My 2002 F-250 has had a really hard time starting this winter. At first I thought it was just weak batteries. I replaced them and am still having the same problems. If the truck is plugged in it will start fine. If not, it may. At this point I am getting a lot of white smoke. The temps have only been in the 20's. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

What viscosity oil are you running? It helps to have low weight oil in cold weather...but you probably already knew that. Are you plugging your block heater in at all? Mueckster here put a timer on the outlet he would use for his block heater, for the 5 days a year we need it down here in SE Texas. But I thought that was smart.

If you are running your original Glow Plug Relay (GPR), it's probably ready for replacement. Might want to check it too (there are threads here for it). Recommend getting a Motorcraft GPR if at all possible...I think O'Reilly Auto Parts carries them, and of course the stealerships. Shouldn't cost too much...Excursions don't have a GPR, so don't quote me, but I think they run about $30-40 for a Motorcraft.

 

Fixed it for you....

 

Synthetic 5-40 oil has been treating me very well. If you have synth already, let me know if you need some help. I can stop by next weekend with the AE scanner and a few tools.

 

Thanks for all of the great replies. I am not sure what the viscosity of the oil is without checking with the dealership. Lame I know.

I have been plugging it in at night. That seems to make sure it starts in the morning.

I am the second owner of the truck, but I am pretty sure it is the original glow plug relay.

Tugly thanks for offer. I may take you up on it.

 

Matt uses Motorcraft 15-40. You have dead dinos in there.

 

Yep switching to 5-40 made a big difference in cold weather starting for me. I've started as low as -22F with no issues not plugged in.

 

I am not sure I understand. Dinos?

 

Conventional oil.

 

I am guessing that is what I have always used and never had any problems before.

Do you think I should still look at the glow plug relay?

Thanks again!

 

Short answer: Yes

 

Having recently had a similar problem with my truck I feel I can offer some advice. I am not sure your level of comfort of working on your truck bc it sounds like you might have the dealership do some service for you but here is what I have done and found out.
1. Sounds like your batteries are brand new just make sure your cable clamps are nice and clean too
2. If you are unsure about your GPR I would use guzzle's GPR test and check it with a multimeter. I am really happy that I added a GPR LED light to let me know when it's being energized. Others use a plug in voltmeter to determine that also as well as other parts of the electrical system. If your GPR is on the way out I have been very happy with the Stancor GPR upgrade. My friend and I put one on our trucks at he same time and his truck went from being a stubborn cold weather starter to a fires right up truck
3. Like the guys said synthetic oil in the winter. I haven't tried this switch yet bc I am in the middle of an OCI but I will definitely try some T6 on the next change.
4. If you haven't added any diesel Kleen in the white bottle I would definitely recommend it. I think that was one of the largest helpers in getting past cold starting issues for me. A lot of the guys seem to know what blends of diesel are at their local stations and if they add additives. Unfortunately I don't have that luxury and I keep a bottle of the white for fill ups and a container of diesel 911 in case of emergency.
5. If the GPR seems to be in working order and you are leaning toward the glow plugs being the problem and you need to test them I would recommend a set up that Danskool made. After I tested my glow plugs I realized how brilliant of a setup it is. He uses a 9 pin connector attached to a board with screw terminals so you don't have to be dangling over the engine trying to touch the pin with the tester and get a reading.

Hope this helps or gets you in the right direction. After I replaced the GPR I didn't have problems until the weather started to hit the 20's. Good luck.

 

I have all the test equipment for that. It's pretty basic. The GPR is closest to the spider, you check for 12 V on both large studs as soon as you turn the key to "RUN" (not "Start") when cold. You have about a minute or more to check it in the winter.

 

John, I think it's HIGHLY likely that's your answer then. Odds are you need a new GPR whether it's the main culprit or not. Just imagine if this was 1980 and your 10+ year old truck had never had the distributor cap replaced?