96 7.3 hard start and white smoke when cold

F350stroker · May 16, 2015

My 96 7.3 will puff lots of white smoke while cranking when it is cold and is quite hard to start. It will crank and crank and crank then fire and romp once or twice then die again, then crank and crank and crank with the white smoke. I have an e fuel system on it and it will fire right up when it is warm but after it sits it is really hard to start. The truck smokes the whitish color for a while after start up until it is warm also, the cold starts aren't very cold as it was about 20c or 70f today. Not sure why it is so hard to start any ideas where to look ?

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F350stroker · May 17, 2015

Update on the situation, it was 0c or 32 f today and I went out and checked the gpr while wait to start light was on and for about 40 seconds after it went out and I was getting 11.8v the whole time and it started better after leaving the key on for that long vs just waiting for the light to go out. It smoked a little less but it still smokes whitish blue till it warms up totally and it smells really strong like raw diesel. I took off the oil add cap to check for blowby or a puff of smoke when cold but nothing and really not much blow by at all ( my 6.4 has a lot more than this 7.3). Wonder if it just needs a good run with a load on behind to get good and hot. The truck sat for 2 years and I am just now getting it back on the road ( drained old diesel and have fresh in the tanks). Any ideas on why it is so smokey till at temp ?

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Magnum PD · May 17, 2015

Glowplugs.

Pstrke96 · May 18, 2015

^^^^WHS

F350stroker · May 18, 2015

Glow plugs will cause it to smoke after start up for a while ? Does it load up and then have to burn it off ? I will check them and see

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Magnum PD · May 18, 2015

Not all of them are working. The cold cyl are trying to heat up and combust the fuel.

Fosterchild23 · Jun 20, 2015

Check the continuity to your UVC harness. There's a really good how to video on YouTube that shows you how, the only difference is its on a 99-03 harness where there is only one plug in per bank, as opposed to two plug ins per cylinder bank on the OBS. Before you go through the hassle of removing your valve covers though just unplug all of your UVC harness plugs and check for melting or burnt internals on the pigtails.. I had to replace one of my pig tails as it was melted down and one of the pins on the male side had broken off. If it's melted/burnt or damaged on a pin that runs power to your glow plugs that could be the issue instead of the plugs themselves. If all your pigtails are fine then I'd move onto removing the valve covers and checking for continuity to all your glow plugs.

http://youtu.be/qwFvvXWEJao

While there's only one plug per side in the video instead of two, you will still be checking the outside two pins on every plugin. Just follow the wires and see which ones go to the glowplugs if you are unsure.