Just picked up my first diesel a few days ago. Been wanting one for years but didn't have anything heavy enough to pull until now. It's an 06' f-250 that has just been "bulletproofed." Head studs, EGR delete, new gasket, heads, injectors, aftermarket oil cooler, the works.
The truck seems to run great, but since this is my first diesel, I'm not sure what is normal and what is not. When the truck sits overnight I have to crank for a solid 4 or 5 seconds before she fires up. It's summer and only gets down to 60 or so, so it isn't that cold. I'm wondering if that is normal or something I should have addressed, or maybe if I'm not doing something I'm supposed to before starting. I assume that since it is the summer I shouldn't have to worry about glow plugs? Anyways, any insight would be much appreciated. Thanks!
Well I may not be the smartest tool in the shed but even in summer you need to wait and let the glow plugs preheat. Wait until the glow plug light goes out. Even when it is 85 out if I get in it takes a few seconds for it to go out.
Once it goes out mine starts in 2 seconds or so..longest is 3. When I have just jumped in during summer and did not wait for the glow plugs it took maybe 5 seconds.
SO you might be normal. Just let the light go out and try it again.
5 seconds isn't out of specification, but most trucks will fire in 3 seconds or less after the wait light extinguishes for a first start of the day in warmer conditions. It should fire up right away when already warm, after waiting xx seconds from key on before cranking. There can be a lot of variables that create the longer crank. Weak batteries are probably one of the worst culprits as it can affect the electronic portion without you even knowing about it until the crank slows. It can also damage the FICM. As well; a few weak or dead glow-plugs, oil draining back on the high pressure side, building fuel pressure, and worn out injectors can increase the crank time. With >6 seconds to fire up it may be time to start looking for potential issues, but consistency is probably a better indicator of a normal start.
How is everyone counting their seconds? That's the question here now.
1 mississippi 2 mississippi 3 mississippi
or
1 missi 2 missi 3 missi
or
12345.
If you're at 5 mississippi's, for me and my truck, that's 3.5 mississippi's to long. Hasn't mattered 95 degrees or 28 degress yet. Every now and then it'll get up to 3/3.5 mississippi's and im like :tard:
You got anything to monitor with? How many volts at ficm? Might be low.
Less than a second for me :thumb: 6.4/6.7 starter is the reason for that.
Just a little fyi.....the glow plugs don't even come on if the engine oil temp is over 130, so if you've already been running around that day, you don't have to wait to start.
On a side note, what do you mean by "aftermarket oil cooler"? You might have a time bomb in there.
Okay I want to know about this 6.4/6.7 starter on the 6.0? Was it a bolt in replacement or did you have to do any MODS? You should start a thread on it.
Here's a video I made of a startup when it had been parked outside for two months without starting and had used a Solargizer trickle charger for the battery.
Prior to using the Solargizer, when it sat for two months, the batteries had died, so I got the Solargizer trickle charger to keep the batteries charged between starts. I will say my normal startup is about twice as long.
I really recommend getting a few weeks to "know your truck" before starting to tear into it. That way you can fix what's really broke. For example, if your aftermarket oil cooler is not OEM and a high flow Sinister Oil cooler, may come with excessive ECT/EOT deltas out of the box, but if you're not towing with it, probably no harm in waiting a bit to change it back to OEM, if you even decide to change it. If you do tear in for the oil cooler change, so much can be done if you do it along with the oil cooler change like updating turbo fill and drain oil tubes, remote oil cooler, coolant filter installation, EGR replacement/delete and turbo cleaning. Also, if the heads are bad, it may take a few weeks for it to show up.
Other options for Aftermarket coolers are the Dorman, not so good, and the Bullet Proof Diesel, which if you have one of those, you lucked out.
There's a lot of reasons for people to sell their truck. I don't think it's time to make the man worry about his purchase.
My first thought was old batteries.
Here is what you need to do: Get a monitoring device, lots of options from a ScangaugeII to Edge or even a app for your smart phone with the purchase of a wireless OBDII plug.
Then look at cranking voltage along with FICM voltage.
Cranking voltage should be close to 11 volts and FICM should be glued to 48 volts
Then take truck on a 30 minute drive on the highway and look at ECT engine coolant temp as well as EOT engine oil temp.
ECT should be around 194* and EOT 4*-5* higher with a variance of 5* so oil temp may be 10* higher. If it's 15* or higher you have a oil cooler issue.
First thing is First: Get yourself a way to monitor the engine.
Again my gut feeling is old batteries or a bad FICM.
Good Luck and Congrats on the new truck......I'm fond of the 2006 myself. lol
Thanks for the replies guys. A monitor was on my list of eventual purchases, but I think it just made the jump to the top.
Waiting for the glow plug light seems to have done the trick. Hopefully this is just a rookie mistake. I didn't think the glow plugs would help when it's 90 out, but it has the past 2 days.
Idahoser, I bought it from a local dealer that specializes in trucks. The owner before me was a friend of the owner and didn't have anything to pull, just wanted a "cool truck" so it hopefully hasn't been molested too badly. The dealer had a local, reputable diesel shop do all the bulletproofing and I have all the receiepts. They did it to keep their reputation of selling reliable vehicles... or so the owner tells me. I guess only time will tell! lease:
The dealer had a local, reputable diesel shop do all the bulletproofing and I have all the receiepts. They did it to keep their reputation of selling reliable vehicles... or so the owner tells me. I guess only time will tell! lease:
That's a good sign, especially if you can reach out to the shop that did the work. Ultimately, you own the truck at this point, but it sounds like you're probably in good shape.
If you're on a budget shopping for a monitor, check out the classifieds. You'll often find decent deals on a Scangauge II from guys who have upgraded, and it will get you off to a good start.
For monitoring I'd also take a look at a newcomer on the market called UltraGuage. Very nice little setup and half the cost of the scangauge! Monitors all the same parameters and looks better IMO!!
Figured I would upload a short video of my typical start-up when the truck has been sitting all night or all day. Roughy 5 second start but once at normal OT, it starts within 1-2 seconds. I was wondering if I also had an issue since the truck is still new to me. Hope this helps.
That's just under 3 second for a cold start. I think it's good.
The Water temp is 78, so as it gets colder, if the starting time gets longer, that would be the time to watch it. One of the problems with a no start, is to diagnose it, you'll probably have to air test it, which means done in like conditions. So if it turns into a no start cold or hard start cold, if you air test it, then it needs to be air tested when the problem occurs. So if you did air test it warm, then no leaks may show because it's working, so it would need to be done first thing in the morning after sitting overnight. Not sure where you live, but a hard start cold will especially show once the temps become even more chilly than 78.
I'm no expert, but in all my poking around trying to figure out what was wrong with my truck, I came across some stuff saying a hard start when warm is often an issue with the stand pipes and/or dummy plugs. If the o-rings are worn, when the oil is warm it has a harder time building pressure. At least that's the way I understood what I was reading.... Anyone can feel free to correct me if I am wrong.
Well, I finally went out and got a monitor. I am worried I am maybe not building enough pressure and that is why I am having harder starts, but honestly, I don't know what numbers I am supposed to be looking at. I couldn't get the file to upload through the forum, so here is a link to a video I posted to youtube. This was not a cold morning and fired up pretty quickly, but there are morning where the coolant and oil get down to 30 degrees, and on those mornings it can be a very hard start.
Mine starts in less than a second of cranking normally. Maybe 1.5 seconds at the worst. Stock starter.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Ford Powerstroke Diesel Forum
5.4M posts
265.8K members
Since 2005
A forum community dedicated to Ford F-series owners and enthusiasts with a Power Stroke diesel engine. Come join the discussion about performance, bulletproofing, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!