I'm new to diesel's and the forum as well, but am gaining experience the hard way. My issue sounds similar. Crank no start unless I mist the air intake with weedeater gas and it'll fire, but the injectors hammer like mad for a few minutes till it warms up. It has no power and doesn't want to take fuel for several more minutes. After it runs for about an hour, it runs fine.
So this isn't about a sensor, if it takes that long to straighten-out something serious is going on. How many miles on you injectors? Try this, plug the block heater (really oil heater) in for 3hrs and see how different it makes your cold starting.
Once the engine gets cold though, repeat. I pulled the body bolts and raised the body and put glow plugs and a new glow plug relay in. I have two brand new batteries and a new starter. (Hope I don't have to jack up the body again) I don't have anything to diagnose it with, but would be willing to buy something if I knew what to get. I have several car code readers, but nothing for this.
If your gonna keep & maintain the truck yourself I strongly suggest you get access to the special scanner software you need to do it. You need something that has Both the Diesel Specific and the Ford proprietary codes in their library. Unfortunately it takes something other than a Generic OBD-II scanner, like the Auto Parts Stores use, to scan, test, and retrieve codes.
Here you have a couple of the most common choices;
1) If you want to do Everything you'll ever need to, then look at the AutoEnginuity + the Ford Enhanced Package (@ $350 - you add an old computer of some sort to run it with)
2) To retrieve most of the codes you'll need to help and even do
some testing look at the FORscan Lite (you add an Android device and Blue Tooth Adapter for @ $30) OR the Windoze version with a USB adapter.
Just a few years ago you needed to buy a professional scan tool because our trucks need to have a scanner with a Library containing both the Ford Proprietary AND the Diesel Specific codes in it. Add to that, our trucks are Not, specifically, OBD-II so the Generic scanners the Auto Parts Stores have are of little use to us. But today there are some very good App based tools, that are close to what the pro tools do, for fraction of the cost.
https://www.powerstroke.org/forum/9...n/1044057-ford-superduty-diagnosis-cheap.html
I watched some videos indicating a bad ICP sensor. There is oil on the harness when I unplug it. I ordered one and while waiting on the part, watched another video of a bad IPR that hammered just like mine. I ordered that. When I got it in, I went to change it and oh my gosh, trying to get to the thing is a puzzlement. The videos were of F350's. The E350 engine sets under the dash and access is tough. I googled and found this forum where I read I might have a bad fuse or relay causing the IPR not to work. I've not checked those yet. On my search for access to the IPR (if it's not the relay. My wait to start light comes on so if I read the post right means the ECM is getting power from the fuse, but not necessarily the relay. Correct?) I read some people were taking the turbo off or the fuel bowl to gain access. Can anyone tell me the easiest way to get to this thing? There's not room to get my head in there enough to even look to see what I'm doing. I know this is an old thread, but I'm desperate. Thank you in advance for any suggestions.
This is really not the way to go about it
You're buying expensive parts you probably don't need. At least get a app so you can monitor your sensors and retrieve codes.
There are no IPR fuses or relays, if the IPR wasn't working at all it wouldn't run (unlike the ICP, you can't just unplug the IPR and start).
Vans can be Very Hard to get access to some things. Another reason not to
throw parts at your problem, you don't want to suffer the installation of unnecessary parts.
Get the right diagnostic equipment, see what your HiPres Oil system is reading, make sure you don't have serious codes, if your injectors are high mileage (<200K) and plugging in for 3hrs makes a huge difference this may all be tired injectors.
Read about high mileage injector trouble and cold starting problems here ->
http://www.swampsdiesel.com/files/7.3LInjectorDiagnostic.pdf
Also FORGET SNAKE OILS, they're for the uneducated...
And finally, next time,,, start your own thread instead of tacking-on to an old one, and break up a post as big as yours into pertinent paragraphs. Yours is kinda hard to read and you'll get more "reads & responses" if it's easier :wink[3]: