Going under the VC knife advise
 

Ok gents, well I’m not sure what to do. I respect the if it ain’t broke don’t fix it and I’m also part of the do it early and right crew.
My 2000 always smokes white at cold start up, runs fine, no romps but when cold will burn your eyes and stink like raw fuel awhile. It also cranks a little while before it lights off.
Now I really wouldn’t notice this but we have a brush truck at work that’s an 2002 and lights off instantly and you can stand by the exhaust and it’s fine. Course it has 9000 miles on it.

Anyway I have new Oem glow plugs, UCVH wiring and New UCVG.

Now since I don’t have romps, everything is so expensive I was going to wait till next year for injectors.

Im thinking just dive in and replace glow plugs. It’s a 22 year old truck, don’t disturb the injector wiring till you address injectors.

What say you? I know SOUS went in and did all the wiring and ucvh so maybe since I have it I should. Then again part of me says “don’t start none won’t be none” don’t address problems that aren’t there.

so Glow plugs are getting done, I don’t know what’s in there and I have new Oem.

address the rest or let it ride???? Or sell the farm and pull the injectors and have them tested and rebuilt? I will not buy remand or new, mine will go out and be rebuilt and put back in the same cylinder.

Sorry for the novel, Thanks in advance. Rye

There is a thread on checking torque on several bolts under the VC. Also make sure you really have OEM glow plugs not counterfeit. There is s thread on that too - saved my butt.

Rye have you tried ohming out your glow plugs from outside the VC's ? Me personally I went and replaced all the wiring with OEM and did the 52-cent mod as my wiring was starting to get cracks in the insulation. You could always see how your wiring looks and if it checks out just do the 52-cent mod but being that you already have the parts on hand you might want to go ahead and just replace. The wiring is 22 years old after all. Have you tried plugging in your truck overnight to see if that helps your cold start up?

Valve covers are like Band-Aids. Stop thinking about it and just pull 'em off. For the gp's definitely, wiring; I would, injectors; you could make that decision once your in there. Get the covers off then hook the 42 pin back up and start her up. If you got good oil flow from the spouts and they all look uniform leave them alone. If you've got one or two that look questionable go ahead and do your wiring and glow plug upgrades and recheck.

I would start with this ⬆️

Have you tried 5w-40 oil? It helps a lot with cold start ups.

Have you confirmed the GPR?

All good advice above but I'll second checking the GPR before opening it up. That might be the sole problem. It's also a common failure.

Before starting the truck grab a thick screwdriver and bridge the 2 big poles on the GPR. Solid amps so be careful not to touch anything else. 20 seconds will prolly be enough on a coldish morning. That will energize the GPs. Then start and see if the smoke is improved. I yes then the GPR is bad, but if no change then ohming/replacing the GPs is the next step.

I have a White Rogers gpr installed and working. I’ve wanted to get under the VC’s and look around anyway. I did confirm I purchased real Oem glow plugs. Thanks for the advice gents.

Guess the best thing is to open her up and see what everything looks like and proceed from there.

Wish the money tree would bloom, I’d just send the injectors out to be tested and do it all at once.

I am running 15/40 Dino, so I’m sure that’s contributing somewhat.

Oh and if I plug her in she fires up quick with little to no smoke.

Will this be your first time?

I think you will be happy with new wiring, glow plugs, and some synthetic 5w-40.

yes, first time.

GP’s are not going to change the smoke/stench that clears up after engine warms up. They will only fix hard start when cold.

I no longer replace VC gasket and UVCH as PM. If they work (engine runs smooth), do the $0.52 mod and send it. They may last forever.

Injectors will likely be required to fix the problem you describe.

I replaced glow plugs about 3 years ago. I ohmed out the glow plugs and I believe I had 3 or 4 bad ones. However, my first sign that I had bad glow plugs was that the truck would not start unplugged when it was around 30* outside. Before the glow plugs went bad, and now that I have good glow plugs again, the truck would start unplugged at 10*. I didn't touch the wiring harnesses when I did glow plugs. I did buy brand-new harnesses from Riffraff just in case (still have them on a shelf). But once I got the valve covers off and looked at the harnesses, I decided against messing with them. It's been 3 years since I've done glow plugs and haven't had any issues with them or the wiring harnesses. If/when my injectors finally give up, then I will probably go ahead and throw the new harnesses on...maybe.

But I agree with Jason. That raw fuel smell that burns your eyes probably means it's time to replace injectors.
Also, is that 2002 truck with 9000 miles for sale by chance? I've got a buddy who's been looking for a clean 7.3.

I recently did some work on a friend's 7.3, which was having hard/no start cold problems. When replacing the GP's I found 2 that didn't want to come out. The threads loosened out fine but the plugs wouldn't come out the hole. Finally got them free and here's what I found.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...aecc64ee51.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...f66e040197.jpg

Even scarier, that first one ohmed out fine. They were Autolites that looked like new. I've since read up on them and their bad rep. So I say if ya don't know what's in there replace it that way ya do.

First time, always the most fun. You'll want a wobble adapter for the drivers rear bolt. The passenger rear comes out w/ just a deep socket no problem. The passenger lower rear 2-3 are easiest, for me anyway, with a combo wrench through the fender well. When it's comes to getting the passenger cover out of the engine bay I remove the oil fill tube and trans dipstick, if applicable, throw a few colorful adjectives around and out she comes. VC's aren't to bad, but it isn't "PG" either.

As you mentioned, I replaced my parts. For those that don't know my reasoning, below is a short recap.

In 2018 when I went to install my T4 turbo kit, I had a mindset to perform some other maintenance tasks while I was in there.

I told myself, test the GP's and if 3 or more test bad, then replace them all. I tested the GP's from the connector outside of the valve cover and stopped at the third bad one. Before placing the order, I removed the valve covers and discovered that the original owner had the driver side UVCH replaced with the all in one Dorman style and the passenger looked original. I figured 200,000+ miles was a good run and replaced the gaskets, UVCH's and GP's with OEM quality. I also did the .50 cent mod after miserably failing to install the small black clips from Motorcraft that took the place of the .50 cent mod. I should have installed the clips on the bench, which would have dramatically reduced the hand shaking and fear of dropping one into the head never to be seen again.

There were no issues with starting, romping or running conditions, but I no longer had confidence in the GP's or UVCH's and having confidence in equipment is a big thing for me. We depend on our truck to take us long distances and I don't want to be 50 miles from electricity on BLM land somewhere because I decided to skimp on a $50 part.

The new parts should take me well into the 400,000 mile range and have been rock solid since install.

5w40 synthetic oil should help you out, it has proven to help many others. Coincidentally I am in the middle of a UOA Shootout where Triax 15w40 synthetic has already been tested and I am running Rotella T6 5w40 synthetic now. This is what I have run for nearly a decade in my truck and it has performed flawlessly. Although, in an effort to find the best bang for the buck, I am going to have those two and TSC Travellers 15w40 conventional oil tested and go from there. Just because something cost more doesn't mean it is right for my application, the test results and running conditions will speak for themselves. At least I hope so...

Rye, at the very least inspect the UVCH's very carefully. Look for broken sheath or exposed copper. Look at the pins very carefully, are they all shiny and silver or is one black and a bit of burnt plastic. Once you get in there and start looking around, step back and take a few minutes, hours or days to plan your course of action. It is your time, your budget, your truck and your future with the truck. Only you know what is right for your application and all we can do is tell you what we have done or seen in the past.

Injectors is a big decision involving a lot of work and coins. I am waiting until my injectors start to fail until I press on with another set. When you do injectors, you really should pressure test the coolant system and look for a cup that is misbehaving. See how the domino effect is strong within these old trucks? I tend to take on a project and go all in as I compartmentalize the different areas.

Like the starter, batteries and associated wiring. I redid all of that several years ago and went with NorthStar AGM batteries, Denso starter and high quality upgraded wiring. Now with inflation and batteries prices the way they are, my $569.68 cost for the AGM batteries is looking like a solid choice as they are 5 years and 1 month old and still performing like they were new. The Denso speaks for itself and the wiring was just a good idea to go with high quality and strand count. What I do for my truck may not be right for any of the other 1,000,000 other trucks on the road though.

No two trucks are the same, so take what we say with a grain of salt.