2006 6.0 diesel hates starting in the cold mornings

[BroncoHauler]

Plugging in a diesel is great, but always leave yourself a reminder (note, something attached to the steering wheel,...) to unplug before driving away.


Herb

[Jeffrey]

Darn, I can't plug-in when I'm camping, which is where the temps are the coldest for me. Still, I've started just fine around zero degrees in the past while covered in snow. I did a lot happy dance that morning!

[daveb]

On my 6.0 I can even tell a difference starting it in weather as mild as 40*. If I run my Espar for 15 minutes to warm the engine it turns over easier and runs smoother during the first few minutes.

[darkstar66]

My van cranks just fine. Batteries are solid. Just does not like the cold start. I plugged in this evening and I am hoping for the best.

[carringb]

Originally Posted by darkstar66

My van cranks just fine. Batteries are solid. Just does not like the cold start. I plugged in this evening and I am hoping for the best.

Time to check both your supply fuel pressure (cold fuel will make a plugged fuel system even worse) and your ICP pressure and duty cycle. Low ICP and/or high duty cycle means you're losing oil pressure somewhere in the injection system, or its starved because the HPOP sump screen is plugged with debris.

Also check your cranking FICM voltage. If that's low injectors won't work either.

[JWA]

Originally Posted by Jeffrey

Darn, I can't plug-in when I'm camping, which is where the temps are the coldest for me. Still, I've started just fine around zero degrees in the past while covered in snow. I did a lot happy dance that morning!

In that situation would having a small generator like a Honda work to warm a block heater in the mornings?

[jwplunkett]

If I may
- Suggestions :
1) Check to determine if this model year has a Metal fuel tank .. if does Well documented known Factory delamination of lining inside Tank ... Loose material then gets into the Diesel fuel system and it's Down hill from this point forward
I had this FORD OEM failure .. note buying a NEW OEM metal fuel tank has same inner lining failure issues so will occur again after miles
I choose to take Existing Metal fuel tank to Radiator get it boil cleaned
Then KBS-Coatings Fuel Tank repair Kit
FIXED for Long Term .. most happy with end result

Hope this helps

If plastic fuel tank = No issues at present

[whatpants]

I have a 2009 6.0 diesel and live in Canada and I've had to trouble shoot this problem. I changed the FCIM because I had low and inconsistant voltages, that was the biggest fix.
Here is a checklist and some things you can try:
-FICM voltage at 48V.
-Battery voltage resting above 12.4v - if not, swap batteries or plug in charger with block heater. I swapped to northstar pure lead agm.
-Alternator? These engines are really hard on alternators because of the massive draw from the glow plugs. The vans have the smaller body alternator and can easly be swapped for the truck alternator (by easy I mean it's a direct swap, don't expect to have any knuckle skin left)
-Block heater plugged in for 90 minutes, remember it's a ~1300W heater that has to heat 24L of collant, 14L of Oil and 900lb block
-Turbo cleaned - I wondered if some gunk needed to be heated up before the vanes would slide
-Switch to synthic if you don't have too many miles. Synthentics have better consistancy over a wider temperature range.
-Check glow plugs, I had a shop test them it, cylinder 8 had low voltage, I never did replace it but I should
-Upgrade the battery cables. I ran an additional 00 cable from the battery to the alternator and to the starter. I also cleaned the grounds.
-Fuel filters, there are 2 of them, one beside the alternator and one under the van. The one under the van can be drained to remove water off the bottom.
-Run injector cleaner. Hope that your injectors are working properly, replacing them is expensive.
-Last but not least, Winter Fuel or an additive. Up here they start adding anti-gel to all diesel fuel in November. I got in trouble once because I had October fuel in January.

Here is my theory with the cold and these trucks:
-Cold is hard on batteries
-Crappy cables make it hard for a small alternator to charge batteries mounted far away
-Small alternator doesn't work well
-FCIM gets low voltage and craps out
-Dead FCIM kills injectors