My buddy told me today his 1995 is smoking and coughing when he starts it in the cold. If its plugged in he said no problem, but when its not plugged in he lets the heater fire till the light goes out truck starts but he said its smoking (white I believe) and sputtering till it warms up. He has around 90,000miles but lot of idle time and other wise stock. Any ideas where to start?

 

might start with an injector cleaner, or try adjusting valves to see if it helps the rough idle. some smoke is normal, especially as temps get below 40.

 

i would check the injectors for any visible leaks if there is none try changing the fuel lines there prone to suck air without any visible defects. has he changed his overflow valve?

 

That sounds pretty much normal to me. I wonder if the timing slipped a little too. When I first got mine it would miss, smoke real bad, and not go over 1200 rpm when it was cold. Turned out to be the timing. Once I advanced it the engine ran much better.
Tom

 

Ok,
Thanks guys I will let him know.

 

I think it bust have to do with the altitude.

Down here in mexico, almpost every CTD (year 94-98) we get into our shop, needs the timing to be advanced. othervise: missing and white smoke.

 

Isn't some white smoke in a cold start OK?

I thought it was white smoke during normal operation that signified slipped timing?

 

Mine does the same thing when it's cold and hasn’t been plugged in. Normal response to the cold.

Solution: Plug it in!

 

Kind of reminds me being a kid and telling my Mom or Dad that something hurts, and their response is "DON'T DO THAT".

Randy

 

My 95 has very little white smoke, mine is hard to start if it sits more than two days warm or cold. I have the marine fuel line, trying to get the motivation to do it.

I've been cranking up at 19 degress with no problems, it idles rough for about 30 seconds when I don't plug it in. Very little smoke, if it sits a week I will get lots of white smoke on start up, it just started that last month. If I run it every two days or more, it starts fine.