93 hard start and noisy

[Firefarm]

I have a 93 that has a hard start issue. After the truck sits for a few minutes, it won't start without excessive cranking. If it sits overnight, it will not start at all unless you give it just a breath of ether. After it does start, the engine is louder than I remember and it sounds like it is running labored, like it is out of time. The problem happened all at once, so I can't believe it is a compression issue.

Is it possible that something happened to make screw up the timing???

[Jim P]

I have no experience with this but I have heard that sometimes a key shears off. I am not sure if it is on the camshaft or the crankshaft.

[DmaxMaverick]

Sounds like you lost a couple glow plugs, and the ether took out most of the remaining ones. Ether is a big no-no with glow plugs. Been there. Done that.

[tbuck]

Firefarm,
I had a similar problem with my '93. My truck had a hard time starting and after replacing glow plugs and injector (which I wanted to replace anyway in the future) I found out it was the lift(fuel) pump. My IP had enough lift to keep it running, but not enough to get it started.
I don't know how knowledgable you are with diesels, so if you already know how to check it, ignore the rest of my post.

A very easy way to check it is to hook up a jumper wire from the battery to the lift pump. On the '93 there is a disconnect at the firewall near the steering shaft. Just follow the wires from the pump to the engine compartment and you should be able to find it. Hook it up to the battery and you should hear the pump humming. Next crack open the air-bleed valve on top of your fuel filter and fuel should pump freely out of the top. If it is a slow trickle or nonexistant, that could be the source.
If I would have done this earlier, it would have saved me weeks of headaches

[cruzer]

Firefarm, look at the troubleshooting guide. Also
CK out past post by Buffalo guy and eazly. A more recent post is "Mystery wire connection,any ideas".

Id check lift pump operation,OPS, glowplugs and controller. The past post should be really helpful.

[eazly]

I would check glow plugs first. I had two glow plugs bad in my 93 and I would have to crank for a long time to get her started then she would run rough for ever until it warmed up. Use a test light to see if you have voltage at each glow plug. You may have a damaged wire or one could have came off. After verifing voltage at each glow plug test using a ohmmeter. Not exactly sure what the reading should be, it's been a while since I've done my test. It should see a significant amount of difference between a good plug and a bad one. If you don't have good access to the glow plugs, I suggest removing the inner fender. At least on the turbo side this will save some headache. GOOD LUCK

[Firefarm]

Thanks for the help everyone. It wound up being a combination of glow plugs and lift pump. Everything is back to normal now.