Alright, with the weather getting cooler and this is my first winter with my 6.5 i have an observation. Below 65F my wait to start (WTS from here on) will come on and go off like it is supposed to. I then immediately crank and start the vehicle. It starts immediately. I have noticed that right after it starts the WTS light will still flash on and off for about thirty seconds or so. I can see my headlights dim so I know the glows are lighting up. My question is: Is this normal or a is it a sign that I need to replace the glow plugs? I get just a little white smoke on startup (even in the summer) but nothing real major. With the colder weather moving in I want to make sure my glows are doing the job and I am not damaging anything. As far as I know they are the original plugs. Thanks.

Sounds normal to me. A check of the glow plugs won't hurt though...

chevy dealer put new glows in as a condition of purchase. been just over 2 years now. truck does the same thing as yours with the light. it does smoke white. never thought it a big deal and still don't. i had cars that smoked white until they fully warmed up unless it was real cold out. heck my breath smokes white on a cold day. lol

The WTS and glows are supposed to cycle on and off a few times after a cold start. The PCM does this to help smooth the cold engine running a bit until combustion temps get hot enough that it will run smoothly on its own without the glows. The PCM knows how cold it is, and how many times to cycle the glows after start up. I'm not sure when this feature was added, but I think it was '96 and newer with OBD-II. But it may be on earlier models too.

My '95 ODB I cycles the glows after start up, so its not just an ODB II thing.

All glows should read between .8-1.4 ohms cold. If they check out and white smoke persists, it may indicate a colder than normal cylinder or weak injector especially if it chugs.

My 95 does this also, I think they call it after glow. Even my old 6.2 does this.:)

My 97' does the same when it's cold, easy to watch on the volt gauge

yes the glowing before the engine is preglow, and the intermitant glowing is afterglow,

even my 81 Olds diesel does this, but for about a minute

On mine, I generally wait for the light to cycle 3 time or until I hear the clicking stop before starting on cold morning, and I don't have a smokey start. Don't know if I am doing this wrong or not, but so far its working for me.