Cold starts

[B4 I was 250T]

The B4 is having a few issues starting in the mornings. The colder the morning the harder it is to start BUT even on mild mornings it's not kicking over first turn of the key. The spark plugs were changed in the weekend and it hasn't fixed it (although she is running beautifully now). There is a small puff of smoke when she does start but doesn't smell oily and isn't burning oil at all.Was told it could be oil in the cylinder but engine only has 140,000 on it so rings shouldn't be gone should they? No oil showed up on plugs when we changed them either. So what next, where do I go from here? Starter? Battery? (Battery is 3 years old but only showing 11.6 V on voltmeter)Fuel pump? Any advice muchly appreciated as it's doing my head in!

[Rosssub]

11.6V is low, should be about 12.6V. Is the engine turning over (cranking) but wont fire, or will the engine not turn at all?

[B4 I was 250T]

Engine is turning over just not firing. Hard to really explain. I prime engine (can hear fuel pump do it's thing)turn key and it sort of fires but not enough. Turn it off, re prime and try again. Have to have foot on gas too. Turn key and it will start or not so keep repeating process until it starts. When she does go it kind of takes a second until revs come up to normal. Dunno if that makes sense???

[Rosssub]

11.6v is very low, especially during winter. Could just be that it's cranking slowly, also the fuel pump prime might not be getting the pressure high enough with a low voltage prime.

Check the battery voltage with the engine idling, should be about 14.4v. Showing the alternator is ok. Then shut the engine down/ignition off and monitor the battery voltage. It will probably show 12.5-12.8v at first, then very slowly drop back to 11.6. Showing your battery is toast.

Could also charge the battery over night, or get a jump start in the morning to see if it starts easier.

[Joker]

coolant temp sensor could be your issue, i had a 1990 BC GT that would stall at intersections, and it was an automatic..... run really rich & would not restart, turns out it was that sensor...

[B4 I was 250T]

Cool, I'll check that too. Thanks Joker