First Cold Spell & SES Stays Lit

[VinDiesel]

Weather has been nice and truck has been running fine. Got a cold snap complete with basically an ice storm which caught the truck outside. Decided to fire up truck so started it and let it idle for about 10 min. White smoke for the first 3-5 min. then clear exhaust. Got in and noticed the S light ON. Test drove it a few miles and could detect no noticeable problems: power Ok, exhaust clear, turbo working, battery charging, oil pressure fine, temperature fine BUT SES ON. Turned it off, rested it a bit, turned it back on. Still SESing. Owners manual says this is a bad thing usually indicating something in the emissions circuit. Would greatly appreciate any help re what this might mean, where to look, etc. It is my understanding that, due to the model year ('98) the cheap trouble code readout won't work. help.

[VinDiesel]

Tried to start truck today. Carefully gave it two shots at 5-6 sec. each. No luck. Ran out and checked exhaust. The exhause had thin whispy white smoke curling out of it and a slight smell of diesel. Almost seems like its flooding. Could this mean IP failure? :(

[kowsoc]

Sounds to me like your glow plugs are not getting energized. Checking codes would be a good idea.

Keep posting smile.gif

[ucdavis]

White smoke is unburned fuel. Likely either bad glow plugs or controller. You can test controller: should have batt volts across two large terminals w/key off, ~10.5V w/key on & controller snapped into action (you should hear a substantial click when controller solenoid actuates). The 10.5V may vary if you have several burned out plugs; more burned out plugs = higher volts (less resistance).

[VinDiesel]

Once again the info in this group to the rescue! Climbing into the engine to test the controller I noticed the positive insl. cap loose like it had been removed before. Further checking revealed the bolt tying the lead to the controller was...LOOSE! Tightened 'er up and she started. My guess: last service (wherever) didn't snug it up and, over time, vibration just keep shaking it looser and looser until...So, thanks to kowsoc & ucdavis for calling it and thanks to charliep's help in another post on how to find the controller. P.S. second time truck has been fixed by KISSing it! :D