Promise... the build

[Selahdoor]

It WAS a great feeling! You can hear it in the vid.

Still waiting on the last fitting, before I can put the injection pop tester together.

And I was thinking the same thing. Yeah, I think most people would probably have messed with the timing by now. But I don't see any point in it until I am sure of the injectors.

Been trying to do each thing in the progress, correct, before I move on to the next. Don't want to have to go back and start over because I skipped a step or two. Plus, when I finally do get to doing the pump timing, if it is bad, I will be sure that it is the pump, and not one of these other things.

 

[Selahdoor]

Mike, thank you.

I keep looking and thinking that I am glad that the lowest numbers are not side by side.

Normally I'd think 60 pounds difference between the lowest and the highest was just too much. But with this lineup, I'm not sure it is that bad.

 

[Selahdoor]

Ok, supposedly Ford says the lowest should be no lower than 75% of the highest number...

In other words, 75% of 420 is 315. So I believe this is within specs and will be worth putting the remaining resources into it.

Also, they say it can be as low as 195 and as high as 440. But I guess common sense says a low of 350 should be the lowest you'd accept.

 

[david85]

I agree with the others that the compression readings are fine.

As for the poor idle and smoke? The truck was sitting for 5 years, so I wouldn't be in a good mood either after being ignored for so long

My truck's engine had a relatively recent rebuild and then sat for a little over one year. It was very weak and smoky when first I put it back on the road. Only after running going through a few fillups did it regain it's full performance again.

My feeling is that your engine simply needs to be run on the road. Take it easy for the first few miles just to make sure everything is ok. Then find a long, moderate hill and load it up somewhere near 2500 RPM. You could also throw some ATF or diesel fuel lubricity supplement in the fuel tank to help clean up the injection system.

 

[Selahdoor]

I agree with the others that the compression readings are fine.

As for the poor idle and smoke? The truck was sitting for 5 years, so I wouldn't be in a good mood either after being ignored for so long

My truck's engine had a relatively recent rebuild and then sat for a little over one year. It was very weak and smoky when first I put it back on the road. Only after running going through a few fillups did it regain it's full performance again.

My feeling is that your engine simply needs to be run on the road. Take it easy for the first few miles just to make sure everything is ok. Then find a long, moderate hill and load it up somewhere near 2500 RPM. You could also throw some ATF or diesel fuel lubricity supplement in the fuel tank to help clean up the injection system.

Completely agreed about the smoke. It sat for years. On top of that, there is still old fuel mixed in with the current about 15 gallons of fresh fuel. And in addition to THAT... There is enough diesel kleen, AND the diesel kleen additive for algae in there, to treat 100 gallons. Each. I do think I'll see less and less smoke as I drive it and use up the old fuel and cleaner and replace with a few tanks of fresh.

But that lope in the idle is what has me pressing on, to do the injectors, and finally, try re-timing the pump. As I explained before, a rough idle is one thing. This thing LOPES. Ruh, - ruh, - ruh, - ruh, - ruh, - ruh. So badly that the entire truck rocks with each lope. You can see in one vid, where the truck is jumping and rocking so badly, that the hood is closing.

My point is that a rough idle, won't rock the truck back and forth. This does.

The previous owner has said several times that he was planning on replacing the injectors and IP soon, anyway.

I should get the last part for my injector pop tester, tomorrow. I'll get that put together, then test the 8 "D" injectors that I have sitting here, waiting.

If they are balanced at all... I'll just go ahead and put them in the engine. Then I'll test what I take out of the engine. My gut tells me that I'll find a few that either leak badly, or that pop way high or low... Or both.


I want to say here... Thank you all, for your responses. Feedback is always helpful. Whether I am doing it right, or wrong...


I have worked on gas engines all my life. Only when I bought my first diesel in '15, did I ever consider working on a diesel. Even then, I let the local shops do pretty much everything, and was ripped off badly by the two shops I used. (Reminds me I need to find my old "reviews" of them, and fix the 'good' reviews I gave them. Or just delete them. ) This truck was a gift to me. It was intended to be a parts truck for my other one. But this one, even in the shape it was in, was a better truck than my previous one. I still have the other one, but intend to make this one my daily driver if I can get at least 15 to 17mpg out of it.

Biggest thing is... The more I work on this, the better I like the diesels. I am learning a LOT, and quickly. I love to learn. Makes me love this truck even more.

 

[The_Josh_Bear]

Completely agreed about the smoke. It sat for years. On top of that, there is still old fuel mixed in with the current about 15 gallons of fresh fuel. And in addition to THAT... There is enough diesel kleen, AND the diesel kleen additive for algae in there, to treat 100 gallons. Each. I do think I'll see less and less smoke as I drive it and use up the old fuel and cleaner and replace with a few tanks of fresh.

But that lope in the idle is what has me pressing on, to do the injectors, and finally, try re-timing the pump. As I explained before, a rough idle is one thing. This thing LOPES. Ruh, - ruh, - ruh, - ruh, - ruh, - ruh. So badly that the entire truck rocks with each lope. You can see in one vid, where the truck is jumping and rocking so badly, that the hood is closing.

My point is that a rough idle, won't rock the truck back and forth. This does.

The previous owner has said several times that he was planning on replacing the injectors and IP soon, anyway.

I should get the last part for my injector pop tester, tomorrow. I'll get that put together, then test the 8 "D" injectors that I have sitting here, waiting.

If they are balanced at all... I'll just go ahead and put them in the engine. Then I'll test what I take out of the engine. My gut tells me that I'll find a few that either leak badly, or that pop way high or low... Or both.


I want to say here... Thank you all, for your responses. Feedback is always helpful. Whether I am doing it right, or wrong...


I have worked on gas engines all my life. Only when I bought my first diesel in '15, did I ever consider working on a diesel. Even then, I let the local shops do pretty much everything, and was ripped off badly by the two shops I used. (Reminds me I need to find my old "reviews" of them, and fix the 'good' reviews I gave them. Or just delete them. ) This truck was a gift to me. It was intended to be a parts truck for my other one. But this one, even in the shape it was in, was a better truck than my previous one. I still have the other one, but intend to make this one my daily driver if I can get at least 15 to 17mpg out of it.

Biggest thing is... The more I work on this, the better I like the diesels. I am learning a LOT, and quickly. I love to learn. Makes me love this truck even more.

Just a thought, since you'll have all the injector lines unhooked anyway to pull the current injectors--
You can pop-test injectors IN THE ENGINE. So after you test your "D" set, if you have a couple off in left field you could test the 8 in the engine and just leave the few installed as needed(if that makes sense) and install the rest that have a similar pop pressure. Basically make one good set out of 2 sets. You can't see the spray pattern this way, and can only test leak down with a check valve in the test line but pattern doesnt mean that much with an IDI and you could still do a pressure loss leak down that way. Food for thought!

 

[Selahdoor]

Just a thought, since you'll have all the injector lines unhooked anyway to pull the current injectors--
You can pop-test injectors IN THE ENGINE. So after you test your "D" set, if you have a couple off in left field you could test the 8 in the engine and just leave the few installed as needed(if that makes sense) and install the rest that have a similar pop pressure. Basically make one good set out of 2 sets. You can't see the spray pattern this way, and can only test leak down with a check valve in the test line but pattern doesnt mean that much with an IDI and you could still do a pressure loss leak down that way. Food for thought!

Good input.

I really want to remove the current injectors and test them the same way I'll test the extras.

It's like testing the compression. I want to get as good of an impression of the current condition, as I can.

If a couple of the extras pop at the wrong pressure, I'll use shims from the old ones, to correct them. (I'd like to keep all the injectors the same. All "D". Or all, whatever the old ones are. Etc.)

 

[G. Mann]

re "blowing white smoke" and "radiator is to hot to touch"....
Time to do a simple test:
With engine off, open radiator cap and leave it off.. Start the engine and let it run for a bit, watch what happens to the coolant at the fill neck in radiator... if it's "surging" when you rev up the engine, it's likely you have a blown head gasket. Wet glow plugs give me a clue to look further.

The coolant surge is because compression pressures are being injected into the cooling system, if you have surge. High heat of the radiator could also be from combustion gasses inserted into coolant system.

The radiator cap off is a quick check for that problem, low cost in time... give it a try.

 

[Selahdoor]

Will do. Today I am building my injector tester.

 

[YJMike92]

re "blowing white smoke" and "radiator is to hot to touch"....
Time to do a simple test:
With engine off, open radiator cap and leave it off.. Start the engine and let it run for a bit, watch what happens to the coolant at the fill neck in radiator... if it's "surging" when you rev up the engine, it's likely you have a blown head gasket. Wet glow plugs give me a clue to look further.

The coolant surge is because compression pressures are being injected into the cooling system, if you have surge. High heat of the radiator could also be from combustion gasses inserted into coolant system.

The radiator cap off is a quick check for that problem, low cost in time... give it a try.

In my experience, a surge in the coolant when the RPMs rise is due to increased flow from the water pump and may not be a good indication of head gasket condition. High heat at the radiator may be normal. 180-degree coolant would be considered hot to the touch in my book. I'm not trying to muddy the water just relating my experience.

 

[Selahdoor]

In my experience, a surge in the coolant when the RPMs rise is due to increased flow from the water pump and may not be a good indication of head gasket condition. High heat at the radiator may be normal. 180-degree coolant would be considered hot to the touch in my book. I'm not trying to muddy the water just relating my experience.

And that is what I was thinking, too. Hot to the touch was just because it was warmed up. I don't think it would have actually burned me at that point, so it wasn't 'alarming' heat.

I'll still have a look the next time I run it and get it warmed up like that. Especially looking for bubbles... But the coolant is nice and clean looking.

And with the compression readings I got... I'm not overly concerned at this point about the cylinder walls, or head gaskets. I might eventually have to tighten a rocker or two, but I think that is probably the worst of those problem possibilities.

 

[YJMike92]

Especially looking for bubbles...

Bubbles have always been my first clue.

 

[G. Mann]

Let me be more clear about "surging coolant" .... with a head gasket leak, it's way more than just increased coolant flow due to engine RPM... it's combustion gasses pushing coolant out of the fill neck. If you have a leaking head gasket, the buildup of pressure in the radiator, and heat will overwhelm what the radiator can handle.
Once you see what it does, it will be clear you are pumping combustion pressure not just coolant.

Same thing on intake stroke, you will suck coolant into the cylinder, then it comes out the exhaust as white steam... might not smell like coolant at all...

Another easy test is to tape a sheet of typing paper so it flaps over the exhaust. start the engine, then look at the paper. If it has water drops on it, likely, gasket leak...

 

[G. Mann]

Ment to comment on this early in the thread..... back where you show a pic of the master cylinder leak at the vacuum booster..

Brake fluid leaking from the rear seal of brake master will destroy the diaphram of the brake booster and you won't get good brakes.

If the master is leaking, and yours has been, replace it AND the brake booster at same time... when you pull the old master you'll see what I'm talking about. Also, look inside the cabin at the brake booster mount area... likely, you'll see brake fluid track... If you do, then FOR SURE replace the booster...
Hate to learn you coasted over the cliff while stomping on the brakes, that didn't hold.

 

[Selahdoor]

Finally got the pop tester built.

Leaks were the biggest problem. I had leaks in places that I did not expect them to be. The pump body leaked at both the top and the bottom. Had to seal those up with jbweld kwik.

Followed by the fact that I didn't fasten this thing down in any way, And I just hung the reservoir of extra fuel from a string on the rack on my truck.

Trying to hold onto the pump, and to keep the reservoir from falling, and to pump... all at the same time, kept loosening up a couple of fittings. And the fuel just got sloshed out of the reservoir, no matter what.

So yeah, diesel fuel EVERYWHERE, by the time I was done. The good news is that diesel is a good tool cleaner, so everything was also clean by the end of the day.

I successfully tested the 8 extra injectors I have. Learned that you have to get them to fire a few times, before they even out and start firing consistently. So don't give up on them right away if they misfire, or seem to leak, etc. Just keep pumping them through at least ten firings.

7 of the 8, are great! They all fire at right about 1800.

The 8th... Leaks. Can't even get it to pump up to 1800. It starts steadily leaking past the needle at about 1000, and the leak just leaks faster if you try to pump it past that.

I guess next thing to do will be to take that one apart and see if there is any kind of dirt or metal or anything in there. I'll inspect the needle/pintle while I am at it.

Tomorrow I have Bible study, then I help deliver food to children and old people. Day is usually shot after that. So the next time I get to this, will probably be thursday.

~~~

I believe I am going to build some sort of frame or rack for this. Figure out some way to make everything solid, so that all I have to do is to pump the handle and watch the injector and gauge.

I'll do something different with the reservoir. Maybe put a longer tube on it, and then just strap the jug to the rack, so it doesn't move.


If I can fix the leaky injector, then if it tests out the same as the others, I am going to go ahead and replace them.

Just as I did the compression test, I want to test the old injectors when I take them out.

Pretty much, just to get a better mental picture of the health of the engine and what the injectors were doing in there.



Sometime later I may do a writeup about how I built my tester.

One thing... It is a VERY cheap bottle jack. And it doesn't actually hold the pressure when you are pumping it up. You have to rapidly pump, until you get it over 1000. Then, it tends to hold long enough for you to steadily get to 1800, and watch it pop.

I may try again with a different jack. Or with a grease gun. (Not sure how that would work, but someone here did it!) Or I may try to find one of those power pullers, or whatever they are called, that others have used.