Whats the average time for it to start? Got my glow plugs replaced and on another form got told they are shot.. But somebody is aguring with me saying its a old truck its going to take awhile to start. I was also under the impression when the wait to start light goes off it means ready to start.. Shes seems to start a little fast when i wait for the glow plug controller to stop ticking.. When i got the truck back from the shop (got new autolight glow lugs, and the new glow plug controller). He said she starts right up now.. Well it hasnt for me. usally takes quiet a few turns till she goes... and its been in the 40 and 50 degree weather the past few days and when i finally get her to start shes blowing smoke just like she is getting started in the dead of winter... Somebody keeps telling me its not my glow plugs (he knows gassers not diesels) so what do you guys think? Thanks in advanced!!

 

Autolite glowplugs are known to burn out within the first few starts. Get some Motorcraft/ beru glow plugs. If the glow plugs are working and the starter spins the engine over good and fast it should start almost instantly.

 

Autolite=wasted money. Hopefully they come out I had a set unfortunately only a month old they had to be ripped out because they swelled and crapped out already never again. get motorcrafts dude.

 

my 88 has 494,000+ miles on it and it will start within 3 seconds once the wait to start light goes out.
and my engine has never been opened up.
as the others said, take the truck back and tell them to take those garbage autolite glow plugs out and to put the proper motorcraft/beru ZD-9 glow plugs in it

 

With a good IP, starter, batteries and a working glow plug setup, it should light off within 2 revs or so. Just a second or two of cranking.

However, the above factors definitely affect how long it takes:
1. Starter. When your starter gets old, it stops cranking as fast. The two main problems I've seen are the brushes wearing out and crud getting on the brush contact plates. This crud = higher resistance = less cranking speed.
2. Batteries. We all know what you get out of a worn or half-dead battery.
3. Glow plugs. If they aren't working right and getting hot enough, you may have to crank for quite a while to get enough heat to fire.
4. IP. When they get worn, they seem to need to build up pressure internally to fire, sometimes taking a few extra cranks to do that. Cranking speed affects this a /lot/ -- the faster you crank, the less time it has to "leak down" the pressure internally, and the easier it fires off.