What a difference new plugs make, thanks for all the help

Exhumis

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Picked up my 94 in September and as it was still in the 80s here in VA she always started immediately. Well, as things got colder she eventually started getting harder and harder to start till eventually I was having to use the cold start procedure as the temps were in the 20s, blowing white smoke and rough starts. Guy I bought the truck from had said he just put plugs in, but I didn't heed Regans advice - trust but verify. But after reading so many articles on this forum and speaking with my dad who is a diesel mechanic and owns three powerstrokes, I metered the plugs and found one was completely open and two were at .7. Picked up a complete new set of zd9s and as I was removing the old plugs I found 5 autolites, 2 berus and one that doesn't even have markings on it. What a goat rodeo. Swapped the new plugs in and even at 30 degrees the engine literally turned over twice and fired right up, kicked into high idle and then after a couple minutes kicked right down to normal rpms. Amazing how glow plugs can have this effect. I'm a recent convert to the Church of Diesel, but I'm really liking working on this diesel. Dead simple. This forum is amazing with the quality of info. Thanks!
 

F350camper

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Glad you got it lighting off like it should. Its amazing how well these things fire up when everything is up to *****.
Good work!
 

8gitmusik1

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Great to hear the good news. Glad your back in business and slow start issues are resolved. Yep. Diesels. Gotta love them, and sometimes ya wanna kick em, lol. But over the years, for me, they have been the most durable and long lasting of any motor platform Ive ever dealt with, when they are maintained properly. That is key, as I am experiencing the effects of my lack of maintenence and the result of letting one sit up too long... :(

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Cubey

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It was like night and day when my F250s were bad. It had Autolites(!!) but they weren't swollen and came out fine. Now it has Motorcraft. About half of the Autolites were burned out. Even just in the 40s, starting was hard.
 

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