06 Ford F350 PSD no start- nothing

[norty1]

Last trip we stopped at a rest area after 4 hours of hot driving and I let it idle a few minutes, turned it off to eat and walk the dogs. We were ready to go and nothing happened when the start was attempted. No clicks, no starter. All gauges were normal. Battery voltage good, etc.

Getting a little worried in 95 deg heat. 40 minutes later it started normally and we finished our trip. Returned home with no problems.

Looking all over truck forums and led to a Neutral Safety Switch problem?

Next trip, we completed the trip out but the truck would not start again. I put it in Neutral and it started up. I could not get a mechanic to look at it before we left. Drove all the way home and it would not start in my yard when I went to park it.

Getting a little tired of this. 1 hour later, it started up normally.

I have an appointment with my regular mechanic next week.

No more long trips until this is found and fixed!!!!!

Any ideas?

[Shokyle1]

I have had vehicles in the past not start when hot. It was the starter. You can get a test light and when it is acting up have someone try to start it and check for signal to the starter solenoid. If you have power to the signal it is the starter.

[oldmanAZ]

Oops! Just re-read your post, please ignore my post below. If it was a 'dummy plug' prioblem, the engine would crank, but not fire. Sorry!



Norty1
The usual 'hot start' issue for the 6.0 is o-rings on the 'dummy plugs'. Do some Google searches using 'dummy plugs'. Also check articles from DieselTechRon.

In brief...
The PSD needs a minimum oil pressure before the engine fires. The o-rings on the dummy plugs wear and oil leaks back into the crankcase. When the oil is cooler, the oil is 'thicker', so leakage is less and pressure gets above the minimum and the engine fires.


I had my 'dummy plug' work done last year.

[Vasquez Kid]

Originally Posted by Shokyle1

I have had vehicles in the past not start when hot. It was the starter. You can get a test light and when it is acting up have someone try to start it and check for signal to the starter solenoid. If you have power to the signal it is the starter.

X2. I've seen this to be the culprit, for me, in the past as well.

Good luck Norty. Hopefully it's a quick diagnosis and not too expensive of a repair for you.

[norty1]

Starter and batteries are less than :2 years old. HP oil pump replaced 3 years ago.
Hope it’s not not to costly. $$$&$

[Magnolia Tom]

With the dummy plug issue, the truck would crank but not start. Since Norty says he got no crank no nothing, I would lean more to the neutral safety switch. After owning 3 different 6.0l vehicles, the one thing I learned is when you have to go in for one of the usual suspects of failure, you might as well do all the other upgrades while you’re in there because there usually isn’t any extra labor involved, only the price of the parts.

Hopefully you have a good mechanic that knows the 6.0 well.

[norty1]

I wish I knew where it was? I ran it up on blocks this afternoon and tomorrow, I will roll under there and look at all the wiring to the starter.

I'm to fat to get under it when on the pavement.

[JFlightRisk]

The neutral safety switch will give that symptom. I'm old enough (not tellin') to remember Fords with automatic transmissions, that you had to reach over the steering column with your left hand and pull up the shift lever, then turn the key with your right. Otherwise it wouldn't do anything. I wonder if yours has that same neutral switch problem. You did say it started OK when you put it in neutral first?

[JFlightRisk]

Norty, check this out on You Tube, It may be your situation, not the NSS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD9AhzZOCcY

[Magnolia Tom]

Norty

The previous post reminded me of the same problem we had with our 2000 Excursion. Does your shift lever have any slop in it? Ours did and when we put it in park, the needle on the PRNDL wasn’t exactly on the “p” causing the same no start problem. Turned out there was a loose screw on the column that caused the issue.

https://youtu.be/BkeKECBvjXU

[Magnolia Tom]

Originally Posted by JFlightRisk

Norty, check this out on You Tube, It may be your situation, not the NSS.

Lol! You beat me to it!

[JFlightRisk]

Originally Posted by Magnolia Tom

Lol! You beat me to it!

I was using three fingers typing. LOL

[JFlightRisk]

Norty, did you find anything on the starting issue?

[Magnolia Tom]

Curious as well

[norty1]

Originally Posted by JFlightRisk

Norty, check this out on You Tube, It may be your situation, not the NSS.

I checked this out last week. Mine was tight and not the problem.

[norty1]

The 2nd time it cranked ok in N. The 3rd time it would not do anything in park or neutral but after a hour, it started normally.
I’m taking it to my regular mechanic this week but had to postpone due to family illness. I’ll keep y’all posted and eagerly try any other ideas.
I did pull it up on blocks and checked all connections on the starter and battery.

[Magnolia Tom]

Thanks for the update

[norty1]

I still can’t find out if the neutral safety is a relay or part of the transmission?

[Magnolia Tom]

Originally Posted by norty1

I still can’t find out if the neutral safety is a relay or part of the transmission?

I believe the correct answer is "it depends". (But you probably already knew that)

Some have it under the steering column while others have it in the transmission (on the side of it). If you call your local Ford parts dealer with your info, you can find out for sure. Or go to Auto nation White bear lake parts and enter your vin to get the correct part number

Edit: quick search looks like it is on the side. Here's the part number I found
fl7lz-7f293-ab

[JFlightRisk]

Yea, thanks for updating. It does lean towards the neutral safety, since your linkage is OK. There's not a lot left, except the ignition switch, itself. Good luck, and let us know.