smoking and rough idle

[LOSTAT99]

I have a 99 F350 7.3, I have noticed that in the last 2 months when I start it first time of the day, I have a lot of white smoke and strong exhaust smell, then this morning the Temp was around 19 degrees, the engine would turn over slow and would try to start but would shut off, I turned off the switch and turned it again and waited for the wait to start light to go off, did the same thing, I went through this 4 to 5 times before I got it started, when it did start it idled very eratic, and had 5 times as much smoke and exhaust smell, any ideas where to start trouble shooting ????????/

[mrwizard116]

You should check out my post, I have a video of the hard start on youtube, it took over 8 minutes to start in 34 degree weather. Maybe some of the things that the guys were talking about may help you. I threw half a bottle of diesel kleen into half a tank of fuel and the next morning the truck started up the first try at 30 degree temp. If there is an extremely loud knock once it starts, that's normal, if the knock continues after it warms up look to replace at least 1 injector. About the smoke, check your coolant and oil levels to make sure its not burning either. If you're clear on those 2 things, you're just having the normal cold weather startup smoke. Don't stress too much about it if its running good once warm. Let me know how your coolant and oil levels look.

[Soot_Life]

it may be dumb but are you using your block heater?

my truck hates 30 degrees.. i couldent imagine 19

[MAKECO]

Sounds like my old 01 F-350, would barely start below 30f if not plugged in, I live in the Frozen Tundra of North Dakota, block heater a must.

[mtnsammy]

sounds like glow plugs to me. White smoke on start up? Will it stay running if you give it some throttle? Did you ever get it to warm up? Battery condition is amplified when cold too. If the batteries are weak it will turn over slower and the glow plugs will not burn as hot. There is a lot of draw trying to start these beasts. Try the block heater if it still works and let us know what it is like when warmed up. If it fires nice warmed up but runs like crap when cold I would stick with glow plugs as problem.