Start up Smoke
 

Try to make simple. 3 weeks ago truck didn't want to start at 30 degree. when did it would chug and smoke like heck. Took to shop , glow plugs good, relay replaced, new orings on injectors installed. They sent the injectors out for testing and the result was they were down about 10 percent while higher rpm and good at idle. They recommend replace but i didnt caue ran good and 120k on them. Got truck back and starts at 0 degree without plugged in. But it smokes like one guy said, a 4020 deere, til warm. Then cleans up and is fine. It doesnt chug anymore since new orings and starts fine. I am running in stock setting on chip. When in this setting am i actually in my pcm or a program put on chip. Any input would be appreciated. THanks.

What color is the smoke?

Mostly white, but got to admit a lil blue. truck doesn't seem to use any oil. smells like somone is dumping staight diesel out when smoking. this happens for about 8 to 12 minutes.

My truck has always smoked for the first 5-10 minutes after a sub 15 degree start. It was -31 here today and it started right up.....but smoked pretty good until I left the house 20 minutes later. I've also got 130K on my truck and it DOES need injectors.

The glow plugs are on for 120 seconds when the engine is that cold. Once they turn off, the engine is relying on compression heat to burn the fuel efficiently.

The smoke, if it smells like raw diesel fuel, IS unburned fuel. The stock setting on the chip DOES NOT use the original PCM for anything.

I replaced the glow plugs in my friend's truck about a month ago....even though they tested fine by every measure of the word. The difference in cold starting is night and day.

Does this problem I am having sound like a injector issue. It seems to me if I am still getting 15 to 17 this time of year they can't be to bad. I will also say that I am on my 3rd relay in 12,000 miles. So I wondered if even though they tested good there could be a problem. ( More resistance equals more aamps) I didn't ask how they tested them. I have thought about changing them anyway.

I will also see what happens in mornig without chip in. This is the first winter I had the chip in and also the first winter I had this problem.

Like Cody said, the glow plugs are off after 2min or less and should not cause excessive smoke after a few minutes............ but there is definitely an issue there if you keep changing relays.

My truck and many other trucks I have been around have always smoked for quite a while when cold.

Does anyone know how long the Air Intake heater stays on for?

Might be worth looking into.

I had resistance tonite on the aih. I don't think the aih comes on while the gpr is actuated though.

No.... but it's intent was to reduce cold engine emissions...

I'll have to check it. I'm interested to see what happens in morning withuot the chip in.

Well it smoked like heck til warm again. Pulling chip did nothing different, just took it out of equation. Next questonis could the glow plugs be bad even though they tested good for them. Not sure how they tested them.

Usually glow plugs are only tested by putting a test light to the terminals. The clamp will go on the positive battery post and the pointy end of the light will go on the terminal for each glow plug. However, this test is pretty hit-or-miss and the proper way is to check the resistance.

My friend and I were bitten by the resistance check though about a month ago. All glow plugs tested good on a cold engine. Once current was supplied to the glow plugs though, some would go open (no continuity through them and hence no heat) and he would have a hard start and rough running once it started.

So what is the best way to check them. I checked them at the plug after driving 50 miles. I hate to say it, but glow plugs are the only thing that makes sense to me for this much white smoke. If I pull them, is there a chance they might be shorter from being burned so much. Thanks so far and please keep helping. I in jam and need truck.

They don't get "shorter". I don't mean to offend if I read that wrong.

I assume you meant "shorted". They do "wear" electrically which is the reason they don't last forever. Your truck has about 120K right? If they're the stock glow plugs (didn't read about a replacement in your original post) then I would definitely just do them because they have 120K on them.

I NEVER tell someone to throw money at something, but glow plugs are really important to the starting and first couple minutes of drivability so it's not a bad idea to do them at 120K miles. You might consider replacing the small harness under each valve cover while you're there.

On some of the old trctors the tips would actually get shorter, thus reducing the area of heat on plug. And yes I am kinda ignorant about diesel stuff, so thanks for being kind to me. I am probably going to stick plugs in. Like I said, injectors just dont make logical sense to me, but plugs do.

Well I changed the glow plugs out. The old ones all worked fine when I hooked them up to my battery charger. On the old ones only about one inch would light up compared to more on the new mtorcraft ones. Guess I will see in the morning. If you have any more ideas, please lay them out there. If the intake heater didn't work, would that cause the problem?

The truck never did this before, when started cold? This just started happening?

Another question? Does the smoking when first started only happens when it started cold? If the truck is plugged in does it still smoke? Also is it alot of smoke, or just a haze?

Not sure about the poug inthing, but it dumps smoke like coal train, except white. I'm gonna try leaving the plugs on longer in the morning and see what happens then.

If you can plug it in tonight, let us know if it still smokes....

testing glow plugs
 

I pulled glow plugs on my '94 a few years ago with 300k miles on it (i do not know if they were originals). I did the "test light" test and all eight made the light, light up bright.

I tested each glow plug with a 12 volt jump box and infrared thermometer 4 or 5 would get to about 200* and the others turned pink just at the tip, a new one will turn red for about on inch.

I think the best way to test is to take a 100 amp amp meter and hold it rite on to of the glow plug relay, connecting the relay studs to the studs on the amp meter and then you will see how many amps the glow plus pull. Use the meter on a new glow plug so you know how many amps 1 plug pulls

Well I just fired her up at 12 below. No problellm starting, but Idon't imagine the neighbors appreciated the diesel cloud. I let her run a couple minutes then shut her off and plugged her in tosee what happens in while. And the old plugs would light for about an inch als.l

I haven't yet tried tuning anything with the air intake heater but I will see if I can't do something with it and get it to turn on once the glow plugs turn off....usually, it's commanded after a couple minutes of idling but if it can be commanded sooner and during warm up, I'll let you know and maybe you can get Bill to incorporate that into your tunes.

But then again, maybe Bill will read this and know the answer already.

I also found out that if I leave it plugged in that it won't smoke on start up. I am thinking maybe averything just might be normal, a COLD diesel. Thanks for everything so far guys. It's nice to have a little help figuring things out sometimes.