Questions about diesel fuels?

[JLS]

Is your heater/glow plugs working correctly?  Aren't Fords notorious for losing glow plugs?  I've started my 24V Cummins at -20 without being plugged in, and only cycled the intake heater twice.

[Woodchuck]

  There is also a large solenoid on top of the intake for the glow plugs that gets burnt. You should not have to plug in or cycle the plugs at 40 above. 

[wildweeds]

Your glow plug relay is on its way out,easy to change and from experiance.............. buy the replacement from the Ford Dealer, the replacements I've gotten from Napa ............... sucked and burned out in about a year.

I've had to cycle my intake heater twice on numerous occasions, and it does put a tremendous drain on your batteries.

When cooler than 40 degrees it seems like I need to either be plugged in or I have to cycle my heaters several times depending how cold it is. I am running a 2003 7.3 ford. Starts fine the first time if over 40.

[bearpaw]

I am pretty lost on mechanics, especially diesel, not sure how to tell if there is a solenoid or glow plug problem. If the temp is about 30 it seems I have to cycle 2 or 3 times, if it's 0, then it may take 4-5 times to start. Below zero I don't think it would start after sitting over night without being plugged in.

Any advice on how to find and test the solenoid or glow plugs?

Your glow plug relay is on its way out,easy to change and from experiance.............. buy the replacement from the Ford Dealer, the replacements I've gotten from Napa ............... sucked and burned out in about a year.

I've had to cycle my intake heater twice on numerous occasions, and it does put a tremendous drain on your batteries.

When cooler than 40 degrees it seems like I need to either be plugged in or I have to cycle my heaters several times depending how cold it is. I am running a 2003 7.3 ford. Starts fine the first time if over 40.

[jeepasaurusrex]

Any advice on how to find and test the solenoid or glow plugs?

Here ya go. Pretty quick and easy.

http://powerstrokenation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27553

[fair-chase]

Your glow plug relay is on its way out,easy to change and from experiance.............. buy the replacement from the Ford Dealer, the replacements I've gotten from Napa ............... sucked and burned out in about a year.

   I can attest to the parts store relays burning out very quickly (couple of weeks tops). Get the factory replacement and save time and money, in the long run of course because you never actually save up front when getting factory parts. 

[bearpaw]

Any advice on how to find and test the solenoid or glow plugs?

Here ya go. Pretty quick and easy.

http://powerstrokenation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27553

Great info, thanks.

If I understand correctly, in the photo in the first post on that link, there are two relays, one in the open and one under the hose. For my 2003 I will want to check and/or change the one in the open. And it should be the one closest to the rear of the engine. Is that correct? 

[sebek556]

  one towards the rear

[hdshot]

Does anyone use Seafoam additive for their diesel?  I do and seems to work but don't know enough to recommend it.  Expensive but don't drive my truck except to tow my boat or hunt.

My boat loves it with that 10% ethanol gas.  Thank the Lord for Seafoam with my boat running like garbage without it mixed with ethanol.  I still take the extra time to find the station with ethanol free for car and boat but that doesn't work every time.

[Special T]

Union 76 stations run ethanol free gas.   http://www.76.com/StationLocator.aspx#

[jeepasaurusrex]

http://pure-gas.org/index.jsp?stateprov=WA

[sebek556]

Just did the injector oil change for a family friend today 01 7.3l 155000 mile first time its ever had it done. I drove it down to the freeway and back before doing the change to see how it ran. Wow, it actually made a big difference in his truck. It went from kinda sluggish to full power. I did use the prolong(which is freakin' 18 bucks a bottle). Not promising anything here for power gains for everyone, but it really improved his truck. I used a hand vaccum from harbor freight (like 8 bucks) and a spare gallon of delo plus the prolong which was the expensive part.

[bearpaw]

Two things...

1.  I've been running #2 Diesel unless it's real cold and I have noticed better mileage as some of you said.
2.  I changed the relay and the truck starts easy on the first try at 30 degrees. That wouldn't happen before the relay change.

Thanks for the help.

[luckyman]

Just did the injector oil change for a family friend today 01 7.3l 155000 mile first time its ever had it done. I drove it down to the freeway and back before doing the change to see how it ran. Wow, it actually made a big difference in his truck. It went from kinda sluggish to full power. I did use the prolong(which is freakin' 18 bucks a bottle). Not promising anything here for power gains for everyone, but it really improved his truck. I used a hand vaccum from harbor freight (like 8 bucks) and a spare gallon of delo plus the prolong which was the expensive part.

On my last oil change I though I would check and see what the oil looked like in the hpop reservoir. It was just as ugly & black as the oil in the crank case.  After changing the oil in the crank case and driving it a day or so, I looked in the reservoir to see if it still looked nasty. It was totally clean, not even a little dark.  Changing the hpop oil is pretty much unnecessary from what I could see.