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Glow Plugs or Injectors?

20K views 15 replies 8 participants last post by  6L strokin 
#1 ·
I have been having a heck of a time getting my 04 6.0 to start. At home overnight when I can plug it in it will fire right up in the morning no problem at all, but when im at work and the truck sits from 7:30 till 5:00 it will usually take 2 or 3 trys to get it to fire, and thats running the glow plugs for 30 seconds 2 or 3 times before I try to start it the first time. then once it fires...look out, sounds like the motors is coming apart from the inside out. After about 30 seconds the idle will smooth out and after that it runs just fine. Oh and this started when the temp was only down in the 20s. I have discovered that at noon if I run down the road to the gas station, or if I don't go anywere for lunch just let it idle for 10 or 15 minutes, come 5 oclock it starts just fine. Dose this sound like an injector problem or mabey something to do with the glow plugs?

Oh and one more thing, lets say the truck is up to normal operating temp, I stop at the gas station to fuel up or run into the store real quick, anytime the truck is shut off for 10 or 15 minutes and then started again, I notice that at low RPMs (1000 to 1400) such as just pulling out of the parking lot it has a deep tone to it and dosn't have that classic powerstroke sound to it untill I get out on the road, mabey somthing to do with my starting issue?
 
#3 ·
sounds like the glow plugs. my brother has a obs 7.3 and was runnin on only 2 glow plugs and that sounds about like what his was doin
 
#5 ·
yeah if it were your injectors it wouldnt matter if you plugged it in or not. but as im sure you know the glow plugs heat up the block making the combustion temp easier to reach when its compressed when this happens as soon as the injector introduces the fuel into the mixture it explodes. if an injector was sticken then no matter how warm the block is the explosion wouldnt take place. that is my understanding of what is goin on anyway
 
#8 ·
Umm actually your dead wrong. Mine wont crank unless plugged in and my injectors are bad.

The best rule is if it smoking and needs to be plugged in its the glowplugs if its not smoking and needs to be plugged in its the injectors.
 
#6 ·
ya thats what I was thinking, I think I just jumped to the conclusion of injectors caues its a common problem with these 6.0 and one of the more expensive repairs.

Is it all that hard to test the glow pluge system, anyone know were I can get a good wright up on how to test them? Also I was told you gont have to remove the valve cover?
 
#7 ·
All I can say is my truck is doing the same thing as yours and I put a computer to it and it all came down to something to do with the glow plug control module so I unplugged it and plugged it back in and wiggled the wires around and did some playing with it and when it doesn't fire within 30 sec or alittle longer I go move the wires around alittle bit and it fires right up even when its 20 degrees and not plugged in I think that would take less time to change then glow plugs that take like 5 hours to change from what I hear
 
#9 ·
well im sure you know more then me. that was my understanding of what the mechanic had explained to me sorry
 
#10 ·
Hey no grief here, I went thru every mechanic around here telling me it was my glowplugs too :D

But some of my injectors wont fire if its not plugged in and a few are so bad they dont fire till Im out on the road.
 
#12 ·
wow! well i knew some ppl had trouble with sticky injectors like that but i never knew the block heater effected them so much. thanks for the info.
 
G
#13 ·
My understanding is that if you can plug in a 6.0L, do so allways. I have replaced all 8 injectors. Plug it in and change the oil every 3000 miles. fuel filters every 7000 miles and when you pull onto the highway hold it to the iron for as long as can to burn the crud off the EGR ect.
 
#14 ·
So last weekend I was putting on my new altornator and I noticed a little oil leak out of the drivers side rear glow plug. Could this be my answer? The other 3 on the drivers side arnt leaking and good oll me didnt even look at the passengers side. Anyway could this be my best bet, I havnt gotten around to testing anything but if I remember correctly leaking oil out of the glow plug = bad, right?
 
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