White Smoke

[DieselChemist]

I know many people have posted on this subject before but none have been exact to my application. I have white smoke at startup (cold) and sometimes warm ( just a quick puff). I also have white smoke after I get on the throttle, going up a hill when just shifting into third (heavier throttling at lower rpm's). The truck sits alot, so could this be injectors, pump or a air in fuel problem. I was just thinking about doing a whole fuel system rebuild ie. injectors, pump and return line kit. What do you guys think? I do not know about the loss of anitfreeze with the truck, so I don't know if it is water.
Bill

 

[Diesel JD]

Make sure it isn't coolant before youd o anything else. If its not, it could be just from sitting around a lot. The injectors or pump could also be suspect, but you really don't have all that many miles on them. You could pull them and have them checked at a diesel shop for pop off pressures and spray pattern. With the pump its sort of a guessing game. The OEM ones often did not make even 100K miles so its possible. You could also try dumping in some power service or stanadyne fule system treatment and see what happens. Have a good one,
J.D.

 

[DieselChemist]

Thanks JD
The truck is up in Chicago right now, I inherited it from my father who cannot drive it anymore. I had driven it for awhile but it always had a water pump leak so I couldn't tell if it was eating its own water. Now the pump is fixed. So besides running it for a little while in the drive way it sits. I don't think they can run it long enough to see any major anitfreeze different. Loss of antifreeze into the cylinder could mean head gasket, cavitation and what else? I know a head gasket should leave water in the oil, which there is not. And cavitation should make a woofing sound from the intake manifold. How would you go about testing the other theories?
Thanks

 

[Exekiel69]

The best way to find out is driving it, also if it is not the water pump is can be the fuel return lines they must be old by now if You did not replace them. Check the coolant reservoir after a long drive. Cavitation is not a problem for You.

 

[DieselChemist]

I can't drive it because I am in North Carolina and nobody up home can drive it. Is there anyother places where the antifreeze can get into cylinders besides the head gasket and are there any ways to determine if it is the headgasket by just running it. The water pump is not leaking anymore. None of the fuel system has been touched. The water sep. has been bypassed.
Thanks

 

[Mr_Roboto]

White smoke can be caused by retarded timing. There is a timing retard arm on the driver's side of the IP, maybe it is sticking a little.

Frankly, I would go ahead and drive it for a while so you can see if there really is a problem and not just an issue from sitting.

 

[DieselChemist]

I cannot drive it, I am in N. Carolina. The best that can be done is my father can start it up and let it run in the driveway. He cannot drive the truck anymore and there is nobody to drive the truck for me. The truck is not being driven because there is nobody to drive it, not because I am worried there is something majorly wrong. I drove it for about a year before I moved to N. Carolina and drove it in August for a week when I went home. I am planning on bringing the truck to Carolina but want to fix the problems in Chicago because thats where all my tools are. These are all symptoms that I observed when I previously drove the truck.
Thanks

 

[Diesel JD]

You should rent a cooling system pressure tester from Autozone or Advance Auto pArts or whatever and test the system like this:
1) connect the tester to the radiator and make sure you ahve a secure seal.
2) pump the system up to 13-16 psi and if it can hold that pressure with minimal to no loss, I can't remember teh time spec, but I want to say 30 minutes then youc an be assured you have no major cooling system leaks (like your head gasket or cavitation)
3) DO NOT do this unless the tetser has a pressure relief valve at or below 30 psi..or you risk splitting the rad tank. $$$ repair and personal injur possible...but if it does have said pressure releas valve...connect the tetster to teh radiator and start the engine...do not pump the tester up. Instead allow the engine to warm up. If you see a fast spike of pressure on the tester it is likely that the engine has a compression leak into the cooling system(head gasket/cracked block etc.) What is normal is a slow buildup of cooling system pressure into the 13-20psi range.
If the engine passes these tests, you might still have a hidden coolant loss, like the heater core or heater hoses, but you should be able to see these minor leaks, especially under presure from the tester. Also don't forget to test the radiator cap or replace it outright. As for other places that the coolant can get into teh cylinders...not really, its either the head gaskets or cavitation, or possibly a cracked block...cavitation is not a worry for you and a cracked block, I think you would have noticed.
Good luck on it,
J.D.