why is it smoking

[R.w]

ok i just picked up a 90 f350 4x4 IDI 5 speed flat bed. The guy said it has been sitting for about 6 months and when he started it up it was smoking (white smoke) so he shut it off and sold it to me for 500 bucks . I brought it home and checked for oil in the water and water in the oil but it looks fine.So i started it up and let it run there is no blow by and when it gets up to operating temperature the smoke goes away. The hood is also bent down in the back and the air cleaner is missing the wing nut so water was getting down in the air cleaner but it doesnt look like much.i have ran it for about 2 and a half hours over the past couple of days to see if it would clear out but it hasnt yet .Oh and he said it didnt smoke at all before it was parked. What should i do ? I bought it knowing there was a chance the motor would be junk but for 500 bucks i figured how could i go wrong and since i am putting a power stroke in my 94 crewcab and i will have the IDI out of that in a couple months to put in it if need be. I am just hoping it is something simple since it runs great once it is up to opperating temp. Any help would be greatly appreciated . Thanks

 

[DeepRoots]

pull a return line and stick it in a jar of diesel while the engine is running. Bubbles?

Change fuel filter, pour diesel kleen into new filter, reassemble. pull the suction hose off the fuel pump and run clean, fresh diesel out of a 5gal bucket. Still smoking?

Advance the timing a hair. Still smoking?

 

[MidnightBlade]

The timing is my guess, it is probably retarted a few degrees, or the IP and injectors could be heading south.

What is the mileage on the truck and does it look like anything under the hood was replaced?

 

[jonathan]

think you shoud run a few tanks of fuel with alot of power service then change the fuel filter then if its still smoking. also check the air filter and do the soup bowl mod it helped mine to stop smoking. the anly smoke i get is start up smoke for 2 seconds until it starts hiting on all 8.

 

[R.w]

i will play with it this weekend and see what happens

 

[R.w]

it says 58000 so i would say 158 . it looks to clean to be 258000 but maybe. It doesnt look like anything has been replaced recently exept the alternator and windshield wiper motor. It does have a small fuel leak at the fuel heater but i will put a new o ring in that today

 

[icanfixall]

White smoke usually means uncomplete fuel burn... Like maybe a bad ring or no glow plug working in a cylinder... Its a big job but a compression test will tell you lots of good information... The cowl seal is very important about keeping out the rain water from under the hood. If you know its going to rain just place a plastic bag over the air filter cover... any water that gets in will not end up in the intake...