Delay... then turns over

[robertham1]

Im new to diesels for the most part and this morning had something happen that i thought was odd. First off its a 2002 F250 with 160k 7.3PSD. As usual i walked out to my truck, ignition to the on position while put my seatbelt on, waited for the coil light to turn off, it did. the went to crank. nada. in the past there has sometimes been a 1-2 second delay from when i try and crank the engine to when it actually cranks. today it didnt crank. turned key off and repeated. i held the key in the start position for about 7 seconda and it cranked over quickly and started, like it normally would.

my question is why is there a delay? should there be a delay? is it the actualy ignition switch? could it be the batteries? i doubt the batteries as it turned over quickly and powerfully as ever.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. thanks guys

[Turbostang500]

just to start off on this, try wiggling the shifter handle when there is a delay. The neutral safety switch might be giving you some problems.

[robertham1]

i will try that if/when there is a next time. it almost seems that temperature may be a factor. I live in sunny california and it was in the high 40's low 50's this morning, which was the coldest its been this year. i wonder if that may have been a factor.

[BryceB]

does anything else seem to be on a delay? like wipers reacting slower than normal? when you press the lock button on the remote 2 times, are the horn honks longer?

Mine did this... then I pulled the battery cables off for an hour.. then all seemed well. About a week later, I needed a New UVCH and IDM... coincidence? I'm not really sure.

[robertham1]

As far as i know the windows, wipers, and locks are not lagging. ill check when i drive home... if it starts!

[robertham1]

It happened again this morning but it wouldnt turn over at all. today was the coldest day of the year in the low 40's. all the lights and wipers work as normal. could it be nothing more than the batteries arent producing enough CCA to turn it over?

[RatherBNtheWoods]

No. Weak batteries wouldn't make for a 2-7 second delay.

[Turbostang500]

Yeah maybe, it seems like you need to inspect to starting circuit. Are you able to check batt voltage with a volt meter? The batts NEED to be tested individually which means unhooking one of them before testing. You need 850cca batteries as a minimum and all connections including grounds on the block need to be clean.

[robertham1]

I only bring up batteries because both times it has happend have been the coldest days of the year.

Any insight as how to check CCA's? i will google it was well. ill clean the terminals as well.

[Turbostang500]

Any parts store can check the batts for you but most DONT know to test individually. It is better to find a place that actually loads the battery. Some of those digital testers are junk.