems to be there.
 
#5 ·
Well I assembled everything back together, and tried to fire it up with the ICP unplugged to no avail.

As for a couple of other questions that you guys asked:

1. KOEO ICP reading is 0.
2. KOEO IPR is 14.8
3. During cranking, the IPR is constantly changing. Starts off at 84 then drops to 46 and everything in between.
4. I am not sure if my scan gauge 2 can read FICM sync, I'll need to pull out the manual and check.
5. During cranking pressure is readout is still high enough to fire, >1200 at all times, however I did notice that it takes a little while for the dummy gauge to register oil pressure on the dash.
6. While in there I checked and cleaned the EGR valve (truck is still pretty much stock) and it is fine, not stuck open or closed.

Based on all this, I'm still leaning towards IPR being bad, thoughts?
 
#7 ·
Truck is an 04 with 318k miles on it.

I do have a scan gauge on it.

Injectors are cycling with key on.

I pulled out my info for the scan gauge and I can indeed check FICM sync. It is not one of the ones I have input, so I will head out and program in it.
 
#9 ·
This is gonna sound crazy but.... locate the camshaft position sensor. Its directly behind/above the power steering pump. Unplug the sensor. Notice that the wires at the end are twisted up. Untwist them at the plug then plug it back in. See what happens


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#15 ·
Ok. Look at where the harness goes down between the intake and block. Basically its right next to the fuel lines on the drivers side of the fuel filter housing. Grab it and give it a wiggle. Literally yank it up and down. Then try.


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#17 ·
I think after a certain point, it's best to have it towed. Once you've done all the easy stuff, the rest becomes difficult and you can easily start tossing parts at it, and then the cheap parts add up, and then all of a sudden its more than you would have paid otherwise.

My last job I traveled 10 and a half months a year. I decided when I was home to change my oil cooler on my truck. I think in the grand scheme of things, that was time wasted.

If you got a good garage, nothing wrong with letting them take care of it.
 
#18 ·
Well call me confused.

Had the truck towed to the dealership, and once they took a look at it they called me saying they could not diagnose it because the starter was shot and the truck would not crank at all for them. It was clearly cranking for me just last week. So they say it will be $600 for the starter plus labor. I declined and brought them a spare (brand new, reman 6.4 starter) I had in my garage and had them install that. I was traveling for work the next two days and would have had to pay for the tow anyway back home, so I just had them do it.

After the new starter, they said the truck fired right up. I will be picking it up tomorrow as I just got back in town tonight. They could not explain why the truck cranked like normal for me if the starter was bad, but said all is good now.

Also let me know that I have hidden codes for glow plugs popping up.

So apparently, the whole thing was caused by a starter on the fritz. Really annoys me seeing as that is clearly something I could have fixed myself quite easily.
 
#19 ·
I have actually had 2 of these now in the last month. The issue is actually the voltage in the system. If you have a starter drawing way too many amps and the voltage drops to 10 volts or less while cranking the computer will shut down and not start and cut off communication. I had one be a starter that was bad and drawing way too much, and the other was a loose starter cable to battery that made the voltage jump all over the place. This of course what I have seen with these 2 cases. If that's actually what your issue was.

I hate lamp!!
 
#21 ·
I think the next time I have to drop in a starter I'm going with a 6.4 or 6.7 starter. Im glad you got it running.
 
#22 ·
Putting in the 6.4 starter was absolutely the way to go.

Truck starts in under half the time it used to. Mine is an 04 with 318,xxx on the clock, and it was taking 3-4 second cold and about 2-3 seconds when warm. I figured it was just the mileage/age of the engine causing slightly prolonged starts, but maybe it was the starter going downhill after all.

First cold start at the dealership this morning was about 2 seconds, and the several warm starts I have had since then were all under 1 second. It definitely makes a different sound that sounds very weird compared to what I was used to, but I am amazed at the difference. Can not recommend the 6.4 starter enough.
 
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