Diesel Help Please

[phillipq266]

i know a lot of you guys have diesel iam hoping you can help
i just got a 1988 ford f250 diesel truck put new batterys in ect
it sit not runing for a while i put fresh fuel in it new batterys ect
i can get it started after playing with it a while it runs great for about 3 -4 min then just dies for no resion and i have to start all over can someone give me a clue as to whats wrong.
i tryed priming the system notshure if i did it right .
Thanks for any help you can give

[phillipq266]

the diesel engine is a 7.3 forgot to tell you guys that

[frank-id]

The Ford/Intl 7.3 is a great engine but a few items must be in order.
Diesel engine need only clean air and clean fuel. The 7.3 can loose prime if the engine has been parked with no engine activity. The 1988 Ford diesel is not a computor engine. The 7.3 has a history of destroying the glow plugs and the controller relay. The best glow plugs are the Boshe plugs. The glow plug controller/relay is very expensive. My Ford 350 controller/relay has been removed for about 3 years. The first start of each day, starting fluid is used to wake up the engine. Starting fluid and glow plugs is a bad combination as the glow plugs will ignite the start fluid prematurely. If the controller is disabled, start fluid may be used only if the engine is turning. Do not spray start fluid into a stopped engine then attempt to spin the engine. If the engine is turning and even running, start fluid can continue to be sprayed into air cleaner or intake. Fuel and air. Remove air cleaner. Loosen fuel line fitting into fuel filter on top of engine. Jumper the starter solenoid under hood to be near the action. Operate the starter and observe the inlet fuel.
Fuel should be escaping with a good flow with NO air bubbles. Tighten fuel line. Have a helper turn key to engage starter. As engine is turning add a few short bursts of start fluid. Engine should start but continue to spray start fluid for about 30-60 seconds. Observe engine operation. If engine stops as fluid is discontinued, check for other faults. The tank selection valve maybe defective, fuel filter is very old and glogged or the fuel pump is defective. Old diesel engine are hard to kill, as they will run until the last pound of compression is gone. If there is lots of fuel, the engine condition should be tested with a compression guage. Compression should be at or above 450 psi at each cylinder. For diesels are very fussy about the coolant/water solution to prevent cylinder erosion. Get a few coolant test strips and check coolant chemistry. The engine should have a coolant filter also. Frank