So on a normal day here in the new york winter the temp is about 10-30 degrees and if i dont have my truck plugged in at night it will take anywhere from 15-30 min before i finally get the truck to start and there is white smoke and the smell of unburnt fuel from the exhaust. when i do get the truck to start my nieghborhood is nothing but a big white cloud and smells of unburt diesel and i know this is bad but sometimes i have to give it half throttle and even then that doesnt work..... i let the glow plugs cycle two times; i have the led upgrade and i wait for it to go out.... sometimes if i let it crank for 20-30 sec and then cycle the glow plugs again she will fire up after about 15 sec of cranking. i am familiar with diesel and i think that my truck cranks longer than normal to start compared to most of the other trucks i hear, they crank like 5 sec and mine will crank 15-20 sec and fire. i am leaning towards possible injector o-rings. i dont have any scan devices to monitor everything and i am hoping that it isnt a hpop or lpop, i just dont have the funding for those at the moment. i am thinking that it could also be a poss ipr not to sure. any type of suggestions are welcome.

 

Are you running any additives for gelling of the fuel?

 

I think you should back up a little bit. This sounds like a classic non-functioning glow plug system. Likely due to a failing GPR, or glow plug relay. You can test it by following the instructions here:
https://sites.google.com/site/woodnt...ow-plug-system
There is a video about halfway down the page.
Or here:
Welcome to guzzle's Stancor GPR replacement Mod Web Page
Written instructions close to the top.

This is the easiest, simplest and cheapest fix. And it happens to be the most common. I wouldn't jump to any conclusions about HPOP, LPOP, IPR, etc until you test your GPR.

 

I dont think that it is gelled fuel cause i can open the drain on the fuel filter with the fuel pump running and it come out pretty fast that was the first hing that came to mind ive noticed the long starts in the summer it cranks for about 10 seconds before it starts

 

Glow plugs are brand new and glow plug relay is brand new and working properly

 

X2 - I would verify that the Glow Plug System & starter are in good working order before moving on the injector, HPOP, LPOP etc...

 

I did notice a big difference when i replaced all the glow plugs and the gpr when it came to starting

 

Well if the glow plug system is good then I would check the starter next. How old is it?

 

I'm at a bit of a loss as it really does sound like a glow plug issue of some sort. Is it cranking strong or weak?
It might be worth checking the oil level in the HPOP reservoir. It should be about 3/4" from the top. For good measure you could check the tin nut on the back of the IPR just to make sure it's snug.

 

White Buffalo is right on the money. My 7.3L truck had the same exact symptoms. I worked at an auto electric rebuilder for years and did not pick up on this. At one point I thought the truck was turning over a little slow but didn't think it was that slow. I charged the batteries and did a load test on them. They checked out good. I continued to have the long crank time and white smoke due to the raw fuel in the exhaust. One day I got in my truck and fired it up in front of a buddy that also has a 7.3L and he said whoa sounds like you have some low batteries. I asked him to start his and then I realized how slow mine was turning over. Being the batteries were over 5 years old I decided to buy new ones - no change. So I checked all the connections from the batts to the starter- all good. finally bought a starter...end of problems, the engine whipped over and fired in 2 seconds!
As I mentioned I know starters and alternators but honestly thought it was turning over a little slow, but not enough to cause the slow start.

 

I suppose that would explain the OP's long crank times during summer months as well

 

If the starter IS bad it will pull the battery voltage down, even on good ones to the point you could very easily be below the magic 10.5 volts to fire the injector properly.

 

I think that may be my problem cause I put the batteries in last year and as it cranks I can watch my battery volts drop drastically it did it even right after I replaced the batteries ill price starters and will up date hopefully soon about what I find

 

took a video of start up this morning not as bad as it has been but once I figure out how to post it I will

 

I know this sounds like a simple solution , but oil levels and fuel bowl heating element may be a culprit, my 99 was giving me fits and a new fuel bowl element helped considerably.