Det 1

I haven’t been here in a while because of intervening issues but a problem has manifested itself in the last several weeks and doesn’t seem to be getting any better with the limited remedies currently at hand.

After sitting over night night my truck becomes hard to start; ambient temperature doesn’t seem to matter. I’m wintering in central Texas where temperatures seldom fall below freezing. I have to crank it several seconds before it will start again then I get some whitish smoke with a tinge of blue. Repeatedly cycling the start up procedure (waiting for the wts light to go off) doesn’t seem to help. The only thing that does seem to help is plugging in the engine heater, waiting an appropriate amount of time, and the motor then starts normally. This seems to be true with temperatures up into the mid 40’s. I’ve never tried it in warmer temperatures but even then the motor doesn’t want to start immediately.

As a background, the injectors were all replaced about 70,000 miles ago. About 25,000 miles ago the #2 injector failed and was replaced. They told me at the time that they thought the #4 injector was weak and would probably need to be replaced at some time in the future. The motor has developed what my mechanic back home diagnosed as an injector knock, but the use of injector cleaner and diesel fuel treatment has slowed the noise down. Nevertheless it is getting worse and I’ve made arrangements for it to be replaced when I get back home in a month or so.

I should also mention that once the truck has been started it never exhibits the same symptoms for the rest of the day; it starts normally.

Is it probable that this injector is the cause of the hard starting? Is it somehow losing Its prime? Or do I have another underlying issue with the fuel delivery system? The stock lift pump was replaced with an aftermarket frame mounted pump several years ago.

All input is welcomed