Up to this point my Dmax has been a total thrill to own.

But for the second time this winter, my truck refuses to start http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Angry.gifhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Cry.gif

It has always cranked a few more turns since installing the Juice but has always fired up.

My break point seem to be about 20 degrees, anything over 20 –25 degrees it will do fine. When at home I plug her in at temps below 25 degrees and she will ALWAYS start.

Today at work it was a high of 18 degrees, when I went to the truck to leave later, it was 13 degrees.

It turns over freely, I will even get a little smoke out of the exhaust, but not even a hint of kicking over.

I disconnected the juice, I get 3 –4 good pumps off the primer, try to kick it over and it just spins until I run the battery down.

I also run ½ a bottle of Power Service winter blend (white bottle) at each fill up, I am about at the ¾ mark on my tank right now so its had plenty of time to work in.

I drive 35 miles of highway each way so it gets plenty warmed up.
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Nate, I am fighting one right now...been to two other dealers and no body knows whats wrong with it. including me at this point.


It flat refuses to start cold, I drained the batteries trying. push inside and charge for half hour and it starts right up... I am all over this one and still digging, if I find something tha tmight help, I will let you know. but not gonna be much help at this pointhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Cry.gif

Something not kicking the glow plugs on?


Does the voltmeter drop to 9V or so (like it's dumping a bunch of current like it should)?Edited by: nwpadmax

glow plugs are working, it builds fuel pressure as needed. the only thing I can find goofy is that the FRP fuel flow reading is about 7000mm and a good truck is only about 1000mm.. I dont know why it high flow cause usually that is from a leak somewhere but no signs of that.. put inside,fires everytime, outside in cold,... better have your cell phone. I am wondering somewhat if I have a crank sensor issue. If FICM dont see crank rpm, no injector pulse... i dunno.. I am will dig more into it tomarrow and see what i cant find.

Eric,

Thanks for the response!

Yes, please let me know what you find.

When I get into work tomorrow, I will have one of the tugs pull the Dmax into a hanger next to a Boeing 777 to warm up, that should scare it into starting.

The first time this happened, it was here at home. I used an industrial type heat gun, (like a heavy duty blow dryer) and spent about 10 minutes running it up and down the fuel lines. When I got to the area around the fuel cooler, it started right up and ran fine, didn’t miss a beat if this helps any.

Thanks again!
Nathan

Has to be cylinder temp related I would think ... What is the minimum cylinder temp 800 degrees for a diesel to fire quicker or easier ?? So intake grid heater glow plugs fuel heater, what else ??


Quit fooling around Eric .... We know you want a raise but it's a customers truck ....





Mac http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Embarrased.gif

Yeah, sounds more electrical than anything....like something failing open when it gets cold.


Just guessing...

What happens when you plug it in ??





Mac http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Confused.gif

Mac, dunnno...My brain hurts on that truck.. will post more tomarrow if I find anything... gotta go nitey nite

But if that were happening, then you'd think she'd quit when driving, say, from a warm garage (hangar) out in the cold.


Maybe it's some kind of latching contact or sequence of events that once she fires, it stays OK (maybe stops looking for some signal like DMAT said after she fires).


Wierd.

WIF

HD-Nate,


I will give you a couple of ideas but honestly, the Duramax normally starts very well in the cold. The most recent incidents I have come accross is a relatively small amount of water in the fuel tank that is demulsified &amp; pooled together that gets to the fuel pick-up &amp; plugs it(frozen) to the point that with a good injection pump will actually pull the primer down with the pump vacuum created while cranking to start - this does not sound like your problem however as you stated that you could pump the primer. What it sounds like if I have understood your condition correctly is, that you have a lack of cylinder heat - likely an intake air heater &amp;/or even more likely a glow plug system fault. The fact that you said you see smoke (whiteish hopefully) indicates that fuel is present for the combustion event, if cranking speed is sufficient then that leaves lack of heat - often supplemented by the block heater as you mentioned. The glow plugs are visually evident on each head, as is the power bar that feeds them, a good indicator is the voltmeter reading quite low at key on b/4 cranking during the glow cycle &amp; then rising slightly when the light goes out, check for this &amp; perhaps test the power bar at the glow plugs for battery + voltage at key on with the glow plug lamp on. A Tech 2 &amp; fuel test port vacuum gauge would be my first tools of choice given these conditions.


Good luck, Todd.http://dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Approve.gifEdited by: Dieselholic

Thanks for the replys guys.


I just wanted to make sure I was doing everything I could do to prevent this.


As Todd mentioned (and others) it appears to be related to cylinder heat and not so much a fuel problem. Since plugging in the block heater seems to resolve (or prevent) the occurance.


Looks like it is time for it first trip bacl to the dealer.

I have seen computer related parts not work/work when hot or cold.

It sounds like ice is freezing in the filter. It gets a tiny bit of fuel sitting in the rails and smokes then nothing. Warm her up and she starts.

It could also be a sensor or computer.

When it doesnt throw a code it is difficult to fix.

Well, good news is its up and running again.


I was unable to pull my truck into a hanger since the FAA was there to visit today. So I brought my smaller 6500 watt generator along with me, plugged my block heater into it and the battery charger for about 1/2 an hour and she kicked right overhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clap.gif


Shut off and restarted a dozen times with no problems.


I will be calling the dealer here in a few minutes to get the Dmax in. I bought it at a GMC Truck exclusive dealership so they have an all night crew working. Hopefully they will have it ready tomorrow sometime.


I will certainly mention all the advice given above to them. Hope it does not pizz them off.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Ermm.gif





ERIC, did you find out what was wrong with the truck you were working on with the same problem as mine???

Your batteries were dead overnight? If so you likely froze them and now probably need new ones. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Cry.gif

Had that problem last year.Hair dryer on the fuel filter for about ten mins and started right up.Running primrose 409 this year ,no problems so far at-18.About 2 ozs per fillup

HD NAte,


That is one good looking truck! What did it take to ge the 285's on there . I just about bought those instead. Chickened out at the last minute. Does your truck have any issues with a 6.5" wide rim and those tires? Side to side on the freeway?

Your batteries were dead overnight? If so you likely froze them and now probably need new ones. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Cry.gif





NO.....I ran them down trying to start the Diesel. Service manager suspects low voltage to the glow plugs, maybe new plugs, or batteries.

HD NAte,


That is one good looking truck! What did it take to ge the 285's on there . I just about bought those instead. Chickened out at the last minute. Does your truck have any issues with a 6.5" wide rim and those tires? Side to side on the freeway?








Bronco,


Thanks, I've never been attached to a truck like I have this one.


This is my 3rd set of 285/75 Revo's and I will buy them again. Had them on the '96 3500 SRW and '97 Z71. Have yet to wear a set out so I'm not sure how long they last but have 20k+ on the Dmax so far and still looking good.


If you went to see my "Pictures" below you have seen some of the trailers I pull. These tires do great pulling and have little noticable flex empty or loaded. I run 55/50 PSI.


They are wearing very evenly, I rotate every 10k but may have to go to rotating at 5k. For some reason, the back tires are starting to wear out faster since I got the Juice/Attitudehttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Wink.gif


They fit fine on the 6.5's. The Firestone dealer I bought them from is a good friend, he said he has mounted hundreds of these with no problem.


I ran them for several weeks before I finally rubbed the inner fender well on a very hard left down a steep incline. I turned the torsion bars up 3 full turns, got about 1 inch out of that. Rides and handles fine, alignment was within spec.

HD-NATE, nice truck is that a corvette I see in the trailer (man after my own heart) about the tires any abs or trans related issues or was it necessary to reprogram the computer.


Thanks...

HD-NATE, nice truck is that a corvette I see in the trailer (man after my own heart) about the tires any abs or trans related issues or was it necessary to reprogram the computer.


Thanks...





Chalie,


Yes it is a 1965 Nassau Blue Coupe with White int.


Actually the 285's seem to work BETTER with the ABS. The week or so I had the 245's the ABS was kicking in at the slightest hard stop. Like the 245's were too small to handle the weight. The truck feels more firmly planted to the ground.


GM only has a flash to cover up to the 265's. My speedo is off about 5mph. There are aftermarket programs to correct this to the speedo but the fuel calc's are still off if I remember correctly.


My Juice/Attitude will show corrected speed but not on the speedo