Rough start when cold

[ford4442003]

Hello All, I have a 2002 powerstroke with a ats turbo and dual 4" ats exhaust and it now developed a starting issue when it gets cool outside 30 or below when it is started it starts fine for 5-10 seconds then develops a miss and starts to smoke bad whiteish blue cloud after a minute or so it clears up and runs fine glow plugs were checked at local dealer and check out fine and the glow plug relay was replaced but no differdnce any thoughts? Thank You

[99dieselsmoke]

hey ford44420003, does your truck have a block heater? cause if u plug that in they tend to start alot better. i plug mine in every night and its starts up very easily. and its even got 155k on it

[99 7.3]

it's just becuase it's cold. thats all. i don't know where u live but when it gets down in the teens (or colder here in michigan) or when my truck has sat for a couple of days i plug it in.

[ford4442003]

I purchased this truck and it only has 45000 miles on it and this problem just started so I need to fix it not put a bandaid on it. thanks anyway I never even had to plug in my old powerstroke with 155000 miles on it it was a 1996

[docweld]

how do you know your glow plugs are bad? How long should they last? If I don't plug my truck in when it is cold it will not start.

[docweld]

Why do I get fluttering when I am going up a hill and hit around 10" vac? If I back off the fluttering goes away. Also I get black smoke?

[SCUFFY828]

sounds like you might have a couple of weak injectors if it runs ok warm ,but
skips when cold

[djsdiesel]

Originally Posted by docweld

Why do I get fluttering when I am going up a hill and hit around 10" vac? If I back off the fluttering goes away. Also I get black smoke?

i assume the (10" vac) means 10" of vaccum. Diesels dont have vaccum they have boost pressure if thats what you mean. The fluttering sounds like compressor surge. either a wicked wheel or ats ported housing will fix that(if you have a 99-03 7.3l. as of the black smoke don't know, how much smoke? does it have a chip or programmer installed? are you getting smoke under acceleration or when you let off the pedal? also some particulars on your truck like year, mods done

[djsdiesel]

Originally Posted by docweld

how do you know your glow plugs are bad? How long should they last? If I don't plug my truck in when it is cold it will not start.

glow plugs can last 50k-250k. when they go bad you will know, your truck won't start when it's cold. I don't plug my truck in during the day and it's only had a high of like 15 aroud here and have had no problems starting, also have forgotten to plug mine in at night and it got down to low single digits and it fired right up. The only reason I plug mine in is because I don't wake up early enough to let it warm up so i plug it in and it's added bonus that the heater is warm right away.

So to answer your question no you don't need to plug it in if your glow plug system and your engine are in good operating condition.

[docweld]

djsdiesel,
Yes Boost, and black smoke on asseleration mainly up hills. Yes a chip first level for this truck and a K& N air filter kit. 2000 F350 4X4 dually