nitroguy
Full Access Member
I need some diagnostic help! Lots of photos. {Newly Edited!}
Ok, here goes. My mechanic says I'm in trouble, but I'm not buying it, even though he's the best one in town (he hasn't heard of Moose pumps, so how good can he be?)
Meet Hank:
I'll start at the beginning. I bought this truck 2,500 miles ago in Seattle from a diesel mechanic. He was given the truck because the head gasket went out, so he pulled the engine, "inspected it, painted it, and sealed it all back up again with every hose and gasket brand new" (his words). A couple of days later I loaded up every one of my earthly belongings into the truck, rented a UHaul trailer and towed my Civic from Seattle, over three mountain passes, to Kalispell Montana where I now live. I noticed it was smoking a bit (http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?60452-newbie-Smokin-like-a-Son-of-a-Gun-(w-pic)&p=702254#post702254 but was told I'd be fine.
Well, the smoking continued, so I took it to the local guy here that specializes in diesel trucks. He looked at it, and at first was "wowed" by how nice it all looked. That got my hopes up. Then he called me the next day and told me less than great news. He said that he thinks it's either a bad head gasket or a cracked head. Neither are cheap. Here's a bit of what I know that it does (and I'm new to diesel's, so forgive any non-technical terms)
*Pulls just fine. Doesn't seem to be any loss of power. But mileage is in the toilet (can't get past 10mpg)
*Eats coolant. To the tune of a gallon a thousand miles or so. But no apparent drips.
*Doesn't really eat any oil that I've noticed.
*195k miles, pump replaced "5 years ago" - no idea how many miles. Original injectors from what I understand.
*Starts just fine when cold. I always plug it in below 32*, but if I don't it still starts. It'll rumble and cough a bit, but it's never not started within 2 seconds of cranking. Coldest non-plug-in start was I thin around 16*.
*Mechanic here said that compression is quite low (but didn't do a check since it's apparently really hard to do so?)
*I pull the dip stick with the engine running and I get quite the cloud of smoke that blows up and out of the tube. Mechanic said that's bad and indicates worn rings.
*Radiator is very positively charged with air, even when cold. It doesn't pull coolant from recovery tank either (tank was full, radiator was a gallon low). I replaced the cap in hopes that it might fix it.
That's most of what I can think of.
So, here's my question. It runs pretty well now, but it smokes. A lot. Obnoxiously so. I'd love to fix it, but not spend a million bucks either. Mechanic seems to think injectors and pump ($1300 for him to do that, with a reman pump) would be a waste of money on a truck with a bad head gasket or head. He said to just keep an eye on coolant and oil levels and drive it for the next year before it completely dies.
That sucks. I just paid $4600 for this truck (I think I got a good deal!) and I don't really want to engine swap. Just started a new job in a new town with a new baby, so it's not really an option for me to do much work myself: sadly.
Also, mechanic pulled some breather off the turbo and let it vent to atmosphere. Apparently that cleared up the smoke a bit. Is that something I could do long-term to reduce smoke? For what it's worth, he said the inside of the turbo was pretty gunked up.
What I'd love: to have a truck that starts every time, pulls well, gets good mileage while not towing, and lasts another 60k miles. Tranny, diffs, ball joints, hubs, bushings: it's all new and very well maintained. So it's just the engine that's bugging me.
I did crawl around the truck when I bought it and snapped a bunch of pics. Here's a link to all 62 of them, in the off chance that you'll notice something out of order, something that I can look at, etc.
Photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/107364...authkey=Gv1sRgCJPtlbeszPmGiwE&feat=directlink
Thanks! I hope someone can help me!
Ok, here goes. My mechanic says I'm in trouble, but I'm not buying it, even though he's the best one in town (he hasn't heard of Moose pumps, so how good can he be?)
Meet Hank:
You must be registered for see images attach
I'll start at the beginning. I bought this truck 2,500 miles ago in Seattle from a diesel mechanic. He was given the truck because the head gasket went out, so he pulled the engine, "inspected it, painted it, and sealed it all back up again with every hose and gasket brand new" (his words). A couple of days later I loaded up every one of my earthly belongings into the truck, rented a UHaul trailer and towed my Civic from Seattle, over three mountain passes, to Kalispell Montana where I now live. I noticed it was smoking a bit (http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?60452-newbie-Smokin-like-a-Son-of-a-Gun-(w-pic)&p=702254#post702254 but was told I'd be fine.
Well, the smoking continued, so I took it to the local guy here that specializes in diesel trucks. He looked at it, and at first was "wowed" by how nice it all looked. That got my hopes up. Then he called me the next day and told me less than great news. He said that he thinks it's either a bad head gasket or a cracked head. Neither are cheap. Here's a bit of what I know that it does (and I'm new to diesel's, so forgive any non-technical terms)
*Pulls just fine. Doesn't seem to be any loss of power. But mileage is in the toilet (can't get past 10mpg)
*Eats coolant. To the tune of a gallon a thousand miles or so. But no apparent drips.
*Doesn't really eat any oil that I've noticed.
*195k miles, pump replaced "5 years ago" - no idea how many miles. Original injectors from what I understand.
*Starts just fine when cold. I always plug it in below 32*, but if I don't it still starts. It'll rumble and cough a bit, but it's never not started within 2 seconds of cranking. Coldest non-plug-in start was I thin around 16*.
*Mechanic here said that compression is quite low (but didn't do a check since it's apparently really hard to do so?)
*I pull the dip stick with the engine running and I get quite the cloud of smoke that blows up and out of the tube. Mechanic said that's bad and indicates worn rings.
*Radiator is very positively charged with air, even when cold. It doesn't pull coolant from recovery tank either (tank was full, radiator was a gallon low). I replaced the cap in hopes that it might fix it.
That's most of what I can think of.
So, here's my question. It runs pretty well now, but it smokes. A lot. Obnoxiously so. I'd love to fix it, but not spend a million bucks either. Mechanic seems to think injectors and pump ($1300 for him to do that, with a reman pump) would be a waste of money on a truck with a bad head gasket or head. He said to just keep an eye on coolant and oil levels and drive it for the next year before it completely dies.
That sucks. I just paid $4600 for this truck (I think I got a good deal!) and I don't really want to engine swap. Just started a new job in a new town with a new baby, so it's not really an option for me to do much work myself: sadly.
Also, mechanic pulled some breather off the turbo and let it vent to atmosphere. Apparently that cleared up the smoke a bit. Is that something I could do long-term to reduce smoke? For what it's worth, he said the inside of the turbo was pretty gunked up.
What I'd love: to have a truck that starts every time, pulls well, gets good mileage while not towing, and lasts another 60k miles. Tranny, diffs, ball joints, hubs, bushings: it's all new and very well maintained. So it's just the engine that's bugging me.
I did crawl around the truck when I bought it and snapped a bunch of pics. Here's a link to all 62 of them, in the off chance that you'll notice something out of order, something that I can look at, etc.
Photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/107364...authkey=Gv1sRgCJPtlbeszPmGiwE&feat=directlink
Thanks! I hope someone can help me!
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