Cold start white smoke

[Teipsum]

Hey guys, a few weeks ago I installed a new IP from Agnem and it is a whole new truck. However, now with the arctic temps in the south I found a new problem. Starting it in a cold morning produces 3 minutes of intense white smoke and it runs a bit rough (kinda like a miss). But once the temp hits the bottom of the "C" on the temp gauge it immediately smooths out and stops smoking. The truck has new glow plugs (well 7 out of the 8...haha) with manual push control for the plugs. After holding the glow plugs on for 8 seconds the truck fires right up, so I dont think it is the glow plugs. Or could it be the 1 glow plug #7 that I didnt change? Or would the smoke/rough running be caused by the cold solenoid switch as the problem immediately goes away once the temp rises?

Also the truck does have newer (10K) injectors.

Thanks!

 

[Hydro-idi]

Good to see another member in the Sacramento area. Welcome to OB. White smoke is typically linked to unburnt fuel. I would highly recommend making sure all of your glowplugs are, in fact, working. Even one bad glowplug can cause excessive white smoke. After you have checked that, I would look into getting engine timed.
I was having a black smoke issue with my truck during cold start-up. And this was after an upper end rebuild and baby moose ip. Smoke disappeared after I set timing to 9.4 btdc.

 

[Teipsum]

I actually moved to memphis TN a few months ago. The truck towed me and my stuff across the US. After I replaced the IP I bought a ferret adapter and timed it to 9.5 btdc.

 

[Hydro-idi]

Again, I would check glowplug system. If that checks out, I would suspect a leaking injector. The next time you cold-start engine, try cracking the injector lines (5/8 wrench) one at a time. If you find that the white smoke goes away with one of the injectors, bingo.
Where did you purchase injectors?

 

[franklin2]

Mine does the same thing. But it only lasts about 10 or 15 seconds. I know what it is on my truck, it's the reason I went to a manual pushbutton. Why did you go to a manual pushbutton? Was the reason the random short cycles of the factory controller? If so, the manual pushbutton won't get rid of the root problem; poor connections between the glowplugs and the glowplug wiring connectors.

I found if I went out and unplugged and plugged back in the glowplug wiring to the glowplugs, the controller would cycle normally and would work for a week or two. Then it would start short cycling again till I went through the same routine again.

I went to a manual pushbutton, and now my truck starts reliably. But once in awhile I do get a random miss and some smoke. I am sure this is from a glowplug that is not heating, more than likely because of the same reasons as before, poor connections. You have a couple of dead cylinders because they are not warmed up enough to burn the fuel. As the engine runs and those cylinders build up enough heat, they will start burning the fuel instead of pushing it out of the tailpipe as white smoke. Remember these engines work on heat, they have no sparkplugs to fire the fuel.

But go ahead and check your glowplugs with a meter or testlight and make sure they are good. A lot of people with the manual pushbutton overdo it for some reason and burn out some of the glowplugs. I don't know why they all want a magic number of 10 seconds or something. Be conservative with the plugs and they will last. Your truck may take a couple of tries with the button and cranking before it starts, but you won't burn out the plugs.

 

[Zaggnutt]

But go ahead and check your glowplugs with a meter or testlight and make sure they are good. A lot of people with the manual pushbutton overdo it for some reason and burn out some of the glowplugs. I don't know why they all want a magic number of 10 seconds or something. Be conservative with the plugs and they will last. Your truck may take a couple of tries with the button and cranking before it starts, but you won't burn out the plugs.

I have 3 bad plugs on my new truck. Autolites from the PO. If I am plugged in I get no white smoke at all if I glow it for 10 seconds, but if I am unplugged for several hours I have found that 10 seconds / break / 10 seconds will give me a quick startup and very little white smoke. That's in single digits for 6 hours or so.

 

[Teipsum]

Thanks for the suggestions, I will go ahead and check the glow plugs. I will also try to check the injectors, but I would only have 3 min or so to catch the problem. Hopefully I can get lucky. What are the symptoms of a broken or out of spec cold timing advance?

 

[Agnem]

It's your injectors. I've seen it many times. If your advance was broken or out of spec, you would be having issues all the time, and not just when it is cold. If you have a miss, it could be glow plugs, but if so that miss will go away after 20 or 30 seconds. What you have there is one or more injectors that are not sealing when the pop cycle is over, and they leak fuel during the exhaust stroke. Injector performance can definitely change as the injector warms, and this is why the problem goes away when they reach operating temp. If you pull them all and have them tested (they may need to be put in a freezer prior to the test), you will find some leakers. This is why I strongly recommend to my customers that they either replace the injectors with the pump, or have them professionally tested. http://conestogadiesel.com/support/fuelinjectionservicingadvice.html

 

[Teipsum]

Thanks Mel. I have the old injectors that I replaced with the new ones a few months before the pump. The new ones worked perfectly before the new pump, I bet I dropped some crud on the injectors when I was replacing the pump. I covered them, but only after I realized they were getting dirty. I will go ahead and replace 1 injector at a time until I find the one that is leaking.

 

[FORDF250HDXLT]

It's your injectors.

+1 for good measure.

 

[Agnem]

Thanks Mel. I have the old injectors that I replaced with the new ones a few months before the pump. The new ones worked perfectly before the new pump, I bet I dropped some crud on the injectors when I was replacing the pump. I covered them, but only after I realized they were getting dirty. I will go ahead and replace 1 injector at a time until I find the one that is leaking.

While what you mention is possible, don't blame yourself to harshly. Putting a new pump with used injectors is a common problem cause. The reason is, the new pump will cause more pintle lift and with more force than the old pump. Varnish that has accumulated can hold the pintle up, preventing it from sealing. As things warm, and the injector body expands, clearances become more generous and this allows the operation to occur properly.

 

[weldertim]

I've got similar issue with heavy white smoke on start up, and rough chugging idle for the first minute or so. Smoke continues until the truck is fully warmed up. I recently put in a freshly rebuilt turbo and moved the GP controller. Injectors are about five years old but were all replaced with new, same time as all the glow plugs were replaced with new, new GP controller relay too. She starts pretty well, but not as good as she used to. Starter is new and batteries are good. My cold idle solenoid is inop (had it unplugged and when I plugged it back in no worky), I'm not sure how to check if my cold timing advance is working. -Tim

 

[Teipsum]

I followed the advice of the others in this thread and I found a sticky injector. Once I replaced it the problem largely disappeared. It still smokes a bit (10 seconds) on mornings around 20f but no longer shudders. I would also suspect a sticky injector in your case as well.

 

[weldertim]

I pulled all the injectors yesterday and took them to a diesel injection service place to get tested. One injector (driver's side rear) had corrosion bellow the threads, I'm hoping I don't have a dead cylinder. I don't know how moisture would get down there any other way than block worm.

 

[weldertim]

So got the injectors back, the shop said six were bad (only five years old new delphi's). Got a set of freshly rebuilt BBs from the same shop, installed them and she still puts out a grey/white plume and runs rough when cold starting. Starting was better than before, but white smoke continues thick as hell for at least three to five minutes until the truck is warmed up. Once warm, there is a pronounced puff of white smoke if I rev it and abruptly let off the throttle. I went through the glow plugs and did the not so technical feel test, and they all get hot. Pulled one that I wasn't sure about and it got red hot. Any ideas? Please help me out. -Tim