Hard to start and sometimes white smoke

Over the last week I've been having trouble starting the truck. It won't start after sitting for a couple of hours with out priming the fuel system. Doesn't sound like any air is in the system.
So I need to key it on 2-3 times to get it started. But if I only do it once it'll start but with white smoke. But when done 3+ times no white smoke that I've done it.
I've let it sit 24hrs and have popped the top fuel cap off and there's fuel in the bowl.
I'm maintaining FRP WOT 25-26k on both 310 and 275 tunes with 57-5800 idle.
I'm also not loosing any noticeable amount of coolant either. Along with no DTCs whatsoever.
My batteries are good both read 12 volts and the starter is good as well.

I'm hoping to chalk this up as bad fuel as I filled up at a station I've never filled up at. I'll be throwing some additive in tomorrow when I fill up.


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I would check your oil and make sure theres no diesel in the oil... check for blowby too maybe? Just to eliminate possibilities...

have you checked your water seperator?

jdgleason said:

I would check your oil and make sure theres no diesel in the oil... check for blowby too maybe? Just to eliminate possibilities...

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I'll check the oil tomorrow but I'm sure I just randomly checked it recently and no increase in the level. But will check again.
As far a blowby I did a ccv re route about a 3 weeks ago and I'll take a video of it and post it up tomorrow as well. If there is excessive blowby you think a cylinder is washed or rings gone bad?

Shone I did like over a week ago but not since I filled up before the hurricane came through last weekend. Ill drain it out tomorrow as well as the above mentioned.


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eric.davis said:

I'll check the oil tomorrow but I'm sure I just randomly checked it recently and no increase in the level. But will check again.
As far a blowby I did a ccv re route about a 3 weeks ago and I'll take a video of it and post it up tomorrow as well. If there is excessive blowby you think a cylinder is washed or rings gone bad?

Shone I did like over a week ago but not since I filled up before the hurricane came through last weekend. Ill drain it out tomorrow as well as the above mentioned.


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Just off the wall suggestion really. Seems like you have a lot of troubleshooting covered. Symptoms seem possible though.

Checking then fuel bowl was craig's idea.
But on to the possible symptoms with washed cylinder or rings would this be caused by an injector going bad or normal wear rapidly increased by running the race tunes since they were released.
And this should be able to be diagnosed with IDS or doing a compression test I'm assuming.


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Did you load test the batterys? 12v doesnt tell you anything without a load

WoodBoy said:

Did you load test the batterys? 12v doesnt tell you anything without a load

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I did with my battery charger. But I still don't understand the white smoke on start ups. Unless a possible crack in intercooler making excessive moisture build up because it doesn't last more than a couple minutes.

I'll also check fuses tomorrow as well might have a short

eric.davis said:

I did with my battery charger. But I still don't understand the white smoke on start ups. Unless a possible crack in intercooler making excessive moisture build up because it doesn't last more than a couple minutes.

I'll also check fuses tomorrow as well might have a short

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Good call. Check your boots too. It could be moisture build up in pipes too.

Well I filled up last night with 27.5 gal. And added 16oz of additive before filling up. Went to start the truck this morning and no issues starting or white smoke. Got off of work truck had sat for about 9hrs and started right up with no smoke. I'll wait a couple days to ensure that fuel was the whole issue.

Just my 2 cents I would check it out with an IDS. I have one that started rough and smoked white - now that you mention it i think it was usually the first 2 of 3 times started in the morning. Maybe part of engine management strategy?

All looked good (data/pids), but power balance showed one drop out most of the time first few minutes of run time. Relative compression test on IDS showed one cyl 12% down and teardown revealed intake valve impressions on the 4 rear holes, #5-8.

Cause of miss/white smoke (for this one) = low compression from a cyl #5 intake valve leaking. Visually the head looks perfect, but solvent leaks out when poured down intake port.

Glad we found it before the valve came loose and wrecked pistons or the block completely. Just wish I knew why there was valve to piston contact in the first place.

If the IDS hadn't caught it would have certainly gone down the road a while longer. Something to think about

Just my 2 cents.

By the way. Love your truck Eric.