Smoking and Rough Start, Sluggish, No power

[F350newbie]

2004 F350 6.0 4x4 138,000miles according to OD automatic

Help,

This is my first Diesel and as much as I like my big truck, it is having big problems.

Engine starts rough, even when plugged it is noisy. when below 30F and not plugged engine fires on 2 or 3 cyclinders, maybe(how to I find out)

Once Engine has warmed up (gauges say its warm)....15minutes all cylinders seem to be firing, but acceleration is sluggish or engine revs high(2000 -3000rpm) without power, then tranny will finally kicks in and responds. When I let off the acceleration pedal I hear a sound like air being sucked thru the air filter to restore an air pressure(very difficult sound to describe, might try recording and posting).

To make things worse this week, the door sensor light comes on and off and beeps when driving turning the interior light on, used to only come one and stay on after I washed the truck in this freezing weather.

I suspect I need glow plugs as I have two brand new batteries, starter, and an alternator installed.

Where do I start troubleshooting? No warning messages appear on dash?

How to troubleshoot whether the issues are injectors, or a wiring harness, or intake heater, or some other item?

Where do I get reasonably priced glow plugs and injectors if I need to replace them. How big of a job is this?

Thanks for the Help

FC

 

[DaveBen]

What you have is a cold diesel engine. Diesel engines are heat engines, that is they run my making heat. Diesels don't run cold and are hard to start. You need everything to be working at 100% to get it to start and run. Glow plugs are your first help. You have a block heater that you can plug in for a couple of hours before you start up. This will get you running. Your truck won't run at top power for many minutes, but should be driveable. There is no intake heater and you can get the codes out with a scanner that will read Ford Diesels (CAN Communications). No cheap scanner will work. I have an Autoenginuity scanner that works with my laptop and is considered the best. AutoEnginuity® - OBD2 Scan Tool - Professional PC and PDA Diagnostics - Start with this.

Dave