Update: looks like it's just the positive cable on the passenger side that's getting hot. The driver side is cool to the touch.

 

Sounds like it's drawing a ton of amps. I would clean the drivers terminals and try again. It sounds like it might be time for a new starter also.

 

When I turn the key the engine is turning over it just won't fire. Do you think this is all related to why my truck won't start? I'm pretty sure my glow plug relay is good too because I've put a voltmeter on it.

In my experience when a starter fails the engine won't even turn over it just clicks

 

If your truck isn't cranking over fast enough. It's not going to start. First off check your terminals are clean and tight. You might want to take off you serpentine belt to eliminate something being seized up too.

Something is making the starter draw to many amps.

 

Okay thank you for the advice. We are getting rain all day today and heavy snow tonight I'll check this in a couple days and update.

 

Check it in stages. Do you experience the hot positive:
* Whenever the batteries are connected
* Key in the RUN postion
* Key in the START position

Answers to the above will narrow down the suspect list.

 

Well, I charged my batteries just to make sure and disconnected the serpentine belt.

Whenever I turn the key, I just get a click like the batteries are dead and they're brand new.

Does this sound like a bad starter?

 

Whenever I turn the key, I just get a click like the batteries are dead and they're brand new.

"Turn the key" doesn't tell us much. This happens when you turn the key to RUN, or to START? Makes a BIG difference.

Have you tried turning the engine by hand?

Is the click from near the starter relay, or near the starter? (Yeah, hard to tell from the cab; you may need an assistant to narrow it down.)

 

check and clean all the grounds sounds like a bad ground connection somewhere

 

I have had a ton of diesel equipment over the years and have cables get hot enough to melt the insulation off the cables 95% of the time it was a ground issue either at the terminals or engine/frame side clean them and was usually good to go

 

^^^^^ +1; classic bad main power connection scenario.

Actually, if connections are good now, you have to narrow down whether it's the relay, the starter, or a locked-up engine. The wires still getting hot suggest one of the latter two.

 

Locked-up engine? Like done for locked-up?

 

Did you try turning the engine by hand yet?

 

^^^^^^ take a breaker bar and see if you can turn the motor over by hand. If so then I would have to agree with the starter has gave up.


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No I haven't tried turning the engine by hand yet but will certainly start there.

The last few times I started it, it threw heavy white smoke while cranking. It smoked a lot at first when it fired but would eventually thin out.

The last time it was running, it died out of nowhere then wouldn't start back up.

Now, I'm getting these issues with no power intermittently and the clunking when I try to start the truck.

I wonder what's going on here. I really hope my truck isn't done.

 

Okay so I've been playing around with the truck and if I hit it with a little starting fluid, it'll fire for just a few seconds and then it runs rough and dies.

I have checked both batteries and recharge them just to be certain and they are holding good charge.

Also I do know that I'm getting fuel to the fuel bowl.

Can anyone give me some more advice?

 

Do not use starting fluid for one.

Second, if batteries are charged, good grounds, terminals are clean and tight and cables are tight in terminals then i'd replace the starter and check if the alternator is hot after charging the batteries.

Twice i've had alternators get extremely hot and drain everything even with fully charged batteries.

But the white smoke is good, means you are getting fuel and injectors are firing. Also means your GPR and/or glow plugs are not working and might need replaced.

 

Just for ****s and giggles I changed the camshaft position sensor tonight to see if there would be any change. It did not start still. I swear I check the thing to make sure it had enough oil and I thought it did but it's reading below the add line on the dipstick. Would that cause a no start?

 

If it's extremely low, obviously yes. But it would have to be nearly absent from the dipstick for it to be that low. And if you're getting smoke, you're getting injection.

 

I'm going to test my glow plugs this afternoon. I've been reading up on how to test them and want to confirm that I'm correct.

Set meter to read ohms

Then alligator clip the black lead to ground

Then touch the red lead to the outermost pins on each connector at the valve cover.

Should read less than 2 ohms

Is this correct? That should tell me the condition of my glow plugs?

 

That is correct, but make sure the meter is set to read the correct scale. Make sure the ground point is a good one. For instance, one of my super-cheap (free) Harbor Freight units has ohm scale settings of 2000k, 200k, 20k, 2000, and 200 ohms (not the unit I generally use, I have a better option). For checking glowplugs I am expecting 2 ohms or less so I pick the lowest scale setting that reads that which is the 200 ohm setting. Here are some other tests that don't cost anything either:

For checking the injector/glowplug wiring: From each valvecover gasket connection's outermost pins (2 per connector) to ground you should get 0.1 to 2 ohms (indicates good plug and wiring). From each valvecover gasket connection's center pin to each immediately adjacent pin, you should get around 3 ohms (indicates good injector solenoid and wiring). You should not get any continuity from any of the outer pins to the 3 inner pins (indicates no shorts between injector and glowplug wiring). You should also get 0 to 1 ohms from each of the external harness connectors outer pins back to the Glowplug Relay's large terminal on the GP side (indicates good wiring from external connections back to the relay).

To check the glowplug relay (GPR), measure the voltage drop across the GPR's large terminals. While the GPR is active (up to 1.5 to 2 minutes after the key is turned to Wait-to-Start) put your meter leads on the large terminals (one lead on one large terminal and the other lead on the other large terminal). The measures how much voltage is being "lost" across the relay. A reading of 0.3V or more indicates a bad relay. Also, check the relay’s control wires (smaller wires) disconnected from the relay for battery voltage at the Red/Light Green striped wire and ground at the Purple/Orange striped wire (check both when the key is turned to Wait-to-Start).

Cheers!

 

Thank you for all the useful info!! Do you know if there's a way to check the IPR without having a scan tool?

 

Update..

So I understand i may have a weak starter but there's definitely something else going on because last time the truck was running a few weeks ago, it died out of nowhere then wouldn't start back up.

I voltage drop tested the glow plug relay just now and I'm getting over 12 volts with key off then about .35 volts once the key is turned to run.

I also checked the glow plugs themselves and I'm getting anywhere from .7- 2.5 ohms at each glow plug.

I also pulled the Allen screw from the HPOP and it the oil was nearly full.

I know my ICP sensor and camshaft position sensor are new.

I don't know much about it but do any of you think it might be the IPR?

 

I voltage drop tested the glow plug relay just now and I'm getting over 12 volts with key off then about .35 volts once the key is turned to run.

On which terminal(s)?

I know my ICP sensor and camshaft position sensor are new.

What brand? "New" is not equivalent to "good".

I don't know much about it but do any of you think it might be the IPR?

Do you have a Windows laptop/tablet/netbook? If not, do you have an Android device?

 

Okay, choices:

Laptop - get a $20-ish USB ELM327 device from Amazon (this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N18TOFB/ should work) and the FREE ForScan tool - What's new . Should work pretty-much out of the box.

Android phone - get a Bluetooth ELM327 device (sorry, no clue what will work), and the CarGauge Pro and Torque Pro apps (gotta pay $$ for the PRO versions). Then check out the thread in the OBS PSD section on "the Nation", something like "Torque App for Android", it's a sticky thread. A gazillion posts about how to configure it, program in the PIDs for the OBS.

Any serious level of ongoing DIY maintenance on these trucks, even if it means troubleshooting to the point where you know what's wrong BEFORE you take it to a shop (and hopefully save $$$ in the process), requires some form of digital communication. Without it, one incident that might involve a part/sensor that you do/don't need can get REAL expensive REAL fast.

 

Okay, choices:

Android phone - get a Bluetooth ELM327 device (sorry, no clue what will work), and the CarGauge Pro and Torque Pro apps (gotta pay $$ for the PRO versions). Then check out the thread in the OBS PSD section on "the Nation", something like "Torque App for Android", it's a sticky thread. A gazillion posts about how to configure it, program in the PIDs for the OBS.

I actually have an Elm with the Torque pro app on my phone but didn't know it would work. I plan on getting an AE Scanner sometime soon but they're not cheap.

So I'm not really sure what you're saying here... Where do I go to find out how to set it up my phone scanner?

 

There's another PSD forum known as "the Nation" (I don't think we're supposed to reference other forums by name here....). In their OBS PSD section, there's a sticky thread on the subject of Torque Pro for OBS. Looooong thread.

Re. AE, TBH, I don't use mine anymore. I bought it years ago, older version, a couple minor bugs (menus don't work with the keyboard, for example). They told me it'd be fixed in a later version. That entailed an upgrade cost, and now it looks like the ELM device the originally sold me won't work with the new version, so even more $$$ to upgrade. I found out about ForScan on one of the forums, got a more generic USB device (see above), and it works fine for me. I still have AE, it probably has some features ForScan doesn't have, but so far I haven't needed it.

 

Now that I think about it, I don't have an Elm, I have something called VeePeek. I tried to hook it up on the truck but couldn't get it to communicate with the PCM.

I may need to pick up an Elm327

 

If it's connected to your phone, it's probably an ELM327, whatever brand it is.

 

It's a small blue plug in just like the Elm but I could never get it to connect with the PCM for some reason... Maybe it's because of the Torque pro app??

 

Check that thread. The app does require some tweaking to get it to communicate with our trucks.

 

Interesting... I decided to plug in my elm327 to give it one more shot and I noticed when I plug it into my OBD2 port, it's not powering up my adapter like it should.

 

What adapter isn't powering up? The one you plug into the truck? Or one connected to the phone? If the device plugged into the truck isn't powering up, check fuses. I wanna say it's the same fuse as the lighter / power point and/or the dome light. But check the owner's manual; I'm going from memory.....

 

Yep the one that plugs into the truck and communicates with my phone through Bluetooth.

I watched a video on YouTube and this guy was showering the difference between a truck with low compression and a normal running truck and that's got me worried.

Stupid question but the oil in this truck is black and I honestly couldn't tell you when it was changed last. Would really old nasty oil keep the truck from running?

 

Old oil can obviously make it run BAD, by poorly firing the injectors. Can't say I've ever heard of one completely fail to run on account of old oil. But as a rule, if you can't say when the oil's been changed, it's waaay overdue. So even if it's not the root _cause_ of your no-start, it may very well be a contributing _factor_. Unfortunately, you'll have to change it cold, which means you might consider changing it again once you get it running.

You also said the oil is really low, right? So yeah, just change it, even cold, just to get something fresh in there.

And as said, check fuses.

 

Okay so I changed the oil today and the fuel filter and it still did not start.

One thing I did notice when I pulled the old fuel filter out is the fuel bowl was nearly empty so I installed the new filter and tried cranking for a little bit and then rechecked and it was half full like it should be.

The loud clicking sound that I'm hearing while I'm cranking sounds like it's coming from somewhere near the fuel bowl.

I checked all the fuses under the hood and in the cab with my meter and they're all good.

I did get the USB adapter to power up when plugged in but I can't get the Torque Pro app or the forscan app to communicate with the computer in the truck.

I don't know why but I do notice that the battery light is on in the truck and won't go out. Both batteries are less than 6 months old and I check them with my meter after recharging them last night and they are good and holding a charge.

I do hear a loud clunk at times when I try to start the truck that sounds like it could be the starter not engaging or maybe a problem with the starting solenoid.

If I keep trying to start it it will eventually stop clunking and start to crank.