I detest working on cars/trucks.....

PlayboyJoeShmoe

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...but DAMN I'M GOOD!

My 1990 F350 7.3 Diesel was getting hard to start. It acted like an injector was leaking, but once running was just the same as always.

I was told how to test the glow plugs, and that they were the most likely cause.

Yesterday AM I tried starting and the starter slowed down and stopped. I thought SURE it was hydraulic locked.

Anyway I spent several hours today checking stuff. I found one bad glow plug, and one unplugged??? Got that all fixed up, but still no starter turn.

So one new starter, and lots of cussing later, it starts better than it has since I've owned it!!!

A VERY nice shower later, I went back out a little while ago, hit the switch and it's running almost before it's even possible! YEEHAA!

I still don't like doing it, but am very happy when a plan comes together!

Light related: I probably should have had my headband and Madmax mini to use. But instead I used a crummy 2D I keep in the garage to see down into 55 gallon drums. As it was, I had to do one bolt by the sense of smell, cause I damn sure couldn't SEE it!
 

js

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Working on autos is never as easy as you think it is going to be. One simply little line in the manual "remove bolts at top and bottom of caliper bracket" or some such thing can take an hour. That's exactly what happened to me once when I needed to change the rotors. I ended up beating on the end of a combination wrench with a brass hammer, first loosening, then tightening, before I could break the rust bond. Let me tell you, I replaced those bolts and put a bit of never seize on them, as well as on the mating surface of the rotors and wheel hubs.

But, ahhh, when it's all over and you're sitting on the couch, letting the heat return to your hands (I live in upstate NY) it is all worth it. It just feels so good to know that the job was done right and done well, and then, of course, the next time you do it, it's that much easier.

Anyway, congratulations. It's always a pleasure to use a well maintained car or tool, especially one that you've maintained yourself.
 

DieselDave

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Nice job on the fix. A diesel is very reliable but when they break it can get painful and expensive.

Here you go: Slow turning over or won't turn over tip of the day.

If your car won't turn over have the battery checked. If the battery checks good don't believe it. Take another battery from a car and put it in the broken car and retry. If the problem still exists go to plan B. I am not any good with plans B-Z.

Three times in the last 18 months I have seen or heard of a battery testing good at the auto parts store when the battery was actually bad. My Suburban was the first before I knew about this. I carried my battery into Auto Zone and it tested good. I replaced the starter and it still wouldn't start. I called my retired auto parts friend and he said get a new battery. I told him the battery tested good and he said, "Great, now go buy a new battery and your problem will be solved". He was right and when I called him back he told me the testers don't put a good load on the battery so they aren't all that reliable. Did I mention it wouldn't even jump start with cables, that's why I thought it had to be a starter. My Dad's was the second one and my friends the third. I saved my Dad a starter bill as the repair shop told him he needed a new starter after the battery tested good.

And, I hate working on cars as well.
 

James S

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js, Tom and Ray were just talking about this problem with the "manuals" you look at the list and think it's an easy job, there are only 4 steps. However when you look closer, step one is "remove the engine" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowlaugh.gif
 

PlayboyJoeShmoe

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Oh yeah DD!

Another mechanic buddy of my Dads said put new batteries. I resisted that for a couple weeks, then did. They didn't help the problem!

I think the starter was going south slowly for a while. It obviously was only lighting up 7 glow plugs for a while as well. Once it got down to 6, it was REALLY cranking hard... finally made toast of the starter. Thank goodness when it did go **** up, it did so right in my driveway!

Except for the scond plug back on the drivers side, they were quite easy to get to! Come to think of it, I should have put the new one there.... DOH! It also looks like if I ever have to do the injectors, that will be pretty easy too!

Gotta LOVE them old non computerized/non turbo 6.9 and 7.3 IHIs!
 

Saaby

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Speaking of new starters...

Neighbors came over (I was alrady at school) and asked for a jump start. My dad tried our battery charger/jumper thingie first but when that didn't work he drove my mom's car across the street and hooked it up. Neighbor's truck still wouldn't turn over and all the sudden my mom's car went completely dead...

Long story short, killed my mom's alternator. She's now had 3 in 3 years. 1st was actually bad. 2nd was replaced by a bad shop (Good shop that changed hands a couple of times. After the alternator we never went back to them). Third was this one.

New mechanic (Even better than the old one) said we were damn lucky comptuer didn't blow (Wait..had that happen [to minivan] while we were in St.Louis 2000 miles away from home) and told my mom she's not allowed to give people a jump start anymore /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinser2.gif
 

tiktok 22

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Hi Guys,

Totally agree with the battery deal. I have a rule, if it lasts five years, it goes. No matter how the battery tests. Never been let down since.

IMHO you should never buy a seven year battery vs. a five year. It's usually the exact same battery with an extended warranty. A pro-rated warranty. I think the money is better spent on another battery after five years.

just my thoughts.
 

js

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tiktok22,

Yup. Replace the battery every five years no matter what. And don't skimp on the battery in the first place, I say. I had bad luck with an excide battery once.

And it is always a risky proposition to give someone a jump start. You certainly CAN blow your $1000 computer! It helps to do the "+ to +, - to ground (on car being jumped)" thing. This reduces the chance of a lethal spark.

James S,

Yeah, I head that Car Talk too!
 

Stanley

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[ QUOTE ]
js said:
And it is always a risky proposition to give someone a jump start. You certainly CAN blow your $1000 computer! It helps to do the "+ to +, - to ground (on car being jumped)" thing. This reduces the chance of a lethal spark.


[/ QUOTE ]
Would you mind explaining that a little? I thought that so long as your car engine is started up first before making the connections to the car with the dead batt (+ to + and - to -) it should be fine, right? So do you mean that by earthing the -ve first then connect it to the dead batt it'll be safer?
 

Wingerr

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The main problem may be the load from the discharged battery overstressing the alternator, especially if it's a bit on the puny side, and the dead car has some serious problems. Making the last connection for the jumper cables at a chassis ground away from the battery is just to avoid igniting hydrogen gas byproducts from the battery. Without the vented caps the older batteries used to use, it's less of an issue.
 

Gandalf

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Jul 3, 2001
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About 25 years ago, we had 2 weeks of -10F to -20F weather. (-10F during the day, -20F at night.....) Never got above -10F. I had a car with a manual choke, and out of about 15 people in one week, my car was the only one that would *always* start. So I gave a *lot* of jump starts to people. Yes, smoked my alternator.

Many years later, I read you should *never* jump start another car with your car running. The procedure is to start your car, and then connect the jumper cables to the dead car. Run your car for 5 to 10 minutes, at least, to charge up the dear car's battery. Then, *shut off your car*, and try starting the dead car, with the jumper cables still connected. If the other car won't start, disconnect the negative cable from the dead battery, and connect your jumper cable to the negative cable. This takes the dead battery out of the starting circuit. Then try to start the other car. WHEN IT STARTS, CONNECT THE NEGATIVE CABLE TO THE BATTERY BEFORE YOU DISCONNECT THE JUMPER CABLE. On many cars, running the engine without the battery connected can destroy various electronic modules/computers, etc.

Car still won't start? Use the spare battery, 2nd set of jumper cables, and that can of ether I always carry. Ether can be dangerous to use, but when used safely, will almost always start a car that will turn over, and is producing a spark.

I live in Minnesota, where the record low temperature is -60F. In Minneapolis, I think the record is around -35F.

Fuel injected cars with electronic ignition systems, as most cars less than 13 or 14 years old are now, are far more reliable starting in the winter, than when cars had standard ignition (ignition points, coil, etc.) and were carbureted.

I buy a new battery every 3 years; the biggest I can bolt under the hood. The 'old' battery, which is still perfectly capable of holding a charge, goes in the trunk. I charge it up regularly. I've only had to use the battery in the trunk a few times, but damn, it was nice to have it right there! (And I've only had to use it on my own car, twice, when I left the lights on.)

A new battery costs about $50, on sale. So per year, or per winter, as we say in Minnesota, that's about $17 to *not* have to worry that your car won't start. It gets new spark plugs every November, too. Thats another $6, or less. It gets a lot of other maintainence, of course.

My car is 16 years old now, and except for the 2 times I left the lights on, it has *always* started.

I *hate* working on my car, but I can't afford to pay someone else to do it, and when I do it myself, I know it's done right. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
 

snakebite

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Mar 17, 2001
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dayton oh
i just use a jumper pack with a 33 ah sla inside.
if it wont turn over an engine it has a problem like bad starter or siezed!
 
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