Ford 7.3L Power Stroke (1999-2003) :: 2002 - Hard Start On Cold - Temperature Sensor / PCM?
Nov 21, 2016
I have a 2002 f350 that has had cold starting issues since I bought it. I have replaced the glow plugs twice, the glow plug solenoid four times. When I put a new solenoid on it it works fine for a short time. I know the solenoids are bad because I get battery voltage on one side and nothing on the other. If I jump the solenoid with a jumper wire I can get the truck to start. I thought I was getting bad solenoids but I have recently tested the activation circuit and am getting constant power there. I.e. It never shuts off. I think this is what is causing the solenoids to burn up. From the tracing of wiring diagrams I have done, the only thing before the solenoid is the Pcm. So now to the question,
1) What controls the activation of the Glow plugs? Is there a temperature sensor or something before the Pcm.
2) Is this a case of my Pcm going out on me? I am a mechanic in the army so I have a decent understanding of mechanics.
However I am at a loss for these systems.
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This is an issue I started chasing after having all the injectors replaced on my aunt's F-350. We had them replaced due to hard/no start on cold (dealership told her they needed to be changed). Unfortunately, I did not get the buzz test results before changing the injectors.
So far that has been replaced:
Injectors
ICP (was leaking)
IPR
both UVCH
IDM (twice)
The issue we are having right now is that only 2 injectors (#6, #7) buzz properly. Initially when we changed the injectors, it did start but didn't seem to run quite right. We did the buzz test and at that time and injectors 1,3,5,6,7 would buzz strong but the rest were weak. After some forum lurking, we suspected that the IDM was faulty. We purchased a refurbished one and after we changed it, only injectors 6,7 would buzz strong. Thinking a faulty IDM was sent it back for a replacement. While waiting, we decided to put the old one back in figuring it would go back as it was before but only 6,7 would buzz strong. We receive the second IDM and same thing, only 6,7 buzz strong. We did a continuity test from the IDM connector and they all get 2.7 ohms (it was an older multimeter so not sure if being .1 under the 2.8-3.6 range is bad).
What I did next is use the uvch external pigtail to test the injectors. I plugged the extra pig tail into the uvch and then the ends of the wires into the plug of the upper harness. Afterwards, I would swap a different injector wire (on the pigtail) to the #6 injector wire (on the upper harness). Whatever injector that would go to #6 would fire correctly. So I know that the injectors themselves are fine. I am suspecting the wiring harnesses (upper/lower) but the continuity test would say otherwise. We also do not get any fault codes except for the EBP occasionally (waiting for a new one). I am lost on what to test or look at next.
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I am intrigued by this engine and it's cold start issues so I am trying things out to see what works. If I plug it in it starts like summertime. If it's as cold as 30* out I run the glow plugs for two minutes and it starts without much effort and once running purrs like a kitten, no chug a lug, no romping, little smoke. When it gets down into the 20's I run the glow plugs for two two minute cycles, a little more cranking time but starts same as above. Down to 18* and I cycle the glow plugs twice for two minutes and it cranks, tries to start but won't. Key off, back on for two more minutes and it starts right up like a warm summer day. It hasn't been colder than 18* here this year so this is the end of my report for now. I haven't taken the time to check the glow plugs which is on my list but this summer it'll get done.
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My truck is hard to start when cold and I suspect glow plugs. But it is not showing any codes? If it is a glow plug or glow plug relay at fault , should it throw a code?
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When it is cold out side like 20 degrees I'm having problems starting my 2000 7.3 I'm cycling it about 5 times and misses smokes white for a bit then stays running I was thinking of changing out the fuel filter. What it could be?
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It's been a while but thats because the truck has been performing well.
Current problem: The truck has been hard to start this year as if the glow plugs are not working or are bad. It will start right up if I use the block heater.
Just recently, I also noticed that the EBPV is not coming on when warming up the truck.
Also, This winter season, the engine temp is not coming up to normal. the engine temp needle is more on the low side towards the C and definitely less than 1/2 way up where is normally is. When driving on the highway, the temp comes up more. but sitting at idle it barely gets warm.
So not sure if all 3 are related or not, but looking for a starting point.
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20 degrees out this morning truck not plugged in, didn't want to start had to cycle 4-5 times, each time waiting for glow plug Light to go out.
Finally cranked didn't sound pretty but cranked. Once it started idling on its own got out and seen a puddle of oil under the front of the engine drivers side center kind of.
Got up on the truck and shined a light in the valley and seen a puddle in intake valley. Heres my question? Where did this oil come from? Once it warmed up it quit and oil kinda disappeared from valley???
I had turbo off a few months ago because I thought I had a bearing down in it, but found some bolts lose. When I put turbo back on I broke the wire plug on front of the pedestal so I just left it unplugged. Very hard to cold start now that that is unhooked.
Did leaving this unhooked create a hard cold start? Should I put another pedestal on it with the plug or install one without it? Also will it hurt to leave plugged in overnight?
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2003 F350 7.3L 164k miles. Got towed in with hard to start cold complaint.
Hooked it up to the Snap On Verus Pro scan tool and we get up to 3000 psi on the ICP cranking, IPR value seems within spec, we have rpms over 100 on tool, pulse width within spec, computer voltage above 10v while cranking, verified output of glow plug module (California) and glow plugs get voltage for approx 50 seconds @ 80 degrees farenheit, glow plugs all read 0 ohms resistance.
injectors do NOT sound the same during buzz test.
Vehicle takes EXCESSIVE cranking cold to eventually get it started. LOTS of cranking. Just had to replace starter and a battery because driver burned em out. It feels like the vehicle shakes when it gets running. Black smoke when revving cold. Sometimes white smoke while cranking.
Once the engine has been warmed up, it starts perfectly every time.
I have spent two days in the engine bay looking for chaffed wires and doing diag and my current diagnosis is bad injectors. I feel there COULD also be high pressure oil leak, or a mechanical issue such as low compression. No compression guage yet for this truck. We have the ICP and IPR fittings to do a shop air test. Recently did a 6.0L and went thru everything and eventually diagnosed it as bad HPOP. LOW ICP pressure.
I noticed two of the cylinders were at maybe 8% Perdel on the data. Seems too high. Also, it "passed" the KOER self test and "passed" the injector buzz test with no codes after, but the audible sound of injectors didn't "seem" right to me, but I am new to these engines.
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My 1999 F550 7.3L has been hard to start when it's cold outside since I got it with about 150k on it (it has 200k on it now). Last year we tested the glow plugs and sure enough 5 of 8 were bad. So they are all new now. It worked a little with the hard start, but not much.
When it's cold out the engine will crank forever amongst clouds of smoke and the smell of unburnt diesel fuel and sometimes eventually start, followed by smoke and sputtering until the cylinders clear out. However, what I have noticed recently is that it will sometimes start in the first few revolutions. It seems like the best way to start cold is as follows:
1. Let the glow plugs heat up for a minute or two,
2. Crank engine for 10 or 15 seconds and stop,
3. Crank engine again, but stop if it doesn't catch in the first couple of revolutions,
4. Repeat step 3 until engine starts.
When it starts using this method, it's immediate and it's running smoothly immediately with minimal smoke. This is making me think there's a computer or sensor issue, but I have no codes.
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I have a 01 7.3 crew cab dually and it's had cold start problems since i got it in 09.I have replaced everything i could think of including glow plugs gpr,harness and batteries. Any temp below 40 i have to plug it in . If i cycle it 3 or 4 times it will start but it smokes and runs ruff. My 00 7.3 excursion starts up down to about 10 degrees than i have to plug it in so i know dually is not right.
I have a afe intake,1.5 injectors, driven diesel rr, adrenilin pump,dp tune by gear head. Kinda at wits end don't mind plugging it in in dead of winter but now one night it's 30 next it's50 and i don't have to . Also have fully built trans by level 10 if it matters .I get battery light coming on every now and again. New alt about every year and a half.
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2002 Excursion, 7.3L 375,xxx miles ... As the weather is cooling off, my excursion has a starting problem for a few years.
Replaced all the glow plugs last year. We (my brothers and I) thought it was injectors, but in the summer time or if block heater is plugged in, she starts normally and idles smoothly. And no smoke and runs fine once she warms up.
When cold, it acts like 1 or 2 injectors are not firing. Have run all kinds of cleaners through the oil and fuel.....
Don't want to swap injectors just to swap parts. Would like to diagnose problem....
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Truck is a completely stock 2002. New injector o-rings, glow plugs, valve cover harness, and injector cups a year ago... all motorcraft parts. New batteries and starter in the last 6 months.
I've checked the GPR both at the relay and harness got power all the way to the valve cover harness on all 8. Injector buzz test sounds okay as well.
Had a stuck IPR issue a few moths ago that caused a CEL and died while running. Took apart and cleaned the IPR and CEL is gone truck runs great once started and has correct IPR pressures in all RPM ranges.
Truck runs great once it is started and is not sluggish until warm like when it was hard to start when cold with leaking injector o-rings.
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Where can a transmission temperature sensor be mounted on a 1999 manual powerstroke transmission? What is the part number for an applicable sensor that will work?
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Got a 2002 7.3 F-350 with 300,000 miles and for the last couple of years I've been getting blue smoke on cold morning start ups and its been gradually getting worse, it clears up after about 30 seconds and all is normal,No loss of performance, Oil consumption is minor, however I hate a vehicle that blue smokes, I'm guessing my issue is valve seals are worn, I was wondering if it is possible to replace the seals while the heads are on the engine? and was also wondering how much time it would take to fix? as i would have to have it professionally done. I know its hard to guess a time frame and everyone is different. Sounds like textbook valve seals to me but is there anything else I should check first?
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I have now replaced hpop, injectors, cups, gpr, batteries, uvch on both sides, icp and ipr on my 2002 F550 and it still has a long crank to start.
It has been driven about 1,000 miles since then and no change. I have no codes except buzz test produced a high to low 1272 1274 1276 1278 one time. Cannot get that to happen again.
It is taking 4 seconds of cranking to start consistently hot or cold. It always starts but cranks for what seems like too long compared to my other 7.3s. I have included a screenshot of the data and am curious on what everyone's thoughts are as I am out of things to look at!
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2003 Excursiom 4x4 Limited
My first Diesel. Runs and drives great. Torque Pro app only showed coolant temp at 188. Would not show oil temp. Hard to cold start. New injectors. Has a programmer. He is asking 12K. It has 209K miles.
It belongs to a friend of mine and he rarely drives it. It stays under a cover most of the time.
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I have an 02 f350 7.3 power stroke...Yesterday I noticed the outside temp was reading wrong,it was jumping from 67 to 86 to 92 back to 67..Temp was prob around 90 with high humidity and my a/c was on..So I got to where I was going and when I restarted my truck to go home the fuel gauge dropped to empty(I just fueled the day before) and fuel light came on and outside temp still wrong on the overhead digital display...Are these two things related???
Stopped the truck restarted it and fuel reads correctly again....Went out today and fuel light back on and on empty...Outside temp wrong again,a/c is on .....I disconnected the batteries when I got home to "reset the system"if there is such thing, fuel gauge working but outside temp wrong..?? Where is the outside temp sensor ?could condensation be running onto the sensor and throwing off my temp gauge? Just strange that both these things happened at the same time......I don't think its a fuse or they wouldn't work at all. I should mention all the other gauges work correctly...
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My '03 6.0 is hard to start and runs rough when cold. Not just cold outside temps, but engine not up to temp. Starts and runs like a champ once it's up to temp. It was doing this when I got it, but it's getting worse.
From what I've read the common culprits are:
1 - failed solder joints on FICM power supply board
2 - bad power supply side of the FICM
3 - updated flash needed for FICM
4 - injector stiction
5 - leaky O-rings at high pressure oil rail to injectors
I have read up on how to run the voltage test on the FICM with a multimeter.
Seems like I would have to go to a dealer to have the software version for the FICM checked.
I am 100% competent to do the tests and/or repairs myself, but since I recently moved in with my fiance in a condo and my tools are in storage, I will have to do it at a friend's house. That being the case, I want to know what all of the common things are that I may need to check for so I am prepared. So, I wanted to see if there were any other common causes of this issue.
I plan to test the FICM voltage and give FICMRepair.com some business if that's the problem. And if that's not the problem (or maybe even if it is) I will get the injector seal kits and replace all of the injector seals as well as disassembling and cleaning the spool valves in the solenoids. I will also change oil and fuel filters with Motorcraft parts and Rotella synthetic oil while I'm in there.
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We're currently RV camping in the Wyoming Wind River Range at 8500 ft and is getting to freezing at night. The past two mornings the truck has been very difficult to start and I got quite a bit of smoke. This morning it took two or three tries but I got it going.
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Here's my video of it doing it: [URL].....
98 e-450 rv cutaway with the 7.3 PSD. 219k.
Here's what I have done so far
-New GPR
-New Glow Plugs
-New CPS
-unplugged the PCM, and re-plugged
When it cuts out like the first time in the video, the accelerator pedal does nothing at all. Then once the WTS and CEL go off, it's fine again for a bit.
It seems to only do it when the engine is cold as well. After I had driven it around the block a few times and let it idle, it got better. I was able to drive it 20 miles round trip without it cutting out.
Also, might be related, it has been random on power since I got it. Sometimes I have to floor the accelerator to get up a hill, sometimes I barely need to touch it.
What to check next? It's hard to tell if it's de-fueling or if it's an electrical issue.
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I have a 2002 F-250 7.3L with 175,000 miles and it died on me July 30th. Here were the symptoms when it died:
Engine was sluggish at standard RPM about 1300-1500 going about 45 MPH, so I stepped on the gas and it seemed to go away. About another 5 miles down the road and starting from a stop, the same thing started happening. The entire truck seemed like it was going to shake itself apart and with the peddle at half throttle it revved to 3500 rpm and didn't shift into 2nd gear until after about 5 seconds at that RPM. After it jerked into 2nd gear the engine dropped back down to about 1000 RPM and started shaking violently again. At this point I managed to make it to a shopping center and then as soon as I let off the gas (still shaking), the engine dropped to 500 RPM and after about 15-30 seconds shut off. When I got the truck home I managed to start it one more time but it shortly stalled after about 15-30 seconds, again it was hovering around 500 RPM and still shaking badly.
Here is what happens when I try to start it:
From 0-2 seconds, truck goes through a normal cranking rhythm and sound.
From 2-10 seconds, it slowly tries to start itself back up but it sounds like it is only firing on a few cylinders, I'm guessing maybe 2-3.
I stopped after 10 seconds in fear of burning out the starter or killing the batteries.
Troubleshooting:
Removing the connection to the ICP sensor, something I read that might at least let me start the truck, which is how I found the oil on the connection itself. I also noticed a little bit of what looks like oil on the some of the wiring harnesses in the surrounding area. I also checked the fuel bowl and it is filled with fuel.
Possible solutions?:
From what I have read on the forums I am guessing that it has something to do with the ICP or the IPR sensors. I also believe that it is a sensor related issue considering that the truck won't even start. I am completely off track. I am going to start working on it full stride this weekend. I have been vehicle-less since the 30th so I'm trying to get this fixed asap. I don't have any codes, I am going to try to get a coder this weekend.
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