Hey people I need some other opinions. My truck decided to have a rough start after not driving for 2 days and it for a second sounded like motor was seized. Lol. So i didnt follow thru with that first crank. I figured I try to crank it again. 2nd time it crank up fine but started kicking out white smoke.
Replaced intake manifold gasket and lower plenum gasket. Smoke is gone but ticking is still there. The ticking became an issue after that 2nd crank. Ive replace plugs and wires. My coil packs have like 3K miles on them. Sounds like its coming from rear of engine on top end. Moreso passenger side if I had to guess. This is a ticking. Not a knock or pinging. Oil level is good. Maybe bad injector or injectors?....

 

Could be a several things....with your resent hard start.

Does your engine oil dip stick have any white or milky residue on it?
Does the coolant look oily?
Is everything at proper levels? Oil and coolant

The worst, is a leaking head gasket that allowed coolant or oil to migrate into a cylinder or two, & maybe bent a valve or piston rod during this "hard start"? Same could happen with a leaking injector/s. Considering that your truck belched white smoke after this "hard start", I'd lean towards a head gasket.

I would test the coolant for exhaust gases and see if any at present, and maybe a pressure test the coolant system. Then do a compression test on the cylinders, they should have somewhere near 150-190psi, with less then 10% deviation across the board.

There is a off chance that your engine tossed a cam follower or rocker??