... Today, no start. She'll turn over fine but not fire. Albeit a little slower that what I remember (a little more that 100 RPM's). Yesterday each time I cranked it, the crank time would get longer and longer. But it would start and run with no issues. Checked for codes and got nothing. Passenger side battery shows the green dot, drivers side is dark. Both with no corrosion on the posts. Both batteries are OE with 175,000 on the odometer. I'm hoping that it's the batteries and nothing else. I've searched the site for long crank times and read the responses. My problem is, I'm staying with friends in San Clemente looking for a place here. My tools are at my house in Anza and my friends are in the process of moving to AZ and have already moved their tools to their new place. So, I'm limited in what I can do to check for other problems. Ideas, suggestions?

 

Stop by one of the do it yourself parts houses , have them do a load test on both batteries & starter .
Those colored dots are useless .
With more info , find the date code on the batteries , melted into the top plastic case on side .
04 , you may be at the end of the life's of the batteries [ average about 5 yrs. ] , do not replace just one , when they are connected , they are only as good as the worst cell .
In an emergency , if one is bad and the other so-so , completely disconnect the bad one , insulate the ends [ so as to not ground out ] , you may be able to just run for a while till the other goes .
Do not let the engine turn over slow , because of bad battery , connection what ever , that takes the life out of the starter .

 

Jumped it off with another Dodge and got it over to Kragen to get the batteries tested. Tested fine, and alternator is working well also. On the way over I noticed that my check engine light was on. Pulled the codes at Kragen and had two. P0480 Fan 1 Control Circuit and P0243 Wastegate Pressure Control PWM. Not sure if the 0243 would prevent it from starting quickly or not. The only difference in my driving was that the day before it started I was driving through the snow, wet snow, that had a bunch of snow packed under the truck. Not sure if that would get moisture in something to short it out or not. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

I just had to replace my batteries yesterday I only got 3 years out of mine 50K miles. I also had them load tested and after they did that I was throwing 2 codes P1755 and another one about a bad shim key? I replaced the batteries cleared the codes with my Smarty and everything is good now. WalMart had ever starts for $70 not sure if those are good batteries or not but I figured Walmarts are everywhere so if I have a problem I should be ok.

 

Thanks for the responses so far. Couple more questions. I also had to drive through some deep flowing water (we got a lot of rain here in SoCal this week) and have read the responses about contaminated fuel and new injectors. If water got into the fuel tank, wouldn't the WIF light come on? Just changed my fuel filter about 2000 miles ago.

When I took it to Kragen to check the batteries, we tested them still connected. Would a bad battery read good because it was hooked to the good one? Do they need to be disconnected to check them? Also, when I jumped it off with the other Dodge, it still needed to turn over a while before it started. That's why I'm thinking that it's not the batteries. I'm just looking for help here. I'm hoping it's not the injectors. Out of warranty and close to Christmas, I can't afford to replace them now but I need my truck for my horse haulin'.

 

YES! They have to be disconnected to get a TRUE reading.

 

On a side note: My truck was having a No Start issue here recently, and I was not getting a check engine light either. However, I do have the luxury of having a TST with a Rail Pressure gauge, and I was able to look at rail pressure as I was cranking as mine sounded like a no compression type of no start. And for a diesel to have "no compression" I figured no fuel was being injected into the cylinders. I (and a few members here on the board ) were able to figure it out. I got some tips it MAY have been the crankshaft position sensor. Well, I did not want to spend $60-$70 on something that MAY NOT fix it, but fourtune struck again. Check Engine Light came on. Ran it. Crankshaft Postion Sensor! Changed it out, and seems to be fine now...hopefully

 

Get some testing done , fuel pressure , ect.
As far as codes go , do not replace anything with out direct testing , the codes only indicate that the computer is not seeing the correct info from the given circumstances , as an example the PO243 , the computer expects to see a certain readings from that sensor , such as when the engine is trying to start and it may expect to see the waste gate closed , if it was open then it will set a code , at that point you need to find why something was out of spec. , it would seem that you have 2 unrelated codes , now that you have them recorded , have the codes cleared , to see if they come back , they may be from a long time ago , and have nothing to do with whats going on now .
Then if they do come back , then they are part of what is going on .
I like to confirm all tests [ test at least twice ] then when you think you have it fixed , test again .
Most sensors related to movement , require a scope , so you may want to have some one that has the right equipment & knowledge to do , doing it right the 1st time , most often is cheaper than throwing parts at it , till it works .

 

Yeah, I know about testing codes. Today I pulled a P0128 (thermostat rationality). It was around 50º outside and because the front of the truck was in the sun the overhead read 74º when I went to start it. That code will go away. I've used starting fluid to start it. I know, I know, I shouldn't be using it, but I had to go and pick up a horse today and needed to use my truck. I turn the key on, wait for the wait to start light to go out, spray a wee bit on the filter, wait for a little bit for the heater to cool off, and start it. No issues yet. Really don't need to blow my intake off. After running all day the truck turns over at around 200 RPM but won't start. Gotta get it in to be checked tomorrow. Hopefully won't be too much to fix it.

 

The best way to use starting fluid , is disable the preheat system as our trucks , disconnect relay that turns it on , same with glow plugs in other systems .
Then the next is getting to intake [ at manifold ] , " have a can of starting fluid that sprays a very fine mist , not a squirt " , then as the starter starts turning the engine over [ 1 person at key an other under hood ] , just put as small a puff of the misting to intake , the reasoning here is that it takes very little to do the job and also depending on the engine [ some will not take much , other manufactures ] , but make sure to let off before you here the heavy knocking .
Are fixed / running again ? with that sensor .