white smoke and knocking on startup

[slyhog022056]

Hey folks, been on here for a while now and been doing some searching but couldnt find a answer that would apply to me. I just bought a 1991 Ford F350 with 7.3 IDI, 147000 miles on it.
The problem i am having is a lot of white smoke on cold startup, loud knocking and missing. I have had this truck for about 3 months and everything seemed fine until about a week ago when it started knocking on startup. So Far, new glow plugs, rebuilt injectors, new lift pump, oil changed. when i got it the guy that had it was running 5W30 automotive oil in it, had been for a few thousand miles. I am now running ford diesel oul with 2 quarts of lucas mixed in.
The glow plug system isnt working right because i believe i need a new relay and timer. I do squirt a little ether AT the aircleaner intake about 12" away in the mornings, not a lot not even 1/2 of a second worth I have been running diesel coming from the same place since i got it.
When i got it i did run some fuel conditioner through it and it ran great, until about a week ago. Now it misses at adle but clears up above 1100 rpm and runs great, no knock or roughness at all, as soon as i let it go back to idle it misses again. Now i changed to a different bed and while it was off i went into the fuel tanks and noticed the fuel pickup was 3" off of the bottom of the tank and didnt have any kind of mesh filter on either of them. I did use some tubing to put the end of the pickup tube on the bottom.
There isnt any smoke after startup though. Tried cracking the injector lines to see if anything changed, every cylinder sis miss as i cracked them open about 1/4 turn, flow was smooth out of all but 1 injector which squirted fuel around the fitting with a lot of force. I am thinking that cylinder has a clogged injector so it isnt getting fuel, but would that cause a LOUD knock like a main bearing would make???

Any help or sugestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[no mufflers]

using ether to start it will cause a knock, also if timing is way off. what glow plugs did you use? what do you mean by rebuilt injectors? at 147,000 miles your injection pump is nearing the end of its life span. when you say GP timer do you mean controller?

 

[slyhog022056]

The glow plugs came from DieselRx, the rebuilt injectors came from a local injector shop that cleans and re orings used injectors. i only have to use the ether 1 time first time in the morning, the rest of the day it will start up without it, even after sitting for 6 hours. Controller....Timer same thing, it times out after a set time. I know i need to replace it and more than likely put new ends on the harness, it looks like someone in the past tried to use yellow 12 gaiuge butt connectors to make them work. I have even tried plugging it in for a couple of hours to avoid the ether and even then it smokes and knocks. Going away after warming up but still misses
I dont mind putting money into this truck because it has earned the honour of being my daily driver.

 

[IDIoit]

diesel RX? more like disease!
if they are not motorcraft glow plugs, replace them asap.
if not, they will swell and cause you major pains.
the white smoke upon start up is unspent fuel, due to your glow plug system not being operational.
get new plugs and a controller.
that issue will be solved.

the miss could be either air intrusion or a faulty injector.
you cannot throw cheap components at these engines and expect them to run correctly.

yes a bad injector can and will sound like a rod/main knock.

i would also not rule out air intrusion. you could have air in the system thats making it act funky.

sounds like you know what you should do, now to get you to do it..lol

i would also be looking at an IP replacement. you will be amazed how much your truck wakes up with a fresh and correctly rebuilt fuel system.

 

[slyhog022056]

ok new glow plugs and injectors as well as controller and some rewiring of the glow plug harness. Didnt realize injection pumps wore out that soon and DAMN they are high dollar too, wish i could rebuild it myself or at least clean it since i dont know where diesel came from before i got it, it was parked for 4 years......

 

[slyhog022056]

BTW any recommendation as to brand of injectors???

 

[79jasper]

Yeah. Pm russ @typ4 or @Agnem or go to his website at Conestogadiesel.com

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

 

[no mufflers]

what 79jasper said, don't go with off brand pumps or injectors. you will soon regret it.

 

[texcl]

I bought some rebuilt IH injectors from type 4 a couple years ago and they run like a champ, don't buy from a unknown source, they need to be pop tested and matched. You need to get rid of those GP's asap before they swell and you have to take a head off because the tip of the GP broke off and is being crushed between your head and piston. Not only that the Ford GP's last forever. If you get them from Amazon make sure they are really Beru's because I bought some, they came in motorcraft bags but were autolites, it was a scam. Notified Amazon and they fixed it and got me the correct plugs.

 

[Sparky95]

My truck did the same thing until I put some glow plugs in it. I discovered if I squirted ether in it right to start with instead of trying it a couple times, it would grumble to a start instead of going WWAHHHMMM! and blowing a gigantic cloud of smoke. I got glow plugs from amazon, they all said Motorcraft on the bag and Beru on the plug itself. Now it cranks with no issues. I bought a set of reman injectors from Accurate Diesel and 300 miles later one of them is sticking and knocking like crazy. Now I'm not saying I didn't get some water or dirt in an injector during my work on the fuel system, but I am saying I work on heavy equipment for a living and Cat's contamination control standards are surgically clean PERIOD and I follow those standards while working on my truck out of habit.

There is also a thread on this forum saying that a 6.0 powerstroke glow plug harness will work on a 7.3 IDI, but I believe you have to change the connectors on the end going to the relay.