kccourtney
Observer
Hey y'all. Just wondering if anyone can shed light on this. For quite a while our '99 7.3 van has a hard time starting at altitude, in the cold, and obviously those two go hand in hand. Anything above 5000' and I better bring some starter fluid with me. She'll start up okay in the middle of the day if she was running a couple hours ago but in the morning at around 7000'-8000', forget it.
Lately, it's actually shown a bit of a struggle just starting at sea level if she hasn't been running for a day or two. Nothing major, just takes a couple seconds longer than it should to fire up. I'm not an engine expert but figured it was either glow plugs or (god forbid) injectors. Air filter's totally clean. I'm thinking that since she'll start when it's warm, that maybe it's the plugs or maybe the heating element that is supposed to kick in when you turn the key to "acc" isn't working. She's only got about 150k in the rear view mirror so, relatively fresh. I'm not super put out by using starter fluid a handful of times per year but we all know it's not great to make a practice of it. Besides, I want to get to the underlying issue.
Anyhoo, I know there's a lot of folks on here with grease under their nails so if you have any insight, I'd appreciate. Thanks in advance.
Lately, it's actually shown a bit of a struggle just starting at sea level if she hasn't been running for a day or two. Nothing major, just takes a couple seconds longer than it should to fire up. I'm not an engine expert but figured it was either glow plugs or (god forbid) injectors. Air filter's totally clean. I'm thinking that since she'll start when it's warm, that maybe it's the plugs or maybe the heating element that is supposed to kick in when you turn the key to "acc" isn't working. She's only got about 150k in the rear view mirror so, relatively fresh. I'm not super put out by using starter fluid a handful of times per year but we all know it's not great to make a practice of it. Besides, I want to get to the underlying issue.
Anyhoo, I know there's a lot of folks on here with grease under their nails so if you have any insight, I'd appreciate. Thanks in advance.