Smoke and No Power???

[icanfixall]

Today I did my heavy run. hauling 2 horses and pulling a garde here called Camario Grade. Its long ans steep. My first motor could pull it in thrid gear but sometimes in second too. Now I was in 1st gear and gv over. I just barely made the top. Coolant was 215 degrees but lots of black smoke. Pyro was low arounf 800 degrees. Seems like the motor is not making hp at all. I did turn down the moose pump about 1/4 flat. SDtill lots of smoke. Even unloaded and not hauling anything getting up to speed on the freeway it smokes. I am running "G" code injectors and 9.6 dbtdc. The injectors were pop tested by me at 1950 lbs. I'm really thinking the injectors are not doing the job. Thinking about BB code injectors. I really don't know what else could be causing the low hp and black smoke. It is almost starting to sound like something is wrong with the motor. I will be running a compression test and probably changing the injectors but just can't get a handle on this problem. I do have a spare injection pump but really don't want to try that just yet. I feel the moose pump is doing its job. My last comp test showed 530 lbs on all cylinders. Two were 520 but that was close enough to be concidered the same across the cylinders. So what do you guys think might be the problem with low hp. Too much timing... Bad injectors... Comp low... Air cleaner has 5000 miles on it so its clean. Its a custom S&B element...

 

[Dirtleg]

How much boost are you making? Is your turbo doing it's job? EGT's normal or high? Perhaps the wastegate is stuck open. With all that smoke you are definitely getting fuel so I would look at an air related issue first. What was the ambient temp and at what altitude were you pulling? Is your air filter stopped up? If you're making less than 10lbs of boost with the moosepump I would say you need to look at turbo related problems.

 

[FordGuy100]

Even if he didnt have any boost, he still should have had the same or more than a stock IDI. Something is messed up here for sure though.

 

[icanfixall]

I knew I was forgetting something.. Boost was 12 lbs. Temp was around 75 to 80 degrees. Most of the trip was along the coast so sea level and then up maybe 1200 ft to 1500 ft.. Not high at all. My S&B air cleaner is clean. I just increased the boost from 10 to 12 lbs so I know the gauge is working and the turbo has always worked fine. Its getting plenty of free flowing air but I will look into it closer tomorrow. The Banks turbo has around 35,000 miles on it. I have a spare rebuilt turbo so I may change it just to see if there is a differance. I keep going back to the injectors on this.....

 

[Diesel JD]

We know the G codes aren't all that great. I'd say check the compression, then it might be time to look into bad injectors. BB codes or Moose Misters if you can afford them. It just doesn't seem right that you've got all that fuel, boost and no power. How heavy are you with all those horses and anyone/thing else that might be riding with you?

 

[RLDSL]

If you have one or 2 injectors stuck open you will bog down like crazy and smoke heavy, but just running with the GV in over was putting a heck of an extra load on things compared to what you are used to running it at. depending on what rpm you were probably running darn near the equal of 2nd

Also with your old transmission, did you have it where the torque converter unlocked at lower speeds? If so the thing would have been slipping and allowing the transmission to multiply torque going up those hills

 

[typ4]

I would still check the air filter first. it should affect boost but not always. any exhaust restriction, I have an extra set not popped yet if you need them.

 

[Fozz]

I'd check the timing and go from there. How's your fuel filter? I Don't know what a S&B element is, but is there anything obstructing the air flow before the filter? Or the plastic inner fender liner stuff coming off and 'sucking' to the filter when driving? If we're talking the same grade, I live in Camarillo and it's called the Conejo Grade (big-truck inspection stations on either side at the top). It's 6-7% and 2 miles long. How heavy was your load? My truck is doing 30-35 in second at the top of that grade with my 10k 5r.

 

[Diesel JD]

SB is a cotton gauze filter like a K&N except apparently much higher quality. I just washed mine for the first time about 2 months ago. It's dusty around here when it doesn't rain so I had quite a bit of crap in it but it wasn't bad enough for me to notice any dropoff in performance. Cleaning them is easy redrying and re-oiling is tedious. I would have thought any air restriction would have caused low boost and high EGT along with your lower power. 10-12 psi should be plenty, in fact close to where you said you were setting your waste gate.

 

[1994Diesel]

I dont mean to jack the thread, but why are BB code injectors better than G code injectors?

 

[suv7734]

I knew I was forgetting something.. Boost was 12 lbs. Temp was around 75 to 80 degrees. Most of the trip was along the coast so sea level and then up maybe 1200 ft to 1500 ft.. Not high at all. My S&B air cleaner is clean. I just increased the boost from 10 to 12 lbs so I know the gauge is working and the turbo has always worked fine. Its getting plenty of free flowing air but I will look into it closer tomorrow. The Banks turbo has around 35,000 miles on it. I have a spare rebuilt turbo so I may change it just to see if there is a differance. I keep going back to the injectors on this.....

I seem to remember you mentioning smoke in a previous thread and that's why you turned the IP down a bit?
Does it start OK hot/cold? An signs of a miss or stumble?
If you're making 12 lbs. boost it's not likely the air intake or turbo are a problem. If there was a restriction from the turbo to the engine you'd loose power but the EGT's would go way up, and they're not high at all. If you had an exhaust leak (pre-turbo) same thing, no boost and high EGT's. Exhaust restriction on the way out will increase EGT's and lower boost numbers as well which doesn't seem to be the case.
As mentioned I think I'd grab the timing meter and check that just to confirm.
A slobering injector or two seems to be the logical next step given the fact that you were seeing smoke before (IIRC).

 

[Diesel JD]

I dont mean to jack the thread, but why are BB code injectors better than G code injectors?

The G codes are an injector that was designed for emissions control. If you are running a turbo pump they match the fueling curve a little better than non G codes. If using a stock pump or a Moose Pump the BB seem to match better.

 

[icanfixall]

The timing was just changed from 6.7 that Mel did at the rally to 9.6 that I did with my Kent Moore meter. Whats going on is I'm smoking more and more over time. I have been watching this closely. The pump is working fine. No air restrictions and I'm boosting 12 lbs but I need to really have my foot into the pump to reach that. The pyro is ok but it will pass 1100 if I try hard to reach that temp. It is just a little harder to made the pyro heat upsince I turned it down the 1/4 of a flat so thats working. About the slobbering injectors.... Thats where I'm thinking is my problem. I can see a haze ideling at a stop lite and while driving trying to excellerate at any amount you will see smoke out the back. Whatever is going on its getting worse almost by the day. The hot or cold startups are perfect. No miss or stumble at all. I can let it set for 10 days without starting and it will lite off at about 1/4 turn of the crank so the fuel pressure is staying up in the hard lines and nothing is leaking back from the return side. The gv really helps splitting the gears. I usually run in 3rd plus the gv over. Thats half way between 3rd and regular od lockup. The trailer weight isn't as heavy as I have hauled. Today was probably 4000 to 5000 lbs hauling. So that amkes the tcgwt around 11,000 lbs. I have done very well at 16,000 to 17,000 lbs but not happening now the way its running. Russ... My exhaust is 4 inch straight piped all the way back from the Banks 3 inch down pipe. No muffler. There is something I have noticed. When its idleing at a stop lite the haze is not constant. It seems to be interupted from time to time. Its like that when I startup in the driveway too. Sounding more and more like injectors to me. A broken ring would be a constant cloud and bad compression.

 

[Diesel JD]

Yup you need to pull them and test them Gary. Bet you find a leaker or more or a couple out of spec.

 

[Dirtleg]

I just replaced 2 slobbering injectors due to excessive smoking. Mine smoked blue however not black. I noticed it got worse as the engine got warmer. Cold it didn't smoke much but hot it left a blue haze going down the road. Since replacing the injectors it does not smoke at all except for when I give it too much throttle then it only smokes black. Love the Moosepump. It's starting to sound like an injector or timing issue. I would check the timing again just incase it may have slipped.