White smoke and hard to start only when cold [diesel]

Hi everyone, I have a 1983 Mazda B2200 2.2l diesel. I bought this truck in the summer with 110K miles, it ran well. Now that it has gotten cold in Oregon, it has a hell of a time starting up, and when it does, huge clouds of white smoke billow from the exhaust. Once it is warmed up, it starts right up and there is no white smoke. Sometimes after excessive starting attempts and swearing, I hear the starter spin out/make a weird noise that doesn't sound good. It seems when I put the choke on, it doesn't even help it. White smoke = raw unburnt diesel? I'll take a video tomorrow morning. I'm so upset about my truck

Before I take it to a diesel mechanic, are there some things I could do? I put in some CRC diesel fuel additive, can't tell if it's made much of a difference. Next on my list is to check compression, battery voltage, replace glow plugs, check glow plug relay voltage, check valve seals, change oil. What else could I do? What do you think it is? Thanks so much, this truck is very important to me.

check antifreeze?

Change glow plugs! Do mazdas have plug in for cold weather! If so change glow plugs! Use the plug in ! Should be good to go !

Check the glowplugs and relay for sure. If it starts fine when warm, its not a compression issue, so you can skip valve seals and compression test. Compression is higher cold than warm. Battery(s= its common to have two, not sure on these trucks) should not be so weak that it turns over slow. High cca batteries and a gear reduction starter always help cold starts, but aren't a fix all. I would try jumping the gpr with a screwdriver to see if the relay is shot. Do that by touching the screwdriver to both big terminals (im assuming on the layout here, post pictures of it if im not making sense). Do that for about 30-60 seconds in the key on position and try to start. If it starts right up, its the relay. I may have an upgraded one you would want to look into. If it is the same and hard starting, replace the glowplugs and try again. But like I said, the battery needs to be strong to both turn over fast enough and feed the glow plug system. Let me know how that works for you.

AWESOME! That's such good news, wow thank you. I'm still looking for a manual to buy [hard to find diesel version] so I'm not sure which glow plugs are the best. Is there a board preferred favorite around here, or do you know what would work best? I'll check voltage and jump the relays tomorrow, good idea.

Avoid autolite they like to swell over time. OEM brand is usually the best when it comes to glowplugs. Let me know how the testing goes. Check eBay for a manual.

Problem solved, I just didn't know how to operate the friggin choke, lol. I was turning the knob to the right, instead of pulling it out then turning it. One day I was like whoah it pulls out then vrooooom! Just a little smoke now, and thats ok she's diesel. I got a compression test kit too.

hey wageslaveescapist do you by chance know where there are any more Mazda's I need a transmission! Thanks

Edward
Rochester, wa