My 1996 PSD smokes (blue) pretty bad for the first 20-25 sec on a cool day (hot days it doesn't seem to smoke at all). It's got 120,000 miles on it. Is this to be expected, or is something that can be fixed ie: turbo or valve seals. Otherwise it's a great truck 20 mpg in town and 26 mpg on the highway. Any info would be appreciated, as this is my first diesel.

 

Not at all unusual to have that issue, you are facing either a GPR (glow plug relay) or glow plug issue, how mechanically inclined are you, and......Welcome to FTE

edit--do you have an ohm meter or test light?

 

may not even be an issue, i will post a vid in a minute of my truck on a 73 degree day for a cold start. if you have a test light just check the relay- 2 big wires on it, one always has power the other has power key-on for no more then 2 minutes, if thats good then you can ohm your glowplugs, via the valve cover gasket,

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Twx921APmMo

 

The GPR is located in the center of the engine under the plastic Powerstroke cover (if still installed) It is normally a brown round item about the size of a cupcake with two large electrical posts and two small electrical posts sticking out of the top of it. One of the Posts should have 12 volt battery power all of the time. The other post, when the engine is cold ( there are temp parameters that can cause the GP system not to cycle) should have twelve volt power when the key is on. This is somewhat associated with the wait to start light, but the light being on or off does not necessarily mean that the GPR post will have power. The GPR can remain on for several minutes after start.

edit-- CHJoe you are fast

 

The testing of individual GP's is a little more work. I feel the best approach is to remove the four plugs (two per side) from the valve cover gasket connection. When doing that check both connections for burned or corroded pins and connectors.

- - - - - There are five pins in the valve cover gasket connecter the two outside pins are the coresponding glow plugs, the center pin is a common for the injectors and the other two correspond to respective injectors. With a test light or ohm connector make sure there is connectivity to the GP pins. Hook up the aligator clip to the Pos battery cable and touch the outside pins, the test light should come on, or the voltmeter should show voltage, or touch the ohm meter to a ground and then touch the pin the ohms should be near zero, if any thing is other than described you have identified the bad Glow Plug or UVC harness, highly recommended to replace all of if you have to do any, and do not use Auto Lite

 

not the best quality for youtube but you get the idea, it smoked for 45 seconds, the colder outside the thicker the smoke, i have no glowplug or relay issues in my rig and the engine is in tip top shape, its a diesel, when cold they will smoke,

edit-- i tried to find a video of the army 6x6's on cold start. you'd love them but nobody has any, its a shame i cant get you one to see, you'd never complain about smoke again

 

It wouldn't hurt to check EOT(engine oil temp)..as it compares to ambient air temp, at cold startup...They should be very close to the same temps...

 

Thanks for your direction guys.

 

Ya, I'm an electrician, so I should be able to wrap my head around that end of it. Thanks

 

good next time I have an electrical issue, gues were I am going....

 

Blue Collar, this link is for you:

http://pages.prodigy.net/stevebaz/_import/pages.prodigy.net/stevebaz/index3.html

 

I have a 2003 f-250 7.3 diesel It started hard in the michigan cold last winter I think I need to change the glow plugs, can anyone help me diagnose or tell me where I can get information on how to change out the glow plugs. uarep

 

Look ...here....

 

hey cookie can we make the glow plug thread a sticky again????????????