I will try to keep this short and to the point. First the history, the truck has never had any issues starting in any temp any weather even in negative temps , turn the key and instant start so.. I saw all the posts about the fpr screen so i cleaned mine and had no problems. while i was under the hood i noticed the positive battery cable was split and corroded, so to keep her problem free I went and replaced it, i also replaced the starter relay on the passenger inner fender. since then when its cold it takes a bit to get it started and lots of smoke. Another strange thing I noticed is Before the cable change when i would start the truck my voltage gage would hover around 12 volts until the gp's turned off then it would go to the normal area. now it goes to normal immediately after starting, did i not hook up the wires on the starter relay wrong? i thought i separated them so rehook up would be easy. any suggestions?

 

Yep sounds like the GPR (glow plug relay) is only getting power when your cranking your truck(wrong post on the starter relay). It is the wire that goes to the middle of the engine on top. it should get power from the starter relay, and be on the frontward post (not the post that the starter cable is on)...

 

Thanks for the quick reply i will look when i get off work, i should have taken a picture before i disconnected all the connections. i understand the wire comming off the relay to the starter solenoid, but i also have a small white wire with a fuse coming off the switched side, im just nervous of having a power drain by hooking anything im unsure of to the hot side of the relay. still trying to learn about these beasts.

 

I think Matt hammered that one.
Here is something for you ----> 97-15A 7.3L DI Turbo Workshop Manual Click on the "G" (glowplugs)