diesel starter "issue".....

[Mister Fiberglass]

anyone heard of a starter "skipping" ONLY during the cold weather AND THEN only when the motor is cold toooo?

This is a '94 with 200k miles on it - NEVER a problem with this during warmer weather.

Your thoughts?

[ol ron]

Me thinks you are not letting the intake air heating grid cycle long enough to extinguish the "wait to start" light. You must wait to start untill the indicator is out. This warms the air in the manifold and should prevent the skip you hear, which really isn't a skip, but a pressure from the crankshaft trying to kick the starter back because it cannot provide normal rotational aid to the starter. It's too cold to fire, so it pushes back against the starter.
Ron

[Mister Fiberglass]

Sorry ron..........that I missed your post. I have waited - then the wait lite goes out - how long after depends on how cold it is (this is correct - right?) THEN I hit the key and it does it. I have NOT checked that heating grid to see if it operating being honest with 'ya...........it does run a little rough - much rougher than my 98 24 valve.

[ol ron]

Sounds like your grid relay is not functioning, or the grid has been damaged or is now electrically open. No current flow through the grid equals no pre-heat. Mine did it once at mius 28 degrees, but the grid did work, just the inrush of cold air made it run rough for a short time. How's you fuel pressure? Have it checked.
Ron

[Mister Fiberglass]

is there an EZ test for this? fuel pressure check?