New non-emergency air (i think) issue... Want to do this slow and right.

OK. So here's the recent activity involving my engine:

2 weeks ago, new mechanical lift pump (did not replace hard line to filter, or soft supply from tanks...)
1 week ago, GP system checked. GPC good, plugs good, fuses refreshed. 2 new matched batteries. Turned up IP 3 flats (half turn, 180). New filter->IP olives. Starts like a champ now.
5 days ago, oil change (long overdue)... 11 quarts of Rotella T 15w-40, and a Motorcraft FL1995 filter.
3 days ago... While removing my CDR for inspection (a little blue smoke had got me wondering about oil that I had noticed in the air intake side of the CDR>intake tube...), I accidentally cracked the "retainer" plastic piece that plugs into my valve cover... I cleaned the crap out of it, and JB welded it the best I could and slapped it back in (after ordering a new CDR (Ford E3TZ-6A665-A), the retainer (Ford E8TZ-6A892-A) and just for fun, the rubber washer gasket too (Ford E3TZ-6A892-A).

Since then, activity:
Ran her for a few dump runs, maybe a total of 50-60 miles after all of this (40ish before CDR retainer cracking...). At my friends the other day: had been driving for a bit after the dump, so she was warm. Shut her down. After 45 min or so of just hanging out, he wanted to see the little bit 'o coal I can roll now with my ip turned up, so I started her up. I got the usual little white puff at startup... but she was warm so that was all. Everything was peachy, and then after I revved her twice, all of a sudden, my engine almost seemed to change to "coughing lightly and producing white smoke all across the rpm band" mode... It was severely lacking in pickup on my way home. It seemed to idle ok... a little chunky, but unlike before (which was a little white on startup (more if cold), some studdering around 2k (parked), and a little white when the tach was dropping from high rpm's (<-problem?), and very clean smooth idle.)

Now, for my guess: My soft line to my tanks and my tank selector valve are probably in questionable condition at best... I was thinking that I (and my lead foot), along with the newly turned up IP may have created a pickup issue somewhere. I have no showerhead in the front tank (did the tube/T fitting sub), and just before I went to my friends place, I also filled up a nearly empty tank (front), putting some treatment in before hand to clean/lube...

I'm thinking with the new IP setting, and new lift pump, I'm getting a lot of pull through old, possibly cracked lines, or may have picked up some crap stirred up in my low tank. The way it just suddenly started for no reason other than an engine revv I think backs this theory up. (but I also wonder about that cracked CDR retainer... I know it's not sound, and it happened literally 10 minutes before all of this bs, along with the tank fill... Would that cracked retainer lead to smoke? If so how?) I also thought after re-attaching it, that maybe the IP side cover plate might/could be letting air in... just a side thought...

Well, that's what I think. Now for everyone else's thoughts... Always glad to hear em.

I want to go about this the right way and take my time, so any thoughts on procedural stuff would be great... where to start, what to look for, etc. You guys never fail when it comes to diagnostic ideas and methods, so I will await feedback before I go prodding around and make things worse.

Sorry for the long winded post. I've always been told to be thorough on here.

whats your pyro read?

i would put a clear line from your lift pump to your filter and check for bubbles.
one thing ive learned is that mechanical lift pumps suck.
when i did my IP, i had a mechanical.
and it wouldnt run right,
i changed the lift pump, and it still wouldnt do the job, i installed a facet e-pump, and BAM all my issues were disolved.
the new mechanical lift pump was producing 2 psi
the e- pump produced 9 psi
ya cant feed a monster less and expect it to **** more

I suppose the facet route is going to happen eventually... In the meantime I'm probably going to do the fuel supply line and tank selector valve. I think they're both stock from '94...

Also going to put a showerhead i have from the bad rear tank sender i nixed on the front sender. I have a feeling I picked something up in my line, and that is creating more vacuum, which in turn is pulling air in from somewhere along that stock setup...

I haven't installed a pyro yet... Any recommendations?

I recommend you turn your pump back down until you get one before you melt your engine.

IDIoit said:

ya cant feed a monster less and expect it to **** more

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Those are words to live by right there! We would all do well to remember that!

Fair enough. Sounds like sound advice... She'll be parked for a bit though, now that I have my Saab up and running again. What would the cost be for a quick pyro install on average? I'd almost rather install the pyro than turn the pump back down. I probably will have the time next week... Any tech articles on it here? I can never seem to find the ones I need. The search feature is weird.

CDR=Crankcase Decompression Regulator. CDR's rarelly go bad. Waste of money, all you need is the grommets. If it's sucking in outside air, you might be having Hi crankcase pressure. Don't replace the FSV, might not be nessasary. Dealer cost is $300 and up. Turn that damn IP back down, we condem smoke blowers. One and a half hex is more than you need, even for a turbo install. Check the Olive on the hard line from LP to filter, when you installed the lift pump, you probable disturbed it, then air intrusion. Change your filter, if you got fuel just after they loaded the gas station tanks, all the dirt in the tanks is stired up, if you don't see a filter on the station hose, even then they don't change them much. Your gonna get oil in the CDR, no way to keep it out, even if you have a new engine your gonna get i, compression blo by, there's 950 lbs at 1K RPM.

You might have to mount it different and need the pig tail. But a whole lot less than dealer.

http://www.autozone.com/fuel-delive...8-cylinders-m-7-3l-diesel/518461_686942_5320/

This can happen if the IP is turned up to far, C-ring rollers tie up breaking the input shaft.

Pyro...I prefer Isspro. Really, you can't go wrong with their gauges. Installation is pretty easy. The one absolute rule to follow is, do not cut the cable between the sender and the gauge.

I believe Mel sells Isspro. Give him a call at Conestoga.

OK... I'll turn her back down... I was so curious I couldn't resist. To be honest, there wasn't much black smoke, but the bottom end was severely improved. I'll be returning it to stock though. Don't think it's worth the trouble really. It's a powerful enough truck already.

She'll get turned back down when my parts get here in the mail and I'm under the hood again. I'll probably grab a pyro anyway and install it mid March...

Thanks for the advice and the links guys. When I get some of this work done, I'll come back to this thread and update it.

I threw the new CDR and new "retainers" in... Haven't turned down the pump yet. Had to start and move her today to a different resting spot until more work. When I did, she was belching heavily. Some of the smoke was air, I know it. But some I think is oil... The cloud was shifting tints from white to blue, to white... depending on where in the rpm band I was/how much throttle I had on it...

Now I'm worried that turning that pump up really did a number on her. Let's play worst case scenario:

So a stock 1994 IP with 170k on it gets turned up 3 flats for 40 miles or so... and then starts puffin like an ******....

Starting to think I delivered the death blow to my IP... is this probable? Also, any other worst case scenarios feel free to share...

Oldbull, you posted pics but they were super small... I couldn't tell what it was. My guess was IP guts considering the comment.

Let me know what y'all think is happening. Thanks!

White smoke out the exhaust is unburnt fuel. With your new electric lift pump running at 9 PSI to the IP that will change the IP timing, retards it. I'm sure you don't know where the timing is set at, advance the IP timing about 1/16" toward the pass side, before you move it, mark it so it can be returned, see if that helps clean up the white smoke. Forget about the CDR for now. The blue smoke might be coming from loose/worn valve guides, you'll most always get a little blue smoke until the engine is warmed up. By turning up the fuel as much as you did, you should get black smoke after advancing the timing, when you get on the throttle hard.

Starting to think I delivered the death blow to my IP... is this probable? Also, any other worst case scenarios feel free to share...

Click to expand...

No, you didn't deliver a death blow to the IP, not yet anyhow. The pic's I showed is when the IP input shaft is sheared by turning up the IP too far.

Thanks for that last one bull, but I think I might be understating what is happening, and I may have misled you somehow. I didn't install an electric, I installed a mechanical lift pump. (mistake, I know. Duralift is going in asap...)

The engine is acting erratically now, and this smoke issue is major, along with stuttering and power loss.. This isn't just a cold start thing.... It's a TON of smoke, and all across the rpm band. Like i said, a constant shifting from blue > white > blue... depending on throttle pos. This is when it's cold though, so I let her get warm just now... At running temp after idling for a bit, the characteristics change... it becomes smooth idling, and produces a white puff immediately following the dark puff from the IP turnup... But the real BS is that when I slowly bring up the RPM's, near about 1,700-2k she starts to REALLY sputter... and it's blue-ish white.... and there's a lot of it. Clouds not puffs.

But this blue smoke... It wasn't happening before my oil change. Now I'm burning a ton of oil apparently? I have no idea why. I do know that she was WAAAAY overdue for the change.... What came out was practically molasses. (PO warned me about it needing a change soon when i got her, but I just don't drive her as much now with the saab, and the miles added up before I remembered.

I mentioned the CDR just because I did it. I figured it had nothing to do with any of this since putting it back on didn't solve anything. Don't know why I mentioned it.

I'm thinking that the excess white came from the turning up and giving her way too much fuel from the IP... so I'll turn it back down tomorrow to test that theory.

The driver side valve cover is leaking oil at it's gasket... and my injectors are stock from 1994 (and I didn't install the new copper seats when I did my return line kit last year).

Since I think there's a few issues, and I have time to park her for a spell, here's my plan of action:

I'm going to remove all my hard lines from filter to injectors... inspect, clean and repaint.
Going to remove my valve covers, replace gaskets and inspect valve system... clean and paint covers.
Going to remove all injectors and bring them to a local business that I think can pop test them for me... interested to see the shape they're in.
While this is all being done, I will try to scrape the $ together and get that electric lift pump in, and replace all fuel lines from FTSV to lift pump/tanks...

I might also try to find a junkyard FTSV for the heck of it...


One last question, and I'll shut up: Is there such a thing as clear fuel line that I can run from tank to e-lift? I'd love to see if the air intrusion is happening near the tanks...

OK. Enough.

When you remove the valve covers, tell us what you find. If the inside of the covers are coated with what looks like Wax, you may have cavitation. I've seen that stuff even plug up the oil return holes, no way for the oil to return to the pan. Sounds like the PO didn't take very good care of it. If that being the case, that head would have to come off and inspect the bores. I found this (pic) on an engine.

IDIoit said:

http://m.summitracing.com/parts/vdo-310153

Click to expand...

I ordered that one from Jegs and it is on back order and they keep pushing the ship date out. Everyone else was the same. I am currently waiting on this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004PZ9ARK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Also thought about this:

http://www.amazon.com/Auto-Meter-26...426962285&sr=1-4&keywords=pyrometer+gauge+kit