clogged fuel filter?

[84fordforme]

i have replaced my fuel filter about 1000 miles ago, and my truck has been running fine, i ran two tanks of stp fuel injector cleaner. My truck has been doing fine in the cold, 30's F or so. My question is... last night it was like 20 degrees and it wont start. This is werid to me becasue it has been working fine at 30 and above. Could the fuel filter be clogged with crap that i cleaned out? When it cranks, it doesnt pump out much smoke at all, making me think there is no fuel getting to the engine. what do you guys think? rgiht now its plugged in, out front looking like a popcicle. If worse comes to worse, ill tow it up into my garage and let it thaw. thanks guys!

[powerstrokes only]

So it won't even start plugged in??? That is really wierd. Plugged filters can do funny things, try changing it again I guess. I don't suppose your diesel is gelling up, I have never seen that at 20 deg. though. I have a 7.3 IDI that has an old injector pump that looses it's prime over night sometimes and I have to bleed and crank to get it started. I would also try some Diesel Kleen, you can buy it at Walmart pretty cheap and it is good stuff! I would first bleed it while I cranked on it and see if it starts (if you have not already done that), if that doesnt work I might even pull-start it, that almost always does the trick! Let me know what you find, I have 2 IDI 7.3's so I am always interested in this kind of stuff. Good luck!

[84fordforme]

do you mean bleed the fuel filter? with that little valve? right now its still sitting, i havent tried it today, its been plugged in all night and its a little warmer, ill let you know

[powerstrokes only]

Yes I am talking about the valve by the filter. It will bleed the air out of the system. If you change filters it will be nessessary to bleed the system from that valve. I thought of something else, can you hear the water bubbling from the block heater? You should be able to hear some action down there if you kneel down by the pass. side tire. Maybe the block heater is'nt doing anything. What ever you do don't use starting fluid, it will burn up your glow plugs if they are ignited, and I just think engines seem to get addicted to it, just my opinion. Are your glow plugs cycling a long time? Well let me know, and good luck!

[84fordforme]

thanks for the advise, i have checked to see if i hear the heater, i can hear it.

[powerstrokes only]

Has it started yet?

[84fordforme]

ok so heres the story, i replaced the glow plug controller, it was all rsuted inside and it casued my glow plugs to do some strange things, now that i got that all good, it still won't start, right now i got it plugged in and ill try it in a day. It's in the garage, so i think it'll be fine, i am going to replace my fuel filter. I just replaced it, but i think the stp clogged it up. So if my glow plugs test good, the controller is good, the relay seems good although i havent checked it (i can hear it click) what advise do you guys have? thanks! A question i have is, when i crank it to start it, only a tiny bit of grey smoke comes out. Shouldn't there be a bunch of black smoke being pumped out? This is why i am leaning towards a clogged fuel filter, thanks guys!

[powerstrokes only]

Originally Posted by 84fordforme

ok so heres the story, i replaced the glow plug controller, it was all rsuted inside and it casued my glow plugs to do some strange things, now that i got that all good, it still won't start, right now i got it plugged in and ill try it in a day. It's in the garage, so i think it'll be fine, i am going to replace my fuel filter. I just replaced it, but i think the stp clogged it up. So if my glow plugs test good, the controller is good, the relay seems good although i havent checked it (i can hear it click) what advise do you guys have? thanks! A question i have is, when i crank it to start it, only a tiny bit of grey smoke comes out. Shouldn't there be a bunch of black smoke being pumped out? This is why i am leaning towards a clogged fuel filter, thanks guys!

How long does your glowplug light stay on? If it doesnot stay on long there could be some bad glow plugs. Have you tested each glow plug with a test light? Try that you can pin-point a bad one that way. I am a little stumped that it will not start plugged in. I have plugged several diff. trucks of mine in over the years to get them started when there was a glow-plug problem and they always start right up! I don,t think it will be putting out too much black smoke while cranking it, it is usually gray for a while even after it starts! I guess the fuel filter is a good place to start, then bleed the heck out of it while you are cranking it, it almost has to be air in the system for it to not start while plugged in. Is it a standard or an automatic? If it is a standard you could pull start it and I would almost guarantee it will start. I got a 6.9 to start that had'nt been started in several years by pulling it. I wonder if your injector pump has lost its prime like my '89 does sometimes. This ULSD is poison to these older diesels, I think I have something in my pump that bleeds off over time because of a bad seal or something that the ULSD has eatin! I would be bleeding that dude like crazy if it was mine, and you will be able to make sure it is getting diesel when you crank it too. Good luck, the more I think about it the more I think you have a whole lot of air in you lines somehow.

[84fordforme]

it does start after it has been plugged in a while, my plan is to replace to fuel filter, bleed the heck out it, test each glow plug again, and see where i can go from there. THanks for all the advise guys!!