I really think its the glow plugs... Like I said in another thread, they are original... I was diverted from going out and replacing them due to the replies, but I think thats the issue.

I get lots of white smoke when cranking the car. So its not the fuel lines, plus Ive replaced a bunch of them... And they are never an issue any other time.

I know most of the things to do when having cold start problems, and the thing is, Ive done most of them... Things like compression, having the valves adjusted, and I know a lot about oil. So no real issues there. battery is new, everything seems OK.

My chain has about 3-4 degrees of stretch. The IP has never been touched. The car runs so darn well the rest of the time, and starts on the first cylinder after being started and warmed up once, so I never really thought that it would be off by too much. Its just those overnight sits when it dips to the low teens and single digits...

I really think its just that the glow plugs are old, and probably tired. I am going to replace them all, after I receive my GP reamer. If that and full synth oil in the crankcase doesnt fix it, then I have trouble, and had better re-adjust the valves, take the starter off and have it bench tested, and have the IP checked... But like I said, the car runs so darn well, with lots of power and nearly 30MPG, that Id think something like fuel economy would fall off along with the cold start issue, not just the hard starts below 20F.

Thanks,

JMH

P.S. Ive also gotten some anti-gel additive and am using it. Maybe that will help. I never saw any formations in the clear prefilter, and I do regularly use rotella DFA, which should drop the gel point a bit, but I figure the fuel in those little injector lines must be the ambient temperature, and so maybe in there they gel. I use generic truckstop diesel, I doubt there is much additive or any cetane improvers, its probably 40 cetane units.

One other idea is to make sure you crank enough to give it a decent chance to start. A 5 sec crank in cold weather may not be enough. I'd not hesitate to let the starter run for 15 seconds or so to see if it'll catch. All in all I'm not sure extra cranking uses that much more battery reserve than repeated glow cycles. It may be that fewer glows and a bit more cranking will be a better combination to get it going on a cold day. Give it a try and let us know what happens.

This is a no-brainer. If you are not sure when the glow plugs were last changed I'm pretty sure a fresh set will cure your starting problems for at least 4-5 years.

You should test the old plugs before you throw them out - I'll bet at least two of them are not up to par.

Good thing P.E.H is not around.....

Tim

I think you are on solid ground now.... when your GP reamer gets there... take them out , ream, check them electrically , and if they test good put them back in and try them...
No matter how hot they get if they are insulated by built up carbon they can not really do their job when things get really cold.
But also be sure the Connections to the battery and starter are clean and solid.... in really cold weather all the minor faults combine and show up.....

Let me add my 2 cents. It has been extremely cold here in the NE this month and both my SDs are exhibiting the same behaivor. First thing in the morning they are difficult to start unless I use the block heater. New batteries, new glow plugs, PS anti gel, glow for 3 or 4 full 45 sec cycles (I hear the relay click), start great when warm. The 84 has some fuel seepage around the injectors, and the hand pump on the 83 isn't the best, so maybe that is the reason. Or, maybe the PCs are all schmutzed up so that the GPs can't really do their job, either way nothng gets worked on until stuff starts to thaw out and I can walk outside without hearing crunching sounds.

Here is my morning starting regimen, glow for 4 full 45 sec cycles, start to crank and feed fuel gently until it starts to fire. Keep starter engaged until engine sounds like it will run without it. This is working down to the single digits, anything lower and it has to be plugged in.

I tried using the instructions in the owners manual, didn't work at all.

I like the hair dryer idea or even better how about a heat gun ,would have to be careful around plastic parts with a heat gun..........

Here is what I experienced last week when it was about 20 degrees Fahrenheit, and my 80 SD wouldn't fire off. I had put in new glow plugs in October, adjusted the valves, new timing chain last month. So I thought it should crank. I finally got it started after much glowing and cranking. Next morning about 25 degrees and same thing. So I decided to check the glow plugs to see if one or more had gone bad.

All were good which I kind of suspected. Since I had the out I checked the compression. All around 400. I knew the car did not use any oil, but hey I wanted to make sure!

So I changed the fuel filters. Next morning the car fired right off,
but it was WARMER, around 30 IIRC.

Anyway if you haven't just changed them, try new filters it may help.