New to forum.

[Skip]

Hello all! First time poster here and firs time diesel owner.Bought me 1988 ford f-450 a few months ago to make into a welding rig. Been looking at the forum for awhile and getting some good advice and decided to sign up. My truck has the 7.3 liter diesel.It is a jasper remanufactured engine w/ approx 60k miles on it. The engine runs good but I have a few questions to ask. When I crank it up in the morning for the first time it smokes white for about a minute but clears up. What could this be? Also, the block heater isnt wired up. How can I test it before I wire it up and plug it in? Would a shorted L to L or L to G test be in order and what kind of ohm reading should I get leg to leg. What ( in general ) should I be looking for or pay special attention to in order to get full life out of my engine? Thanks for the help.

 

[tonkadoctor]

When I crank it up in the morning for the first time it smokes white for about a minute but clears up. What could this be?

Just a cold diesel warming up, nothing to be alarmed about.

Being in South Carolina you shouldn't have to be plugging it in.

As far as longevity, run quality oil made for diesel like shell rotella, mobile delvac, chevron delo 400 and many others, check the dca levels in the coolant and when getting antifreeze use a low silicate formula to prevent block worm. Run quality diesel and keep your filters clean.......Just the basic take care of it stuff, like anything else if you don't maintain it, it won't last long......and if it's a diesel it will cost twice as much to fix.

Welcome

 

[Dalvaras]

Being in South Carolina you shouldn't have to be plugging it in.

I would have to agree with this statement whole heartedly. I live in central Ohio and have never plugged mine in during the 5 years I have owned it.It has only refused to start once when it was real cold out and that turned out to be a seized advanced auto starter that was only 45 days old.

Oh by the way Welcome to the forum

 

[4x4TruckinGirl]

welcome there skip.... i would say i'm in south carolina too, johns island, but im moving back to florida, but either way, welcome.

hey! it gets cold in south carolina too... 20 degrees! yea yea, not cold enough.

 

[adrianspeeder]

Howdy and welcome!

What tranny?

Adrianspeeder

 

[Skip]

Thanks for the replies. All of the above mentioned stuff has been taken care of but I dont know how it was treated before me. Im just a worry person when it comes to stuf like this. If I was gonna just take the truck like it is and use it I wouldnt worry so much but I plan on doing alot of work to it to make it useable for me. I paid 5500 for the truck. I have modified the bed to my liking and am now getting it ready for a paint job. Gonna also repair exhaust leaks, and replaced battery trays. So far since I got it I have... Serviced the entire truck ( includes changing all filters) , Replaced glowplugs and controller and ran all new battery cables ( helped alot with the cranking speed). I figure after I get it tweeked like I want it if something did go bad wrong ( motor/tranny) it will be worth getting it fixed. Beats the 45k dollar alternative. Oooooh one more thing I drained the oil and chnged the filter. Put the new oil in and ran the truck for a few minutes. Checked the oil and it was soot black ( must be a diesel thing ). Oh and to answer the question above the transmission is a 5 speed man.

 

[Agnem]

Welcome to the forum. Spend some time reading our FAQ's and technical articles (all near the top of this forum), and if you don't read them in-depth, at least gloss over them so you know where the information is. My IDI starts in 6 degree weather with no plug-in, and so should yours. The block heater is more for creature comfort than engine running, since it can take 20 minutes to get some heat out of these beasts. I guess if it got cold enough to NEED a block heater, I'd wish I had one, but for now (and most of us 6.9 guys do this) the cord has been removed. Hard starts are usually starter/electrical, glow plug/controller or fuel/air problems. Do yourself a favor and replace all the fluids in that truck so you can begin a maintanance history with it, and yes the oil will always be black.

 

[Mont91]

Howdy

Have you checked your SCA (anti-cavitation) levels in you're cooling system? Read the tech articles on cavitation. As far as the engine heater, continuity leg to leg, heaters rarely go bad is usually the cord end. Always unplug the cord at the heater and check the heater itself before replacing. Hope you bought Ford/Beru glow plugs. And could you put your truck info in your signature.

 

[Tynian]

Welcome friend,


This is the last and only forum that you will ever need, These guys are definately gurus here. I am living proof. They have walked me through, changing out my starter, injection pump reinstall, fix my pesky power window and now rebuild my engine the right way after I got my engine back from the azzholes at napa. Thats just to name a few.

and oh yea, I'm an idiot.

Dont be mean to the BOOB,
shes a delicate thang now

 

[Skip]

Thanks for the replies.The plugs are motorcraft plugs that I put in. Been cranking it up every few mornings w/ out being plugged in. The temps hae been in the mid 20,s this week and though its a little slower starting it will.

 

[Agnem]

Wow. I didn't think it got that cold down there. When you crank it, does is start and then die, or just doesn't catch?

 

[gabbyr100rs]

Yup. Winter has visited the southland. Been down in the 'teens in the AM for the past couple of weeks. Nasty "wintery mix" today.

When two years old, my 7.3 would sit outside all day at -20 and still crank right up after one cycle of the glow plugs. The block heater does let it crank faster on warm oil and it is nice to have warm air by the time I get out of the subdivision.

Welcome to the list. Many knowledgeable and good folks here.

 

[ericboutin]

Welcome Welcome...cool another SC Boob! Where abouts are yah? Yes it does get chilly here and today is no exception...we've got about 1/2 inch of snow outside and everything is shut down!! NO milk or bread to be found anywhere! Starting to do the freezing rain thing now
Anyway to stay partially on topic...I don't ever plug my truck in...well I did one night a couple years ago but that was because I had two or three bad glowplugs. Otherwise it just doesn't get cold long enough to warrant plugging in.

 

[Agnem]

I just found out our South Carolina office in Greenville just closed for the day. You guys must have it bad.

 

[ericboutin]

I just found out our South Carolina office in Greenville just closed for the day. You guys must have it bad.

Hey Greenville is the county next door! Yah it's pretty bad I need to hurry up and take a pic before the snow gets ice covered. It doesn't take much to shut things down here...we just don't have the equipment to handle it. Kids are out of school...that pretty much happened last night when they started calling for this mess. They called off work for me early this morning. It's really starting to come down (freezing rain)...this is usually what we get and it really causes a mess. Everyone will be without power if it gets to bad!