Problem with wait to start light when cold

[lgwood01]

Guys,

New to the forum and a new diesel guy here. I just picked up a steal of a deal on a 2000 250 7.3 that's been mostly sitting for 3 years.

It runs great and I've changed all the fluids and filters and picked up some new batteries too. Problem is, it never fails to start after the "Wait to Start" light comes on. But for the past few days the temp has dipped down into the upper 20's, lower 30s, and when it's that cold, the first 3-4 start attempts the Wait to start light never comes on. After a few cranks and half hearted attemps to run, magically the Wait to start light will fire up.

After waiting 30-60 seconds after I finally get the wait light on a cold morning/night, she always fires right up.

Note that the light always works when it's warmer outside, and she always fires on the first try too.

I've read enough to know, my first crank or two (with pauses in between) gives me no smoke. Usually on crank 3, still with no wait to start light I get a nice plume of white smoke. Usually on try number 4 when cold, I get a wait to start then she fires right away.

I hope I'm not beating a dead horse, but I've tried searching and couldn't find anything similar to this.

Thanks in advance guys!

[lgwood01]

BUMP!!!

Question....I've done some more reading, am I possibly looking at a relay issue here where it's not functioning below a specific temperature?

Also, I can't remember if I mentioned in my last post, but I did discover that this truck has been driven less than 2000mi in the past 3 years.