for a while now i have had issues with cold starting. the truck just doesnt want to start.
i was told to check the fuel pressure and i had the pressure checked by the dealership, and it had good pressure, they also took off the fuel rails and injectors to make sure that they were still spraying and all of them were spraying fine.
so they finally told me that i might need to get a block heater installed if the issue persisted. which they gave me quote for around $600.
which i dont want to spend!
so this is whats happening.
fuel pressure is good.
injectors are good.
sending unit is good.
got good spark.
and got over 100lbs of pressure in all 8 cylinders.
it takes a while for it to start if it is cold. if i ran it and parked it. then came back out like say 4 hours later it will still start.
if i come home from work go to bed and wake up and try to start it. it takes a while for it to start.
im baffeled, the dealership is baffeled.
i dont know what else to do other than break down and spend the 600 and have a block heater installed. which again i dont want to do cuz its going to be a pain having to plug it in every day.
can someone shed some light on my issue?
please?

 

so i took my d over to a friends house today and we were tinkering under the hood to try to figure out whats been going on with the starting issues. and the only thing we found that may be causing a problem is that,
1. my belt tentioner is ceased, not the pully the spring tentioner.
2. my cap and rotor are corrotted, the terminals on the inside of the cap are all green, and theres only a small spot where we could see that the rotor has been connecting with it.
so im going to order the belt tentioner and a tune up kit from rock auto and hope for the best.
im not going to do what the dealership told me cuz there just ignoring the issue, i want to fix the problem, i dont want to try to install a block heater and hope for the best.
so if anyones got any input it would be nice!!!

 

Where do you live? Block heater doesn't sound like the right fix



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Are you serious - you took it in for a starting problem, and the Stealership did not even look at the ignition system?

Man you need to post who this Stealership is - so NO-ONE ever goes there again... This is freaking horrible service - a total lack of any knowledge what so ever...

Do the tune up, replace that spring and give us an update... Make sure your plugs are gapped correctly - I just did a tune up on a 5.2l ram van and the plugs were burned to like a .60 when they were supposed to be a .40... made a huge difference in that engine...

 

if your cap contacts are all corroded im willing to bet that replacing that will help the problem significantly

 

well first off, i live in silvercreek ny. its about a half hour s/w of buffalo ny.
the stealership i took it to is "farrel dodge" in fredonia ny.
and yea they didnt look at the ignition. cuz they said they pulled my wire going to my cap and tested it for voltage and it was reading, so i guess they totally skipped the cap and rotor and pluggs.
i know the plugs are good in fact there brand new. about a month or so ago. brand new autolite copper plugs. and i checked em all there gapped perfectely.
so i ordered my tune up kit and belt tentioner from rock auto. we will see how long this order takes to come in. it took over a month for my last order to come but that had to be shipped freight. fenders and inner, hood, bumper and cover, took em quite a while to get that to me!
but where i live it starts to get cold around middle to end of september and the cold lasts to end of may. and yea they wanted me to get a block heater installed.
they said " some older engines need to be warmed in cold climates for them to start"
and i wasnt born yesterday.
but ill get that stuff done and ill let yall know how it goes!

 

I know you said your fuel pressure is good, but you could try turning the key to on, then back to off, then back to on and try to start it. The check valve in my fuel pump is going bad and it doesn't always keep pressure in the fuel system after it sits for a while. Sometimes it'll start right up, other times it'll crank for almost 5 seconds before it starts. I've been doing the "key dance" thing with it for a quite a while now and it starts fine every time doing that.

 

if the truck worked properly for the last 12 years you should NOT need a block heater now all of a sudden

 

i know im not getting the block heater. it just seemed like the dealer didnt do a through job at all. and they just threw me a curve when they said i needed a block heater. and yes i tried the key dance back and forth actuially i did it quite a few times and it didnt help. the other day here we had a day when temps reached 70 again and i had to run to the store, and after it sitting all night and part of the day it started right up. but ever since it has been cold and i have still had problems with it not wanting to start. and im still waiting for my package to come in from rock auto. so i wont know if the tentioner and the cap and rotor are the culprit. but we will see.
i hope its something simple,
i was searching on other dodge forums and a few ppl have had similar problems, but they ended up having to replace there pcm. after they had replaced there sending units and all there sensors and cap and rotor. i hope i dont have to replace a ton of parts befor i find out whats causing this problem.