Lots Of White Smoke at Startup

[Woody35]

So i bought this truck 2 months ago. starts find in the cold even when not plugged in but last week it started to smoke more than usal. i dont drive this truck everyday so every 3 or 4 days i do it smokes a lot. 10 to 15 seconds then goes away. well last week and this week i have driven it more often and even though it is started to warm up (50 to 60 degrees) it still smokes like i havent started it for a week and its 20 degrees outside. when i was changing the front shocks i slipped on a bolt and hit the glow plug on the first cylinder that is lcoated on the right if you are standing in front of the truck. it was bent and the wire connecting it came off.

i bent it back and reattached the wire. could it be this glowplug is damaged and not working so there is one cool cylinder when it starts. i know this truck was sitting on the used truck dealer for at least 2 months because i looked at this truck in december on autotrader. so im thinking the glow plugs are going bad after all of a sudden getting used a lot more. im thinking the glowplugs are starting to go but let me know what you think.

 

[BigBlueChevy]

glow plugs are a good place to start. Pull that one you mentioned and put an ohmeter on it. (These glow plugs are like spark plugs there grounded by the block as you can imagine). If you read resistance, it means that it still works, if you read no resistance than that one is shot. Pull the ones on the drivers side(easiest to get to) check them all for resistance, then hook them up to your battery and see if they glow. You can make a decent judgement as to how they all are by doing that.

White smoke can be a result of bad glow plugs but also injectors. So check the plugs first and lets work from there.

 

[Woody35]

how much resistance should there be on the glowplugs

 

[BigBlueChevy]

hmmm. Well either my tester is haywire or this is right - It seems resistance for my older glowplugs are at .001 ohms. A continuity check will tell you as well right from the start wether they are good or bad.

 

[JMJNet]

1 ohm or less.

Best way is to take one of them out and see if it is swollen or start to swell or start to have bad burn mark looks like reddish rust.
It can still test less than 1 ohm.

Also, if you take it out it said Delco 9G, better replace them since if it swells, you won't be able to take it out without breaking it.
More expensive than just changing the GP to begin with.

 

[Dan Hunter]

How's the oil on the dipstick look?

Is your top radiator hose firm after a cold start?

 

[Woody35]

oil looks fine i just changed it a week ago. i will go check on the raditator hose

 

[Woody35]

raditator hose was not firm after i started it. what does this have to do with glowplugs

 

[94K30]

raditator hose was not firm after i started it. what does this have to do with glowplugs

not a thing... it is an indicator of blown head gasket/ cracked head, etc.... if it was hard right away. cylinder pressure getting into cooling system, etc...

 

[BigBlueChevy]

another way is to smell your exhaust for a "sweet" smell or the obvious scent of burnt coolant.

The easiest thing to do right now Is just pull the drivers side glow plugs(one at a time and drivers side since there easiest to get too). Check them all for not only resistance, but give them a visual check, do they look swollen at all, any "rust" spots(looks like rust)?

How many miles does your truck have?

Chances are, the trucks never had them replaced and it just needs a fresh batch of glow plugs to make everything work again. Plus, if ya killed one already, chances are somebodys trying to give you a sign to replace them

 

[Woody35]

i just rolled over 1430000 miles so im guessing they have never been replaced. i will pull thenm when i get the chance since its really busy at work and home so probably in sometime in 3 weeks. thanks from you guys that answered and i hope they dont go out until then

 

[96 OILBURNER]

If I could get a million miles on a set of brakes, I wouldn't complain.