Diesel truck issues

[Drillbit]

Ok, my 05 dodge diesel won't start today. It did this one other day this year but i blamed it on me leaving stuff plugged in and the battery being weak. This is a southern car so it didn't come with a block heater. It's warmed up to the 40's so i would think it would start now but it won't (the battery was still weakish from me trying to start it earlier) Do i need to spring for a block heater? fuel additives? check my batteries?

 

[az_max]

anti-gel agent in the fuel, clean/replace water seperator, Check glow plugs if you have them. And block heaters if you like a nice, warm cab


edit: no glow plugs, but heater grid:

http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/6-7l-powertrain/28187-no-glow-plugs.html

 

[fosterchild420]

drillbit--you have hit my specialty.

Is it spining over and not firing off or is just dead to the world? Unless it has millions of miles on it the block heater should not effect it starting in temps above 20 degrees F. Those engines are tested to -20f to start without a heater. the other thing is the check engine light on? i did have one come in about 6 months ago with a no start condition, check engine light showing a code for bad key (transponder key). that one took forever to figure out because the key was fine, the reciever was bad.

 

[Drillbit]

It turns over and acts like it wants to start but then wont and the batterys lose juice quickly. The check engine light wasn't on before but is now (i hooked up cables to it and it finaly started) Same thing happened last time it died, CEL light was on for a day then went away. truck has 117k so its not high mileage.

 

[Drillbit]

5.9 not 6.7

 

[crown14]

check both ends of the battery cables

 

[fosterchild420]

crown has a good point: check your cable ends. Low voltage to the PCM will shut it down. Next check you ground strap to the engine block.

Just thought of something else, how old are those batteries? i have had 2 of these trucks come in with a bad cell in one of the batteries, causing them to pull the other battery down. That could be the cause of the batteries going down fast.

Also, is there any chance you could have gotten bad fuel/water in the fuel? How long has it been since the filter was changed?

i should probably email you because i could post 50 pages trying to sort thru all the possibilities i am looking at on tech connect right now.

 

[Drillbit]

I havent tried to start the truck today but I filled up last night and added some fuel additive that is supposed to help on cold start. I will check the battery connections. I bought the truck this summer and the batterys were in it. If I have more problems I will have them tested. I had my oild changed about 2 months ago and they checked my filter off as ok. I will see what happens today update this.

 

[TN-LR3]

Marty, I would register on www.cumminsforum.com for help with your CTD ( I'm tncumminsguy on there)