1990 ford 7.3L questions

im gonna say its a fuel issue.  
[X] Give Er Hell [X]

Thats tricky but the smoke is only related to fuel deliverly and glow plug issues....which could be complicated at this point for an average or begginer diesel owner.....you could have complete glow plug failure due to a glow plug relay being bad or the sending signal and or sensor issues. in that case it would be hard as hell to start and die once or twice but it should be fine after its finally been running and up too temp (310-400)F / and start up fine after you turn it off and on after its been running a few minutes                                                                                                                                                                     If not then there could be more serious problems that a forum cant solve with out someone being there in person...remember the only way you can kill a diesel after its up to temp is to cut the fuel injectors supply-thats what happens when you turn the key off!!! when you have a turbo that goes bad and leaks oil through to the fresh air side you cant turn off your truck period! it will run off the crank case oil and not need any diesel....and run and run untill your engines oil goes dry or you cut off the air supply...now i know you have no turbo and that leak problem is very rare but my point is theres not much to cause a diesel to die!                                                                                                                                                                            So it should be fuel related if it wont start period after several trys. or glow plug related if it starts after giving it hell as explained in my glow plug test post above and remember it will barely stay running when its glow plugs are bad untill its warm and if its warm out side it will start easier also...DOES THESE CONDITIONS AFFECT IT??? if it just dies sometimes after its warmed up hella then its your fuel deleviery system,,injectors,,injector pump,,senseors,,loose wires,, which is gonna be a *** to diagnose with out special tools...hows your fuel filter? my truck in the artic circle had a bad one and only drove 2mph for a hundred miles up hill then finally quite running period.                                                                                                                                                                 ..ALSO check and drain your fuel & water seperator it could cause simular problems...where is your fuel filter located on your year i forgot? is it above the middle of the top of your engine block <>or on your left side of engine from standing in front of your truck? THATS where your manual valve will be for your water/fuel seperator...on (middle) mounted filter type its a little yellow plastic handle valve on the side of filter down low on the back....on the (side) of the engine types its a metal wing nut on the bottom of the filter unit....release the valve and drain the fuel out for.... well....half an minute or less should do!! THIS is all i can diagnose untill those tests and procedures are done!ALSO make the start and die response a little more clear im a little confused..sorry!                                                                                                                                                        I hope we can figure this thing out before you have to take it to a shop or pay a crap load of money to a diesel mehchanic!!!  

yea DJdiesel ive seen a diesel 'run away' like that. we had to put it in a high gear and dump the clutch to kill it. but without being there in person theres not much else advice i can give. hope he gits it figured out.  
[X] Give Er Hell [X]

Yeah ,its one of those problems that take some one on one time, maybe he'll check out the list of crap we told him to do and get back to us with updates?  

hopefully he can get er figured out.  
[X] Give Er Hell [X]

thank you guys for all the help I got it all figured out. The fuel filter was filling up with water making it harder for fuel to pass. There was also a censor that lpuged it to the that was connected to the fuel line that was unpluged. Since I found and fixed those two thing it starts everytime and doesn't die. Thanks again!