Its cold, more cold start issues, mysterious glow plug problem

[Ski-dooin it]

Alright, I will start with, I might not post much on here, BUT, I think I have read every single thread I could find on GP's and GPR's made in the last 3 years. sorry for the long post, im just trying to get all the info out right away

I also live in MT, so chilly is 20-40* and cold is 20-0* and freezing is 0 on down, none of this pansy cold plugging in at 50 BS.*

I put in a new napa 109 gpr this summer, so about 8k miles ago. didnt fix anything and would barely start in sub 40 weather. I finally tested my plugs this fall and in september I put in a full new set of autolites ( i know, i found out they were bad news after I installed) so I have maybe 5-6k miles on this new set of plugs. I have been having hard starting issues when its cold out unplugged lately, My alternator was going out, so i noticed my batteries were getting poorly charged then it totally **** and I replaced it this week. I figured it was just weak batteries, but today, i left my truck plugged in all last night at 0*. it started right up this morning. I left the truck outside at school all day. it sat for 7 hours in weather from around 10-20*. hopped in it, turned the key on and let it set for around 45 seconds... cranked over super fast, other then clunking like it was trying to catch, nothing, played that game and did full 1+ minute gp cycles, still after 10 minutes of trying, and nothing, tiny shot of ether. fired RIGHT up, no romps, nothing, ran like it was warm.

I know its bad, but, the truck has taken a few healthy shots of ether due to a -10 cold start and almost dead batteries.

I was resistance testing my glow plugs today and I could only get 2 to even show up any resistance and the showed .3 ohms. this is low out of spec. but It seems wrong that they would fail that many that fast. About a month ago I was doing starts down to 15 or so with almost no issues unplugged, just the 15-40 was a hair thick.


again, sorry for the long post, just curious what on earth would cause them to go bad that fast?? the truck runs great otherwise, just HATES the cold.

[Dietoremain]

get those POS glow plugs outta there before they blow up and destroy your motor. I bet they crapped out long ago, get rid of them and get motorcrafts...

[Ski-dooin it]

yeah, after doing some reading all over the web on peoples opinion of the autolites, well, I guess its not uncommon for them to take a dump this fast. Wahoo... another $100 for the truck. gonna grab a set of zd11's today and then hopefully get them put in this weekend.

[ridiculously_necessary]

look on ebay, $50 to $90 is the best i have found. got mine and shipped for about $60. ford wanted over $200.

[Fireman40]

change your oil to a thinner grade. i put 10w30 in mine (thats what the manual says) and it starts in the high teens low 20's like its summer time. Makes a hug difference in how fast the engine cranks over and how smooth it starts. I was having the similar problem with mine. Even with brand new batteries I was having problems.

[Ski-dooin it]

I forgot to mention, that was the reason I posted this, i had thought it was just my thick old oil not being happy. I swapped in 5-40 full synthetic thinking it was just to much drag in the cold, still acts identical, just turns over even faster now but still just spins insanely fast and barely catches on just the one or two cylinders.

also, i did the math to try and nail down how long I have had the new GP's in the thing. around 4500 miles. and lots of those are 1 start 500+ mile trips. so not like it even has a rediculous amount of starts o nit.