I have looked everywhere and still can’t figure this out, so I am hoping someone here can help. I have an E99 7.3 manual with good batteries and a new glow plug relay. It runs and drives great with just under 200k miles. The other day, I pulled into the driveway, shut it off, went inside for about 10 minutes, then came back out and tried to start it, but it just cranked. After three tries, it finally started with a little puff of white smoke and then ran perfectly for the next three days.
Last night, I stopped at a gas station, turned it off to fill up, and when I tried to start it again, the same thing happened, it just cranked until the batteries died. I had my father-in-law tow it home, about 5 miles, and when I tried to start it in the driveway, it fired right up. I don’t know much about these trucks and have no idea where to start. Now I am nervous to take it anywhere and shut it off!
Check your IPR. It sounds like the truck starts fine when it’s cold but struggles with hot starts. As the oil warms up, it loses viscosity and thins out, which can prevent building enough pressure to fire the injectors. The seals are likely torn or worn out. You can get a reseal kit for under $20 from Riffraff Diesel.
Replace the CPS, they are inexpensive, and even if it works well, having it in the glove box isn’t a bad idea. The next step is to crank it while plugging it into FORScan to check the oil pressure. Needs to start at about 500 psi.
It is a complete waste of time and effort not to be checking PIDs in FORScan or AutoEnginuity while cranking. There’s a crank no-start flowchart specifically for the 7.3. Use that along with your preferred scan tool instead of blindly swapping out parts suggested by random people online.
Thank you. I just ordered the OBD2 scanner and downloaded the FORScan app had no idea it was so affordable to access. It’ll probably be super useful since we are an all-Ford family
