Alright guys,

I just bought an 87' F-250 4x4 has 150,000 miles on it I know because I knew the previous owner. I only paid $1500 for the truck. I have a question or two though, first one is when I am pushing on the gas I am getting white smoke from it for a second or two, if I cob on it I get black smoke which I know is just wasted fuel. I am just concerned about the white smoke, the pickup runs really good, it leaks a little oil when I park it and has a water leak I haven't been able to trace down but other than that it's OK. Do I have a bad head gasket, or is my fuel pump retarded or ????

any help would be appreciated

 

I would get a compression check done to verify if the head gasket is leaking. This will help lead you in the correct direction. The white smoke has me thinking that you might be burning a small amount of coolant. But it could be timing. Does the exhaust (while it's putting out white smoke) smell like diesel or does it have a faint sweet smell to it? Because unburned diesel will come out white. Mine did this for a short bit before it dropped the valve.

 

Ok,

I took the truck out for a drive last night to see if I could figure a few things out. once it warmed up I got this really bad miss, as soon as it cooled down again no noise, however I am short a quart or two of coolant this morning and found a puddle on the ground back by the starter. so I know that I have an external leak hopefully a freeze plug, and most likely I am dumping coolant into the cylinder as well. I hope it is only a head gasket and not a cracked block or something, as I hear that the 6.9 is known to crack back there by the starter. Oh yeah I parked the pickup until tomorrow, I am having it looked at. Tell you what it was when I find out

 

Well,

I worried my self into a frenzy to find out that the radiator hose was loose and the water ran down the block along the pan and dripped off around the starter. Now I feel real stupid for not having looked closer sooner. I am still getting white smoke but can't seem to figure it out I guess that is the mechanics thing I am getting really good oil pressure, I will take your advice and get the compression test done asap and see if that tells me anything.
Thanks

 

Yep, I've had the rad hose leak before on the back side of the hose on the upper water neck. Took me forever to find it. I kept blaming the head gaskets because it was running along the edge of the head and block, then would drip off at the rear. Was not until I was installing new belts that I broke loose the alt and seen where it was leaking doh. So don't feel bad we have all been there and done that. I had been looking at the leak for about a month. I was so sure that it was the head, and not looking forward to it that I kept putting it off. Now when I get a little coolant leak this is one of the first places I check.

 

Could be you have an air leak in the fuel lines somewhere. What is the condition of the return lines on top of the motor? Is there a strong smell of raw diesel fuel from the engine compartment? Any wet areas on top of the engine from fuel leaking? These can let air in and cause rough running and smoke. Also check the fuel filter to make sure it's tight and if it hasn't been changed in awhile go ahead and replace it. Also be sure to run a good fuel additive, Stanadyne Performance or Power Service Year Round. Helps that pump and treats the fuel. When I change my filter I fill it up with Stanadyne to give the pump and injectors a good lubing. And the pump may need to adjusted for timing as well. Once all of this is figured out you'll love the truck. Now time for a turbo!

 

Well guys,

I got the pickup water leak fixed, topped off the oil and went for road trip this weekend. When I got home after about four hundred miles had to put in four quarts of oil. I guess that pretty much answers the smoke ??? doen't it. anyway, do any of you guys have suggestions about rebuilding or remanned engines? I am open to suggestions at this point. I really like this pickup, but I am starting to wonder if it would be worth the effort to fix it up. I still have my 75' 4x4 with a 390. I have never had this much problem and I can work on it. I guess I am asking for reasons to not give up on the truck.

 

Well for a reman engine I dealt with A two Z Engines out of Flowery Branch, Ga. They were great to deal with, I transfered the fund directly to their bank account from mine, they had the engine at my doorstep on the day I requested. They sell Dealers Diesel brand of remans. Warranty was 1 year unlimited mileage on a long block, if I would have had a professional install it the warranty would have been for two years (understandable) The price was $4175 since I did not return a core (mine had a rod sticking through the side of the block) and I wanted to keep my heads and everything else so that I could build up another engine later on. That is if I ever get around to looking for another block (too much on the want list).

Another place that I have heard nothing but good about is DAS (Diesel Auto Services) out of Canada. Everyone on another web forum just raves about them. I wish that I would have called them when I did my swap, because it appears they would have been a little cheaper because of the money conversion factor.

http://www.dealersmfg.com/index2.htm (it appears the Dealers has changed their name but this is their web address).

http://www.atwozdiesel.com/
This is the place where I purchased mine from

http://www.dieselautoservices.com/
This is DAS out of Canada. Talk with Paul is what I have been told.

 

Since you have your other truck to drive, do the motor in this one. I would tend towards Travis' advice and go with a long block or drop in. I would have the engine built to turbo specs since the internals will be beefier and better able to handle the mainfold pressure and the added heat of the turbo. Some places I believe will sell and ship the motor with the turbo on it. More money but may be cheaper in the long run. Worth checking into.

 

I think you guys are probably right. I have done some looking into the remanned engines and can get what I need for less than 4k and what I want for under 6k. I am thinking that I will just get the n/a version and probably put 4" pipes and a new air filter set up. It's not turbo but that's fine. The pickup already has 4:10 gears and has plenty of power even though the oil falls through the motor. Thanks for the advice and I will let you guys know what it runs like when I get it going again.

 

Hey there guys, I just got the pickup put back together. What a mess under the hood. I will start out by saying that I found a remanned engine in a wreck and paid $2200 for it and got it shipped for free. We put the engine in and it fired right up. Decided that while it was down to give a little tlc to her and fix a few thing like the POS front axle that was sagging and looked like the wheels would fall off. The next morning when I tried to start the truck it was hard starting, turns out that some dork along the way tried to bypass the neutral switch and totally freaked out the electrical system, like glow plugs that stayed on (all the time), and the pickup would start in gear. So we fixed all of this stuff, and it leads me to wonder if since the glow plugs were on all the time if they could have popped off and punched a hole in the piston which is what cost me about 3k. I guess that it is my fault for not looking deeper before I shelled out the money for it but it is fixed now and sounds and runs great. thanks for the advice guys, I will take her on a trip this weekend and pray that everything holds together.

 

... You don't want to turbo that beast? Did you stay with the 6.9 or put the 7.3 in? The 7.3s came in the '88s. Glad it worked out at a reasonable price. There are a lot of gassers out there that are more expensive. Yep, there's nothing like the smell of diesel in the morning, midday, evening....

 

Turbos kick butt, however I just spent the turbo fund on the engine and fixits. I guess in a perfect world we would all have PSD's.

 

My saying is "IDI TILL I DIE"

But I'll own a 99 and up PSD some day, it won't be anytime in the near future, but I'll have one some day when they start to rust, by then maybe I can afford one.

But The Enterprise will always have a home with me until my son turns 16 then he can start driving her, then when I feel he is old enough she will be turned over to him, until the day he neglects her, then I'll have to call down some thunder on him. He four now, so we have many years of training ahead before young padiwon is ready...

 

Took the pickup to Idaho this weekend. It runs great I am very pleased with the new engine and all. I got real lucky and sold the old pickup the day I got the new one out of the shop so the cost got absorbed a little. I also got a new set of aluminum wheels and a canopy with the sale for the diesel I am pretty stoked. I still have a few kinks to work out like I can't get the tach to work and a few other minor electrical problems that I am sorting out but other than that it is working great.