Greetings,

I have been gleaning info from here for a while without the need to ask any questions till now. I cracked the heads on my truck a few years ago. A shop replaced them and ever since I have had hard starting problems. They were not bad but progressed so now I lay a smoke screen in front of my house. It will also stumble and stall the first few times. It is worse in the cold but even on a hot day (90F) it will have the same problems. The shop replaced the glow plugs when they did the new heads. I have since then replaced them again. I checked them with an ohm meter before I did and found bad ones. Then last night I rechecked them when filling out the diagnostic list and found another bad one. (third one back on drivers side.) It's replaced now. I have replaced the injectors 6 months ago which improved the starting but it is still terrible in my opinion. I have unplugged the coolant sensor with no change. I have cleaned all grounds and checked with meter ... all good. New batteries and cable ends ( no change). No codes, when I pull them I get 12/12/12. Pmd was replaced after the heads and has always been on the heat sync. Intake side of the turbo is a little greasy. but I haven't suspected that is my starting problem yet. I have suspected the cdr but have not made a manometer. I have checked the glow controler for voltage and it works within .01 volts of the battery. Truck has 139,000 miles on it I am the 2nd owner and I knew the first guy. I am at a loss for what to do next. Any help will be appreciated. Let me know if you want any more info.

Your smoke blowing friend,

1. Does the engine crank, or 'turn over'?Cranks 5oorpm ish
1a. Does the engine start and run?After a few attempts
1a1. If the engine does not start - Crack injector line (http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2188140#post2188140): do you have fuel? Yes/No Yes
1b. Do you have a Wait To Start Light & the amount of time (seconds) lit.Yes lights for between 5 and 9 seconds.
1c. Ambient Condition (temperature outside indicate F or C) 70f__ °
1d. Engine Cranking speed (if you have an accurate tachometer).500 ish
1e. Are you experiencing stalling? some during first few starts none while running
1f. If Stalling, describe (upon startup only, down the road, hit a bump etc)
1g. If Stalling, do you notice loss of dash or instruments?NO
-note if experiencing stalling,you must indicate PMD location in #24.
1h. Check turbo inlet and air filter for obstructions. Cone filters have lost disk and stopped air to turbo.Clear
1i. In a no-hot start, pour a bottle of room-temp water on the injection pump. Does it start now? yes/no N/A
1.1 Lift pump test (http://dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39350)- describe results Runs clear at front of eng. and filter while enging is running.

2. Service Engine Light while running?- on/off/intermittent
2a. Service Engine light does glow during start/cranking/bulb check: Yes/No
3. Model year 1994
3a. Odometer reading (indicate if in miles or km)135,000
3b. Miles on major engine components if been replaced (example Injection pump)heads at 129,000
3c. Indicate the model number on the Injection pump (starts DS4 or DB2......)DS4 blank green tag vin 1gcgc33f5rj324785
4. Have you scanned for engine codes? (varies by pre/post 96) yes/no yes 12/12/12
5. List exact results on engine codes (http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/dtc.php): 12/12/12
6. Air Filter condition (visual check)Clean
7. Fuel filter condition (freshly changed/condition unknown/mileage since changed) less than 2000 miles
8. Condition of Battery terminal connections (removed, cleaned and tightened) NEW and tight
8a. Known condition and age of the batteries.NEW
8b. Are batteries of differing age or are they a matched set? Matched
8c. Condition of Major Grounds (http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=157085). (same drill as batt - removed, cleaned, retightened) Cleaned and tested with meter
9. Upon cold start, does the radiator hose get hard quickly? Yes/no
10. Upon cold start, do you have excessive white smoke? Yes/no
11. Do you have excessive cranking time before the engine starts? Yes
12. Have you used the block heater, and does this effect engine starting?(only try for starting problems)Yes it only helps a tiny bit.
13. During hard acceleration, do you have excessive black smoke? Yes/no
14. Do you have any unusual exhaust smoke issues? Just white at start up
15. Turbo check out (http://dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39368)- pass/fail
16. Do you have an EGR on the engine? (An F or an S engine code 8th VIN digit)No F
17. Indicate if you know if it’s a 1500, 2500, 2500HD, 3500, 3500HD.
18. Indicate fuel that you are using: Bio-diesel, #2 Diesel, #1Diesel, SVO/WVO, other
18a. If running a VO (Veggie Oil fuel) setup, indicate details of your conversion (homemade, or packaged system)
19. Are you using any fuel additives? If so, please list.no
20. Please indicate geographic region you are in: (example: Texas or Canada) Truckee, CA Sierra nevada mountains 5900ft
21. Do you have any service history available that might pertain to the problem you are having?above
22. Please indicate any modifications to the vehicle that might help us diagnose better. signature and above
23. Upon unscrewing the fuel cap (http://dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42338), do you have a large vacuum formed in the tank? yes/no medium amount
24. Location of PMD/FSD (http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39436)? On the pump/remoted over intake/remoted out of engine bay (please specify placement specifically) on intake with heat sync
24a. If remote mounted, describe wiring harness (homemade or purchased from a vendor?) store bought
24b. Indicate the location and condition of the FSD/IP grounding wire. grounded to pump
25. Are ALL glow plugs in proper working order as per this thread (http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39182)? checked all but one last night pass

What brand glowers? Where you got the injectors,what brand?

Do you get 12 v juice at the glowers?

Is that no/bad start only first thing in the morning?

Did you check for fuel at the IP return line(replace with clear tubing) before start.It should be full of fuel with only 1 air bubble in the top.

Replace the CTS for piece of mind.

And lastly, did you verify IP timing?
What is the fuel pressure ,engine off,and engine idle.

The glow plugs are ss diesel's instant heats.
There is 11v at glow plugs.
The morning is the hardest and most smoke but it is still moderately bad all day even at 90f.
I have a cts to swap in ( I will do that today).

I will work on the ip timing and fuel pressure also.

The glow plugs are ss diesel's instant heats.
There is 11v at glow plugs.
The morning is the hardest and most smoke but it is still moderately bad all day even at 90f.
I have a cts to swap in ( I will do that today).

I will work on the ip timing and fuel pressure also.

The SSdiesel "instant Heats" could be part of the issue. The older ones had a tendency to swell and burn out in about a year of normal use. Rumor has it that SSD changed suppliers. i can't confirm or deny that however.

You got juice at the glows. If the glows are good they should be working then.

How old are the Injectors? Worn injectors can cause rough running and lots of smoke at startup. here's an example.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhKECT4njOU

White smoke is an indication of not enough heat to burn the fuel.(Cold engine)
Good compression and good glowers, glow circut and IP/injectors fixes that problem.

timing to late and air in the fuel system will also cause inadequate combustion resulting in white smoke at start up.

a good engine will fire in 90 degree wheater with no glow during the day,might need it at first startup though.

a coolant leak into the combustion chamber will also cause white smoke.

I would also pop test the injectors if te former suggestions does not solve the problem,as bad spray pattern interferes with combustion as well.Maybe they where bad from the get go.

Ok I have a correction to make. While changing the coolant temp sensor I discovered that with it unplugged It starts fine. So I screwed in the new one and it starts hard and with little white smoke. Then unplugged starts fine. Also seems to run stronger and more confidently with the sensor unplugged. From my understanding this proves the trouble out of the glow plugs and glow plug controller, is this correct? That being said since the new CTS doesn't fix the problem ???? could I have a light ground on the wire leading to the ecm? That would throw off the resistive reading to the computer on the old or new CTS? If so does anyone know what resistance I should see looking in without isolating it from the ecm? Mine is 4.41 ohms.

PS: I still have fuel pressure readings and ip timing on the list to do, I just got interested in this while I was replacing the CTS.


Your resistance chasing friend,

Hmm,The CTS among other things controls the lenght of glow time based on coolant temp.With CTS unplugged the ECM sees it as very cold,so provies the longest glow time.I would suspect the new CTS as faulty. ECM raises eyebrows too.
there is values avalable on the CTS resistance at diff temps. Might be in the sticky's.
mebby with the glow plugs you have you need longer glow time. I recommend an extra glow bypass switch. But then you'l need either G60's or duraterm plugs, if not in allready.

Is your truck stickshift or AT?
I got an ECM for a 94 5 speed if need be.

Mine is a Automatic.
I will ensure The CTS has good clean wires to the ECM tomorrow. I checked the ground and it is good.

Your persistent friend,

Update,
Wires to the ECM are good. Still need to find clear tube for pressure test but since the cts pulled makes it run great I suspect it has the pressure it needs. But pressure and timing are definitely still on the table.

your ground chasing friend,

timing to late and air in the fuel system will also cause inadequate combustion resulting in white smoke at start up.

I am leaning toward this comment you made bison. I Need to find a scan tool to check the timing though.

Does anyone know any other way to verify timing?

Your patient friend,

GMTDScan is your friend in this matter,cheapest scan tool out there.

Got the clear fuel line to check the return fuel for air. just pu it on tonight and will let it set till morning.

Immediately a small bubble came up after turning the engine off.

Looks like the guys that replaced the heads slit the hose taking it off and reused it. Little slit protruding passed the hose clamp. we'll see if this might be part of the problem.

Your happy to find something friend,

one bubble is normal,the rest of the line should stay full.