Relatively New, Got a Few QuestionsL

[VincentVega]

I joined here recently after a while of lurking. This past summer I got my first truck from my grandfather as a high school graduation gift. 1989 F350 7.3 idi turbo. Took it to college and it was running fine until it started getting cold. The glow plugs weren't staying on for but a few seconds, so I changed those out. Made a newby mistake on that and bought Autolites so I'm gonna have to change those out again soon. Once I put the new GP's in they stayed on for longer but the truck still started up really hard and would smoke a ton. My old man though it was water in the fuel, but no matter how many times I drain the separator it doesn't seem to make a difference. Any help on that would be awesome.

Also, all of my running lights work except for the ones on the dually blisters. Any pointers there would also be greatly welcomed.

Thanks again! Looking forward to getting the truck back on her feet.
-Pete

 

[pelky350]

When the truck is idling when warm does it smell like raw diesel and maybe have a haze coming from the exhaust pipe? It sounds like timing is off or your timing advance on the pump is not working.

 

[VincentVega]

Nope. When the truck is warm it runs perfect. No haze, no overwhelming smell of diesel. It only smokes on cold start.

I took my batteries today to get tested and one of them was totally shot. I think having to cycle GP's off of only one battery was definitely affecting the amount of power they were getting. I got a new battery, I've got a buddy at the parts store redoing my battery cables (because mine were toast), and I'm getting some Motorcraft GP's tomorrow as well. I'll post back with some updates tomorrow.

 

[VincentVega]

Update: New battery and battery cables are in. She started up like a charm this morning after having forgotten to plug it in last night. That was definitely my problem. New GP's are going in when I get back to school. Thanks @pelky350 for the response.

 

[DaveBen]

Great news. Use ONLY Motorcraft/Beru glow plugs! All of the others are no good and can swell, making it necessary to remove the head to get them out.