Help Needed PSD won't start

[RoGrrr]

I have a 96 F250 7.3 PSD with about 200,000 on it. I got it recently and I’ve only put 1000 of them on it. I’ve noticed that it’s been a bit balky to start and I have needed to put the charger on it from time to time so I acknowledge that I need to replace the batteries. But when they are up, it starts fairly well.
If it’s chilly is when it gives me some problems. Today it is about 40 degrees so I put the charger on it last nite to make sure it would be ready to go. This morning I turned the key, the wait light went out and when I cranked it, no fire. Normally when the engine is cold it would pop once and I would have to turn the key off and crank it again to get another pop. After several cycles of this, it would normally start. Today it would not even pop and there was none of the characteristic white smoke coming out of the stacks.
I decided to check the fuel filter and found that it was dirty. I also siphoned the fuel out of the bowl to check the fuel heater and I found a bit of water in the bowl. It looked dirty so I got out my new filter out and found that Advance Auto had given me the wrong one. Ya can't get good help these days, even tho I had told them that I have a 96 7.3 PSD. So I blew the crud out of the old one and put it back in.
At this point, there was no fuel in the bowl when I put the cover back on.
Crank and no pop. Crank some more and after several cycles of this I decided to check the bowl. There was still no fuel in it so I filled about halfway up (that was all I had handy) and cranked some more. When I checked again, the level did not come up appreciably. At this point I thought I might have a bad fuel pump in the front tank so I switched to the rear tank and cranked again. Still no pop. After several more cycles, I checked the level of fuel in the bowl and it had not come up.

First, am I supposed to fill the bowl after I replace the filter ?

Second, I don’t understand why the bowl will not fill ?

Third, I’m at a loss as to why I can’t start the engine, even before I changed the filter. Any thoughts ?

RoGrrr

 

[bbressler]

If you've got a stock fuel system, there are no pumps in the tanks. There is a fuel pump underneath the turbo (you can see if between the fuel filter housing and the turbo). Look in the valley of the engine, is it dry, or do you have a lot of moisture there?

Yes, it's a good idea to fill the bowl up with fuel after a filter change. Especially if you drained the whole thing. Normally, I'd just drain a bit of the water (there's a valve on the front pass side of the housing for that). then, just pull the filter out and put the new one in. You'll end up with just about a bowl full of fuel.

Since your pump is mechanical, it only works while the truck is turning over. It's probably got quite a bit of ways to go to pull the fuel from the tank. You may also have some air in the lines going to the injectors (you can purge air at the schraeder valve on the regulator -- mounted to the drivers side of the filter housing) Press that valve while you have a buddy crank for you. If you hear air, keep trying it....when it shoots fuel out, you're good.

Have you checked your glow plugs? A lot of cold start problems can be caused by weak glow plugs (or relay). You can test your relay by shorting out the two large terminals for about 10 seconds and trying to start.

BUT -- if you've got weak batteries....I'd start by replacing those. You know they are bad, you can spend lots of time trying to track down other things that may or may not be the cause.

 

[Patrick Feeley]

Also check your underhood fuses and make sure #22 has not blown. If it has, your fuel heater has shorted (and you'll need to disconnect the spade connector inside the fuel bowl (you can disconnect the external connection too, but I've found the internal method easier for me). Also, have you tried switching fuel tanks? Cheers!

 

[BJS]

Since you are having hard start problems I'll go with the GPR is bad and possibly the glow plugs. plug in your block heater and see if it helps get it started.

you should not have to suck the fuel out of the filter housing there is a drain valve on the side that works well but the tube can be extended so you can avoid making a mess down below.

As for why it wont' start right now check the above mentioned fuse.