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I am quickly becoming an urban menace. My truck's MO, for the last 20,000 mi or so, has been to smoke at idle when cold and then clear up. recently the cold idle smoke has increased by a large factor (but still mostly dissapears when warm) and...it has begun to smoke whenever I release the accelerator while still leaving the clutch engaged (pretty much in any gear at any speed, warm or cold). No smoke uphill or at high speeds, only when I start to slow down. I am guessing the injector pump is to blame. Just adjustment or is it trash? Note: this truck has been running on biodiesel for about 2 and a half years (40-50,000 mi).
Also...who makes the best Maint/Tech manual for the 7.3l of an '88 variety?
Blue = oil
Black = incomplete combustion
White = unburned fuel or water vapor
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Boeing 747-400,
Early '99 F350 4x4 std. cab PSD.
Mods: Clamp. That's all at the moment.
When I die, I hope to die as my grandmother did; peacefully in my sleep. Not panic-stricken, screaming in terror like the rest of the people in her car.
Whit indicate water, you may have a cavitation wear through, unfortunately common to the 7.3's. Did you use the coolant additive to try to stop the cavitation?
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the workhorse:86 F250 4x4 6.9 Diesel 4-spd, 4.10 axles
the other workhorse 92 F350 2wd crew cab,3.55 rear axle, 92 6bt Cummins, NV4500
the project: 78 F150 4x4 shortbed 351 auto Iowa Chapter leader, ASE certified parts specialist
Come on down and join us in the Iowa chapter, or your own local chapter!! Thanks, Roger
If it was water wouldn't I notice some loss of fluid in the radiator? I haven't lost even the smallest amount.
I think that it is fuel as my truck, being bio-d, is pretty ripe and, having been engulfed in it on a number of occasions (picture putting your head over the stove vent of a cheap chinese restaurant) the smoke seems to clearly be smoke. Maybe I am overestimating my ability to tell...
Perhaps being bio, it smokes different too. I guess more diagnosis will be needed to help determine. I am planning on trying straight wvo, so I have some to learn on this...
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the workhorse:86 F250 4x4 6.9 Diesel 4-spd, 4.10 axles
the other workhorse 92 F350 2wd crew cab,3.55 rear axle, 92 6bt Cummins, NV4500
the project: 78 F150 4x4 shortbed 351 auto Iowa Chapter leader, ASE certified parts specialist
Come on down and join us in the Iowa chapter, or your own local chapter!! Thanks, Roger
Yeah, it sounds like a fueling problem like bad injector, perhaps. Especially since you aren't using any coolant. Does it seem to be misfiring at all? That usually, but not always, happens with a bad injector.
__________________
Boeing 747-400,
Early '99 F350 4x4 std. cab PSD.
Mods: Clamp. That's all at the moment.
When I die, I hope to die as my grandmother did; peacefully in my sleep. Not panic-stricken, screaming in terror like the rest of the people in her car.
Yes, it is misfiring. Definitely this smoke has been simultaneous with rougher running. How would I go about determining which (if any) injector is bad?
You loosen each injector line and listen like you would pulling a spark plug wire, but I would recommend just doing them all, not really that expensive, if you go rebuilt.
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the workhorse:86 F250 4x4 6.9 Diesel 4-spd, 4.10 axles
the other workhorse 92 F350 2wd crew cab,3.55 rear axle, 92 6bt Cummins, NV4500
the project: 78 F150 4x4 shortbed 351 auto Iowa Chapter leader, ASE certified parts specialist
Come on down and join us in the Iowa chapter, or your own local chapter!! Thanks, Roger
If you have access to an infrared heat gun, you should be able to tell which cylinder isn't firing by shooting close to the heads on the exhaust manifolds. The bad one(s) will read significantly lower than the rest with the engine running.
__________________
Boeing 747-400,
Early '99 F350 4x4 std. cab PSD.
Mods: Clamp. That's all at the moment.
When I die, I hope to die as my grandmother did; peacefully in my sleep. Not panic-stricken, screaming in terror like the rest of the people in her car.
I recommened checking your air cleaner and running some deisel injector cleaner, because a dirty air cleaner will restrict air and less air = less complete combustion. I havn't had any smoking running a k&n and injector cleaner every 4th tank (85+ redline works good). just a thought
I had an injector shop tell me the IP would need to be replaced for a similar problem. He said the advance mechanism wasn't working correctly. I asked him how that was effecting the operation. He asked if I was seeing white smoke at startup, then it goes away. This is what I was seeing. He also said if I didn't mind the little puff of smoke, not to worry about it for now, but eventually I would need to replace the IP. Since I'm still getting better than 18mpg around town, I'm not going to touch it!
Brent
"Perhaps being bio, it smokes different too. I guess more diagnosis will be needed to help determine. I am planning on trying straight wvo, so I have some to learn on this..."
I use biodiesel in my '93 F-250. It doesn't smoke. Biodiesel won't by itself cause smoke. On the contrary, it cuts soot by 90%.
I also use a wvo/diesel blend. Don't bother trying wvo to cure the smoke.
#1. Can only use <=50% wvo in a stock, unheated fuel system.
#2. Has similar smoke production of biodiesel, ie, very little soot.
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103K miles on biodiesel and WVO in VW TDI.
12K miles on biodiesel and WVO in a '92 F-250 n/a 7.3L diesel.
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