Hard Cold Start with a Pop

[bigcaveman]

Alright fellas this is what I have. Early 99 F250 7.3 with 110,000 miles. I live in Anchorage and we have been below freezing but still in the positive temps.

At first, I only had the starting problem if I hadn't started the truck for a day or two not plugged up and now it is whenever the truck is cold. The past two days, I have had this issue at work where I cannot plug in and anytime where the truck has been sitting and gets cold. If I plug the truck in, it starts fine. When it is cold and not plugged, it just sits there and turns over until I hear what sounds like a backfire after an attempt. Then the truck will fire as if nothing was wrong.

My GPR is good and have good oil pressure and fuel. No check engine light or codes and wait to start functions as normal. It does smoke while it is cranking but doesn't fire until after the backfire. After being plugged up, it fires as advertised. I have disconnected the EBPV and has been for over a year now. It has an DIY intake and is straight piped.

It almost sounds to me like something is blocking the exhaust and then releases (backfire) allowing the truck to breath. I have not changed out my glow plugs but will be this weekend.

Would glow plugs cause this or is there something else I should be looking at?

I have done some searching on here to no avail. Any help is appreciated.

[DND58]

Are you cranking right after the WTS light goes out? If so, wait @ 60 seconds and see if that helps. Sounds like your getting fuel into cold cylinders, then glow plugs heat up and create the pop.

Have you tried to ohm out the glow plugs at the UVCH harness connection?

[bigcaveman]

After doing some more t/s, i believe i have an intermitent gpr. I pulled in the garage on friday and tested it and it wasnt truning on and then the next morning did the same and it worked. Saturday night.. Did not work so i cahnged the gpr so we will see if that fixes it over the next few days since i didnt have much time his weekend to take a good look and tear into it. I really appreciate the reply DND58.