98.5 7.3 cold miss/shudder/chug

[thateb]

so ive been having a problem with my 7.3 after cold starts. anywhere from -10F to 40F. when i start it with one long crank (about 6 seconds or so), it will start with a rough idle for a few seconds with lots of smoke. after idling fine for maybe a half minute i take off and under acceleration it exhibits a pronounced miss or shudder. when i come to a stop it idles fine. after driving and warming it up, it gradually dissipates and runs normal. however, if i cold start it by giving it a 2 second crank, stop, and then give it another 2 second crank, it fires up more smooth and does not exhibit the shudder/miss behavior. i would like to fix the long cranking issue and shudder/miss issue. im guessing they are related. any thoughts?

Thanks.

[DrewGerhan]

Sounds like glow plugs or glow plug relay to me.

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[thateb]

actually i replaced all of the glow plugs and put in that stancor relay about 6 months ago. i know all of that is good.

[ianstew]

how many miles on the injectors and what weight oil you running?

any smoking at all?

still wouldnt hurt to verify GP operation.

check your icp sensor, verify no oil present. unplug and try to start using the procedure that causes it to miss with the ice unplugged and see if it does it.

[thateb]

It has 174k on it and I am pretty sure the injectors are original, but not positive. it always smokes at least a little on start up, but it kicks out quite a bit of white smoke when i crank it a long time. i was thinking of looking into that icp sensor but i dont know where it is. but i will try that test this weekend and report back.

[ianstew]

the icp sensor, looking at engine, is at the front of the right head. ill see if i can dig up a pic for ya

[JPilkinton]

how cold is it your fuel could be jelling up mine sounds weird sometime when its really cold and my fuel jells but drived it a while well about 10-15 min and its okay like some of the reutrning fuel is warm and un jells it... and are you plugging it in?

[thateb]

I dont have a place to plug it in since i live in a stupid apartment without core heater access. as i said it happens below 40 degrees when i just crank the heck out of it. I did unplug the ICP sensor and it threw a code, but it hasnt been cold enough to know if it behaves normal. The oil is 10w30 rotella. Ive been thinking that the injectors might be getting tired but the are expensive and i dont want to go after them if not necessary. is there an inexpenive way to test them? and will i see an increase in mileage if i replace worn injectors?

[mcnaughty2]

any updates? my truck is having similar symptoms and I'm wondering if you have any wisdom to share?? thanks!

[jesilvas]

For anyone - GPs, GPR, Batteries (850CCA minimum), battery connections, UVCHs and UVCH truck side pigtails because they supply power to the GPs.