7.3 idi wont start

[mxwolf72]

so the other day out on the farm i had an idea to get the ol ford diesel running again. She ran when i put her away. she sat all winter and most of the summer just sitting there with dead batteries.(completely dead) so we figured we would just pull start it to get it going cause we did this last time(5 speed manual). But when we pull her she just turns over and over and over but nothing no smoke popping nothing just dead. so we got out some ether to get it going. she would run off of that but only for a second. so i guess what im asking is that does it need battery power to get it going or what do u think the problem is? we also did put more diesel in it. has 600,000 miles

[sldghamr]

what is the shelf life of Diesel fuel?? i am wondering if your rig sat so long, the fuel is bad.

[blowinsmoke4life]

yeah and your prolly gonna need to bleed the fuel lines to get any air thats in em and change out the fuel filter. and new fuel in it

[blowinsmoke4life]

and idi's dont like to start without they glow plugs heatin up first but if u said u've started it like that before then i wouldnt worry bout the glow plugsa

[Broncoguy]

The fuel injection pump on your idi has an electric solenoid that shuts the fuel off to the pump. If your batteries are completely dead, the solenoid can't activate and allow fuel to the pump. It shouldn't take much to make it work, just put some jumper cables on it for a few minutes and if the battery will hold any charge at all, it should allow you to pull start it.

[blowinsmoke4life]

exactly

[Goose]

DONT USE ETHER ON IT USE WD40 Ethere will burn your glow plugs possibly

[mxwolf72]

well its not like i really care to much about the truck on using ethere. and ya the batteries wont hold any charge at all none what so ever so ill go get some batteries and try it again tomorrow. i think the batteries were good when i put it away but the key was on when i first got back in it. ill charge them and put a load tester on them and let u guys know what happens tomorrow.

[gtspowerstroke]

Originally Posted by GoosedF350

DONT USE ETHER ON IT USE WD40 Ethere will burn your glow plugs possibly

WD40 used to use a different propellant. For some reason I want to say propane but I'm not sure that that's right. Anyway that's what would allow it to burn and work for starting fluid. However they changed the propellant in it so it doesn't work so good anymore. Ether is OK as long as you use it properly and sparingly. Idealy you want someone cranking it while you shoot short bursts into the intake. When you spray it in the intake then go start it one or two cylenders gets the whole chare of what you sprayed in and that's when you have problems.

As for the nonstarting issue yeah as stated you have to have power to the shut off solenoid. A 9 volt battery might be enough to work the solenoid if you hook it up to it just to try to start it. At least that way you would know if it will run before you spend a bunch of money on batteries.

[mxwolf72]

so i found 2 batteries that were in ok shape on the farm and charged them over night and set them in and put new ends on cause they were in rough shape. turned the keep battery voltage was up, ran the glow plugs twice and let her rip. wow was it a smoke fest for about an hour but after that she cleared up and ran smooth! thanks for the help! ill try and get u guys some pictures of it she has an aluminum flat bed and big muddin tires and its a 4x4 too!