Older non-electronically controlled diesels often blew white smoke when they were cold. Basically on a powerstroke it is a sign of improper fuel injection, example - injector not flowing fuel properly, spray pattern is incorrect, ect. All in all it is not uncommon for a powerstroke to throw white smoke as an injector is going out. You will need to run a scanner on it and find out which injector it is. Sometimes even though a PSD is skipping fairly bad it can be diffucult to get a missfire code. First run a koeo then a koer then running the injector electrical self-test. Run it a couple of times then run a cylinder balance test see what you come up with.

 

check your oil level too. If an injector is leaking down your oil level in the crank case will go up.

 

Rule out glow plugs. If it starts in cold weather, they're working. Either way, they won't cause this type of problem. I noticed with my old PSD that with poor glow plugs, there would be massive white smoke once it started(cold weather). But it would clear up immediately once the engine was started.

Sounds like an injector or sensor, but not the cam sensor. More like a TPS.

 

Def sounds like injectors need replaced... NOT to cheap.

 

The cam position sensor is a notorious problem in fact Ford put out a service bulletin about a year and half ago and were replacing it for free. This sensor will absoulutely make it feel like fuel was cut,a stalling feeling and it knocks the timing out which can cause the white smoke which means your burning more air then fuel. It is a $80 dollar part and a 10 minute fix.

 

i have never seen a cmp do this before not to say its not possible but usually they completely fail and cause a no start. as far as the smoke while driving, what color is it? if its white while driving it can only be two things, unburned fuel or coolant. an injector sticking open can cause a crazy amount of fuel to hit the cylinder but you should notice a hard/no start problem. possibly even hydro lock the engine. also not a very common problem on 7.3s

 

It sounds like an injector. They really aren't that bad to replace, someone with decent mechanical know-how could do it. When mine went out I got a kit from diy-injectors.com if you don't want to do it you can have him do them also. Much cheaper than buying new ones from ford. You might check your under valve cover harness as well. There are two, one on each valve cover, I've had problems with those before. I believe ford has an updated clip for them too. Good luck.

 

unless you dont change the oil regularly the injectors are probly fine if it only has 120,000 miles, sounds like you need to change the fuel filter and the oil.

 

ohh. if its a 7.3 it has a plug in on the front of it. if you cant find it, look above the oil filter and there should be a cord, follow it until you find the end. plug it in at night and it will help it start easier and wont take as long to warm up.