Ford Powerstroke Diesel Forum banner

03 6.0 hard start

1K views 6 replies 2 participants last post by  michaelaiman 
#1 ·
Guys, I need some help. I have a 03 F250 6.0 with 190K miles on it. It has been pretty good to me but recently it is starting hard. When it is cold if I cycle the key 3- 4 times it will crank and fire after about 8 or 9 seconds. It runs fine but as soon as I turn it off even at running temp, I have to crank it 2 - 3 times to get it to fire again. I haven't seen any performance issues other that.

I deleted the cats, the EGR and have a tuner installed, it is a beast!
2 years ago new FICM
1 year ago new up pipe, 1 injector, and fuel pump
I got the truck with 85K on it and I am not sure what maintenance was done before I owned it

Any help will be greatly appreciated
Thanks
 
#2 ·
I would test the FICM, but it sounds like it may have a HPO leak. You will need to monitor ICP vs. IPR DC while cranking and when running
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the help. I removed the Tuner download (Bullydog Tri-Pup) and returned to stock and the situation still exists.

The ICP pressure is 626 at idle with the IPR at 25%

During cranking the pressure jumps up to 1300 before it fires but it jumps quick. The IPR % seems to move around a lot. The motor seems to crank slow at first and the RPMs pick up a lot before it fires (almost like battling pressure until the pressure is relieved).

One thing I did notice, I opened the IPR valve a few times full open and took it all the way closed (truck cuts out at less than 20%). After cycling the valve a couple times, the truck seemed to start better.

What are your thoughts on the IPR valve suffering from stiction?
 
#4 ·
How are you changing the DC of the IPR? Is the Bully Dog capable of doing that? Your ICP and IPR DC look normal at idle. What do you mean the crank seems slow sometime, like it battling pressure. The crank should have nice steady even sound. I would investigate your batteries and charging system. Individually load testing each battery ( completely disconnected from each other) If your batteries are no good then the FICM can't work properly and the truck won't run properly. Here's a link to show how to test for base engine problems...

6.0 powerstroke even crank good compression - YouTube
 
#6 ·
So I think I got ahead of myself and focused too hard on the fact that this is a diesel instead of going back to the roots of troubleshooting 101. As soon as you mentioned batteries, I gave myself an idiot slap!!!! I have been checking everything with a Snap-On Modis (that is how I opened the IPR) scanner and didn't even think about the basics.

The batteries are reading slightly weak one more so than the other (both are 3 1/2 years old) so I was able to jump them out with an additional power supply. The crank on the truck is still sporadic. It has a good strong fast crank and fired immediately sometimes while others are slow and labored. At this point I believe my issue is the batteries and a worn starter. My Dad (auto mechanic for 50 years) told me a couple weeks ago when he heard me start the truck that I needed to replace the starter soon.
I ordered a starter and will replace it this weekend along with 2 new batteries. Hopefully this will fix the problem! If not, I will go back to the troubleshooting. Thanks
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top