Yes, another timing thread..

Justin B

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Good evening folks. I've scoured the forums and I'm even more confused with my truck than ever before and hoping some can shine a light for me. I have a 6.9, turbo'd with Banks. New injector pump, new injectors, timed with ferret adapter and digital light at 10*.

I'm experiencing a hazy smoke at idle and under acceleration. When I'm cruising, it's hard to tell, but it "appears" my smoke is gone, or at least not visible in my rear view.

I don't have compression numbers, but when I had the engine out for the swap I did studs and gaskets, measured everything and it was all within spec for a .010-over rebuild per the manual.

I've played with the timing, advanced and retarded, about a degree in both directions and no joy to clean up the smoke.

She starts quickly, both hot an cold, with no more than three seconds to get her running. I turned up the pump according to Banks instructions, thought maybe I went a little too far and brought it back to about a 1-flat increase.

Just cleaned the air filter in thoughts that may have been an issue, no joy. I average about 400-500 on the pyro at cruise, 350 on startup and idle. Boost ranges about 2-5 psi at cruise, responsive if I get into it on acceleration, haven't pushed it over 10 psi.

I guess my big question is where should my timing be? I've read by some that aftermarket turbos aren't timed to the same specs as factory trucks, would be nice if someone could confirm for me! Some have recommended retarding, some down to 8, haven't gone that low as of yet, but curious to hear advice. Thanks for reading!
 

Clb

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EDIT I should mention my 93 is a towpig ONLY, thus it ran HOT at 7 ish...

Try 7 to 8 degrees, your truck will like it.
Mine h8ted being at 8....
Now EVERY idi seems to be different, but mister op
Wes has taken Mells place here these days.
So listen up.

Here's my .02

Try the +- (what's ford say) 2 degrees????
FROM 8-9...
Try more and less fuel.
Remember these idi engines aint 21 century tech.
 
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Justin B

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Thank you gentlemen for the input. I backed the timing down to the static marks, she still starts quick, no excess smoke on start (40 degrees this morning), and little to no smoke on accel an cruise on my way to work. I've got two full tanks, curious to see how my mileage changes as I was getting about 15 according to the trip meter.

I didn't get a chance to hook a meter to it last night, once I do I'll report back my readings, but already there's very noticeable improvement.
 

laserjock

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How old are the injectors? Leaky injectors can cause smoke.

I am in sorta the same boat. I have my timing set to around 9 but I really don’t have any excessive smoke unless I try which I try not to.

I feel like I probably need to back it off a bit.
 

Justin B

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Honestly, I broke with Forum wisdom with my injectors. I bought BWD's from Advance Auto. They are new injectors, not Stanadyne reman's. I still have two sets of Stanadyne's that need rebuild, maybe that will happen some rainy day. The BWD's didn't have a core charge and it just worked out cheaper for me to go this route. If the truck was a worker instead of a Home Depot hauler, I probably would have sprung for the nicer components.

That being said, and after reading numerous threads on questionable injectors, I was very pleased when they all popped at the correct pressure out of the box, all 8 within +/- 50# of each other. No leakers and nice spray patterns. Retarding my timing made a huge difference in my exhaust smoke, but if it comes back, the injectors will be pulled, inspected an popped again to rule them out.
 
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