BigBen

You should not have to give the truck any extra throttle to start! The only time i need to give any extra throttlw is when the ? drops below 0*F and I forget to plug the truck in! If your idle RPM is below 700 then you need to adjust the idle screw on the back of the pump. Its a 10mm bolt that limits the backwaed travel of the throttle linkage. Its hard to see and a pain to get a wrench on. Start the truck and adjust the screw until you have between 700-800rpm, Cummins spec is 750 for most B series engines. If your idle rpm is already within spec then there are number of other things that could be causing a hard start. As previously mentioned the starter could be on its way out and if your cranking RPM is below 150 I would defintily go after that. If you still have problems after that things get a little more involved.