Truck has been hard to start on cold mornings, with some white smoke on start up. First thing I did was change the factory batteries out, then I changed out the factory GPR to the Stancor one suggested on this site. I was still having hard starting issues. I then borrowed a multimeter from my electrician buddy. I disconnected the plug on the driver-side valve cover. I then conducted a OHMs test on the glow-plug pins. All of them on the driver-side read 0.0. This leads me to believe that the harness under the valve cover is shot or disconnected some how.. Is this correct? On the passenger-side valve cover, I disconnected the plug and conducted a OHMs test on the glow-plug pins. They all read between .8 and 1.1. so this leads me to believe that the passenger-side glow plugs and harness are fine. Is this correct?

 

Sounds like a good assessment to me. But remember, the injectors are also on the same harness, so if your truck is running okay then the harness is probably fine. The wires going to the glow plugs have been known to rub through before, but having all 4 on one side go sounds out of the ordinary. Time to pull the valve covers and see what is going on.

 

If you are going to take the VC's off, I would go ahead and change the GPs at the same time. I did that when I changed my injectors, they all tested good, but I wanted to change them at the time.

Don't forget to torque down the injector hold down bolts, and the rocker bolts.

 

How hard is it to pull the valve covers? Is the gasket reusable. Is there any step by step threads on this.

 

What are the torque specs on these bolts

 

Valve covers aren't too bad to pull, there is just a lot of stuff in the way on the pass. side. You need several extensions in varying lengths and a wobble joint to git 'r dun. Gasket is re-usable, torque spec for the VC bolts is goodentight. For the injectors the spec is 120 in/lbs (10ft/lbs) and the rocker arm pedestal bolts get 20ft/lbs.

 

Yes, the v/c's are pretty easy to remove. Depending on the side you are working on, you need to clear away all the stuff that crosses over the top of the v/c. On the driver's side, this means removing the air intake hose, and disconnecting the main wire harness that is attached to the bracket. Then it's just getting to the v/c bolts. You need a variety of extensions and a wobble socket to get to the ones in the back. Yes, the gasket is re-useable.

 

Almost forgot- unscrew the oil fill tube on the passenger side to make the valve cover easier to remove.

 

Thats a good tip. When Chris grabbed mine and started twisting on it, I was like . But it came right off. I also had the MASTER right there when I did the quarter mod.

EDIT: When Chris grabbed my oil filler tube.

 

I just retested the driverside and the readings were .4 to .8 are the glowplugs good, and what is the 50 cent mod. I dont want to pull the vc if i dont have to

 

The 50 cent mod is to get a quarter and trim it down so it is oval, flat sided and insert it into the plug on the inside of the valve cover. It holds the lock clip in place and that prevents the plug from coming loose again in the future.
They call it the 50c mod because it is one quarter per side.
And your really do want to go into the driver's side, take care of business in there, then you know it's done and no worries.

 

You can use quarters or you can buy clips.
I used quarters.