Surprise surprise hard start

[Dustin87]

First off I'm new to this site this is my first post. My name is Dustin im in the AF and am stationed in AK. I have a 88 F250 with a 5in stack and the pump turned up that I bought back in the summer since its now the fridget winter my truck decides if shes not plugged in good luck starting her. If she is plugged in she starts first turn of the key. If she's not I'm gonna kill the batteries before it starts. Within the past month I've bought new batteries and a DB Starter still didn't help the problem. After it turns over about 3-5 times it starts puffin white smoke but it takes acouple of turn overs to do that. So my guess is fuel issue. Is there a check ball or something in the fuel line that's supposed to keep full from draining back? I need to get it fixed quick my wife is getting tired of me using her truck constantly. Thanks for the help.

 

[93f250idi]

sounds like a glow plug issue. make sure you glow plugs test good and your controller checks out.

iirc take a test light and put to the positive terminal on your battery. with the key off touch every glow plug with the test light. the ones that dont light up are your bad ones.

how long does your wait to start light stay on? do you hear a click click click after it goes off?

with the pump turned up do you have a pyrometer on it? these idis get hot QUICK and you need a pyro to keep an eye on them. 1200* is the max safe egts.

 

[Dustin87]

I did replace the glow plug controller, and the guy I bought it from said that he had just replaced the glow plugs not to long before I got it from him. But I'll still test them out when I get a test light.

 

[93f250idi]

how long does the wait to start light stay on? do you get the clicking after it goes off?

 

[Dustin87]

About 20-30 sec and it clicks after

 

[93f250idi]

sounds normal. its gotta be a glow plug issue. it starts easy when plugged in but starts hard when not plugged in.

what about a pyro? do you have one?

 

[Dustin87]

Not yet waiting on the first before I get one? I haven't been running her hard when I do get to drive her.

 

[f-two-fiddy]

How cold are We talking here? Below a certain temp, You might need 2 cycles of the GP's to get enough heat in the cyl's to light the fuel.

 

[Goofyexponent]

What kind of glow plugs are in her? When I had them cheap bosch plugs my truck would NOT fire even with the plugs glowing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewmXH631ncc

See what I mean. I switched to Motorcraft plugs and haven't had an issue since.

 

[Dustin87]

So I checked my glow plugs today and they all light up with the test light hooked to the pod side of the battery.

 

[Dustin87]

I'm gonna go with motorcraft GP on the 1st, hopefully that's the problem.

 

[icanfixall]

Welcome to the forum.. So you are seeing white puffs out the exhaust.. If so that means the engine is getting fuel but its not hot enough to fire it off. The cause is the glow plug system. Take the engine main wireing harness plug apart. Its at the passenger side fender well. The two yellow wires on the end of it power the glow relay. Usually they get corrosion in them and build up some heat. Sometimes enough to melt the plug and smoke billows out from the hood seam.. It did with mine. If this is found just cut off that end of the plug and run direct from the solenoid on the fender to the controller with some 4 or 6 gauge speaker wire. Crimp and soldier the terminals good because this line carries lots of amps. Be careful because this line is always powered up from the batteries. No need to attempt the removal of the two yellow wires from the harness. Just cut off the ends and say its all good. Any attempt at startup will heat up this plug in the harness if it shot or making questionable contact..

 

[gdhillon]

What kind of glow plugs are in her? When I had them cheap bosch plugs my truck would NOT fire even with the plugs glowing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewmXH631ncc

See what I mean. I switched to Motorcraft plugs and haven't had an issue since.

Mine does this to, except with a little persuading with throttle it fires. I was reading the owners manual and it says the if its below 0C to have the go pedal fully depressed while cranking and when above 0C have the pedal half depressed. I usually just feather the throttle, and then it idles rough (like any other diesel) and puffs blue/white smoke for a few seconds. I am going to try cycling the plugs tmo morning, ill report back with what happens.

 

[Kevin 007]

The amount you press the pedal is dependent on how the pump is timed to. If its fairly advanced, flooring the pedal while cranking will advance it further and hinder the starting process. If its retarded, flooring will give it the little extra advance that it needs. Each truck is different.

20-30 seconds wait to start time???? Ive never seen such a long WTS with factory setup. That might be too long.
I give my manul setup a 10 second on, 5 second off and another 5 seconds on and away she goes...every time.

 

[Arborigine]

So I checked my glow plugs today and they all light up with the test light hooked to the pod side of the battery.

You did disconnect them from the wire before testing? otherwise the test is invalid. You don't even need a test light, a jumper will do. No spark, bad plug.