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6.5 Chevy Cheyenne 3500 Stalling and No-start

Ok Gang.. after two days of chasing grounds i hope i have them all. The two main ones i saw on the motor top were secure and tight but I took them off anyways and I took a round wire brush and put it in my drill and got everything off of them and put them back on very tightly. There was also a couple of them that had these ribbon anchors I guess they might be called? It looked like basically a wire without a coating on it. I took those off as well and did the same with those. One of them on the left side of the motor passenger side came out with a bunch of oil on it I'm not sure if that's supposed to be the way it is but I assume it's the case because it looks like it goes down into the motor so I just cleaned the oil and debris off of it and put it back in securely there was no change when I turned the key it still cycles fast the light does not stay on and the truck will not start. I really wish I could find out why that light cycles so fast I can't wait to find the answer I don't know what other grounds I can find I'm not a mechanic per se so I don't really know how many grounds but I'm sure there's thousands of grounds on this truck I did the best I could do with the ground situation I think I need to move on to something else possibly I don't really know if there's grounds underneath the truck or what. I also did not take off the starter because the starter fires up very quickly and I just replaced and rebuilt the starter two years ago everything was really tight when I did that and I live in a climate where there's no snow or salt on the roads I don't even see any rust underneath my truck whatsoever so to save myself from taking the starter off and checking the ground unless somebody suggests that I have to do this I don't think that's a necessary days worth of work for me. I'll start reading the comments and see what the next suggestion was
 
Will L. said:
Ok, possibly more than one issue here.
Gonna jump to the black smoke. If that was a one time thing, or only happens after a no start issue- don’t sweat it. If it happens often it can be something worth dealing with, so you need to clarify that. Either way- move it to last on the list AFTER you verify we are not dealing with a plugged or collapsed air filter, animal nest int the intake plenum, etc. So no $ to spend just verify clear airflow.


The Grounds. Remove battery cables, clean the ends. Then the ground wires on the engine- negative battery cable, and the harness n the engine- especially the grounds back by the transmission on passenger side. Could be someone moved them, we already know soem electrical has been messed with by some one not doing everything right. You must remove and clean the rings and the bolt they go to.
Spend an hour just following the harness and make sure they are all clean.
Write a list of everything you see that is questionable in the electric system- pictures help a lot.

Not always thrown in there but in your case we are fighting a couple issues, so consider dropping the positive bates cable off starter for cleaning and inspection. Look over the starter solenoid for cracks/ damage.

Once all that is back together except the battery ground cable (always last to go back on anyways), you need a multi meter for testing amperage. I hate the harbor freight $5 meter- but if your broke it is ok for this use- NEVER use it on house power even though it says it is rated for it- they are not trustworthy and can kill you. Hopefully you already own a good meter. Search YouTube or bitchute for “parasitic draw test”. Watch a few different ones because some people miss a step- like open doors etc. I can explain steps of testing but watching a video is probably better.

Solve the electrical draw problem first, it might be the cause of the hard starts.
Incase you find it is something unrelated - next deal with hard start.

Putting in a set of ac delco 60g is not recommended until you have bench tested the old ones to verify they are bad. Use your battery charger with glow plug to see they get red hot in. Couple seconds. Always put antisieze in threads when reinstalling.
You have other things to test for the hard start- fuel system, but because you mentioned glow light time, i want to throw this out here first and keep in electrical system.

Doing all this will take a few hours, respond back with findings, and we can cover the fuel system next.

Handling one step at a time will be crucial here.
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Ok brother ive done everything but the plugs test.. to ll do it today and report back... I have a question. Ive had the truck for 7 yrs and never cleaned the injectors. How often does this need to be done? Also, can you think of anything that causes the rapid glow plug cycling except for faulty plugs that i can check? Ive actually unplugged 2 glows and forgot to plug them back in before on this truck but it still started fine. Had forgotten about that for like 2 months till i was washing it one day and looked behind the mud flap and saw 2 dangeling grey plugs. I dont know if there's a specific order fro plugs but i did plug them back in n. I assume they all take the same siggnal and heat simultaneously
 
So one thing that comes to mind on the glow plugs. If the power to the PCM is disconnected the PCM gives a short glow time when initially powered back up. What I'm wondering is if you have a power issue or a faulty PCM
 
The two wire temp sensor relays to ecm how cold the engine is, and therefore how long plugs need to operate. Then ecm has that info into an algorithm. So those two counld affect it.
Then the relay itself, the fuseable link wires from the relay to the plugs. Those could be faulty.

But those parts causing it would rare.
 
time to pull and check all your glow plugs. might as well replace them while your in there. it's possible there might be a short on one of the glow wires. pull the passenger inner fender out and look around the turbo down pipe. there is a high heat area that wires can be easily melted and short out. mine has a issue where everything I have done only will give me 5 seconds on the glow plugs. I never figured it out. so after I verified nothing was shorted and the glow plug controller was good. I bought a programmable time delay relay from amazon and set it up on the key on to drive the glow plugs for 8 seconds. that fixed my starting problems.

I know it's not the right thing to do, but for me, it's a band-aid fix until I can figure out the issue (I think is PCM related). once you have verified all glow plugs are good, controller is good, and there are no wiring issues going to the plugs. try the screw driver shorting across the two large bolt connections on the controller, hold it for max of 10 seconds then key on let PCM do the short cycle and crank.

when you pull the old glows out, mark them for each cylinder they came from, bench test them one by one with a battery and some jumper cables. threaded body is ground and spade connector is positive. when testing them only for about 5 seconds they should glow red hot on the tips. if they are at all swollen don't even test, replace them.
 
Injectors are an always replace on 100k mile intervals. the passenger side are not easy to get to, so be ready to pull the turbo and break a few bolts! if the turbo has never been off, I'd soak them in some good penetrating oil for a couple of days before trying to loosen them. mainly the 4 studs with nuts on bottom. order a new turbo mounting gasket and oil drain gasket too if you plan to pull. also check the condition of the rubber hose on the oil drain line, might be a good time to replace that too for preventive maintenance.

But, before you decide to replace injectors, it's best to figuring out the no start issue first.
 
dbrannon79 said:
Injectors are an always replace on 100k mile intervals. the passenger side are not easy to get to, so be ready to pull the turbo and break a few bolts! if the turbo has never been off, I'd soak them in some good penetrating oil for a couple of days before trying to loosen them. mainly the 4 studs with nuts on bottom. order a new turbo mounting gasket and oil drain gasket too if you plan to pull. also check the condition of the rubber hose on the oil drain line, might be a good time to replace that too for preventive maintenance.

But, before you decide to replace injectors, it's best to figuring out the no start issue first.
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Ok i agree
 
I bought the license copy of GMTDscan and made me a cable to use my laptop. the free version will let you read codes and data but in a limited form. I have also considered one of those Chinese versions of the tech 2 on flea-bay like Thefermanator posted about. nit sure if the tech 2 can do more than GMTDscan, though I have heard you can use the tech 2 to flash changes to the PCM
 
I was not impressed with the GMTD at all. We have a real Tech2 here at the shop and its my go to for any OBD1 GMs. I just used it on a 94 that is having hard starting issues due to a worn injection pump. I was able to determine that by the closer time being REALLY high in data.
 
Rockabillyrat said:
Do your self a favor and get someone with a OBD1 scanner to read codes and data for you. Its and electronically controlled diesel, without a scan tool its all just guess work.
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I have pulled the codes with a jumper. But i assume scan tool would have more data correct? Im just burnt out with chasing gremlins and there are sooo many suggestions. Im overwhelmed. I will just buy a scan tool. I cant find a mechanic i trust. Much less pay for the tow, hourly rate to hose me down, parts..ect. i may as well find a obd2 scan tool used and try to fig it out if i can. I need to just s ll this hunk of trash. Its cost me so much frustration and now my job
 
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