No fire when cold soaked this weekend.

[MarkEkberg]

Forgot to plug in, -25 at camp.

Plugged it in, threw charger on batteries to get them warm. 90 min later no fire. No smoke from unburnt fuel.

Threw jumpers on it from another truck, no fire after 30 min. No smoke from unburnt fuel.

Put a huge pot of hot coals under the oil pan, no fire after 30 min. No smoke from unburnt fuel.

I ended up cycling grid heater until it turned off, waited about a min, then gave it a shot of ether and it fired easily.


If I should be looking at something different please steer me in the right direction.

1. Check batteries and load test.
2. Test grid heater for resistance.
3. Test grid relays. I can hear them clicking, but that does not mean they are not cooked.

Anything else I should look into if none of the above fix problem?

 

[Mingoglia]

I'd be interested to hear what you find out. You're about 10 degrees colder than I've ever started mine without being plugged in. I always cycle the key once without starting, then the second time and it starts right up, though the truck shakes so much I think I'm going to be ejected out of the side window if I don't have my seat belt on. Curious to see if you find out if the grid heater is working. The Cummins always seems to fire pretty reliably in pretty extreme cold, assuming the fuel isn't gelled.

 

[DonFitzwater]

Fill out your signature so we know what truck/engine/trans you have.

 

[MarkEkberg]

I come from lots of powerstroke experience. If the relay goes bad, jump it with a screw driver. If all else fails shut the plugs down and give it ether.

What makes me a little confused is no smoke while cranking? No smoke is no fuel being fired into the cylinders?

 

[MarkEkberg]

Fill out your signature so we know what truck/engine/trans you have.

WTF? I did this months ago? Now I can't access it again? o-well.......

It is a 03, 6 speed. Gen 3.

 

[PWong]

Monitor battery voltage before and while grid heater kick in.
If you see a 1.5V voltage drop then your grid heater is working.
No volt drop = no grid heater.

You might just had gelling issue somewhere in a section of fuel delivery line.

 

[DonFitzwater]

Do you have any way of monitoring rail pressure while cranking?

 

[MarkEkberg]

Do you have any way of monitoring rail pressure while cranking?

Not without going and borrowing things. Figured I would try other stuff first. Hoping I will find a weak battery resulting in too much of a voltage drop to fire injectors.

 

[p-Bar]

I was kinda thinking fuel gelling .

 

[AEdelheit]

If you dont have any smoke I doubt its a grid heater issue but more of a fuel delivery issue, If the grid heaters not working the truck will still smoke.

 

[jhenderson]

If the grid heaters aren't working, the engine will stll start. You have a fuel delivery problem. Pull the filter cover and bump the key. If you get fresh fuel pumping into the fuel filter look to rail pressure. Weak batteries or starter will not spin the motor fast enough to reach the pressure threshold required for the ECM to fire the injectors. Next look to one or more injectors returning to much fuel. This will prevent rail pressure from building. You need to check rail pressure while cranking. Requires a good scan tool .

 

[MarkEkberg]

Fiddled with it last night. Looks like I have a dead solder for a battery. I am guessing there is not enough voltage to put fuel to it? Hoping that is the case. went looking on youtube and I saw all sorts of these things firing in cold temps with no grid heaters.

 

[Prairie Dog]

If you have a dead battery then it won't turn over fast enough for the ECM to allow it to start.