Hello. Newby here. I’ve been reading this and other similar forums for a while, but never posted.
Problem: excessive black smoke, loss of power, hard starting, glow plugs keep burning out, overheating on hills.

Vehicle: 1989 Ford E350 short school bus with a 7.3 IDI non-turbo running mostly B100 (biodiesel). 160,000 miles.

I am overweight (GVWR=10,000, but I weigh more like 12,500)

New: Glow plug controller, glow plugs (cheapos until I figure out why they’re burning out, but maybe that’s the problem!), injectors (BB code from Accurate Diesel), air filter, fuel filter, lift pump, injection pump (4 years old)

Just adjusted my timing to ~9 degrees using a Ferret tool and advance timing gun with tach.

When starting, the glow plugs runs for 6-10 seconds. When I crank it takes a couple cranks to catch and once it does it rumbles and sputters and finally catches after about 10 seconds of cranking, but it bellows a HUGE amount of white smoke. No problem starting warm.

Once it’s idling it is fine. When I try to go uphill it smokes like a mother. Black smoke (maybe grey with a tint of blue – hard to tell).

I checked: Air filter, fuel send and return for restriction, timing, injectors, lift pump. My fan clutch seems to be bad, so I’m replacing that today or tomorrow.

Did a compression test: 350-400 PSI all around. Slow buildup though (5 strokes) (rings?).

My (old and brand new) lift pumps both supply 4 to 4.5 PSI to the filter and drop down to 3 when I push it. I read somewhere it should be 6-8 PSI at idle.

The problem started just as I left the San Francisco Bay Area (sea level) and started to head into the mountains and across to Colorado where I am now. Even with the black smoke I seemed to get better fuel economy than ever (15-16 MPGs).

Prior to departure I had my engine pressure washed at a truck stop in Alameda. They had my engine running when they sprayed the top. My factory service manual says that’s a no-no, as well as many people online and mechanics I’ve talked to. Could they have ruined my injection pump? Would that give me hard starts, excessive black smoke, loss of power, etc?

Or am I just going to smoke at elevation and on hills always, especially since I weigh so much?

 

guisepi,

First of all, welcome to the forum, The hard start and white smoke at start up sound like a little air intrusion. I didn't see a return line kit on your list of services performed. If you haven't done that I would start there. Russ, who goes by typefour here, sells a good kit with vitton o-rings for about 42 bucks shipped. Black smoke is unburnt fuel, your symptoms don't seem to support that, black smoke is unmistakably black though, gray/blue could be many other things, including rings, or head gasket. Does your exhaust smell sweet at all, and are you losing any coolant? Where are you in CO? I am moving to the Denver area in July.

Good luck,

Mac.

 

Our trucks don't have altitude compensating devices on them. That is why there is a high altitude and seal level model injector pumps. Your problem is lack of air to the amount of fuel you are injecting. You can solve this one of two ways. 1. Install a turbo and adjust the fuel screw. 2. Adjust the fuel screw for less fuel and lose HP and torque.

Or you could just let it smoke until you get closer to sea level but too much fuel is likely the cause of the high temps and burning out of the GPs. Your GP controller could also be sticking on. I highly suggest option 1 or 2 if you don't want to burn up your engine.

 

I would say your hard starting is from glow plugs. Even though you said you replaced them with cheap ones. I beleive this is your problem. This system was designed for the Beru- Motorcraft ZD9 glowplugs. Any other brands can burn out after only one start. On the first start up of the day The WTS light should come on for at least 10-15 seconds depending on the air temps. The clouds of white smoke is most likely unburned fuel coming from the cylinders with the dead plugs.

 

You'll need to confirm your smoke to us before we can help you any more. Black is black, white/grayish is another.


Black is overfueled, witch is normal in a N/A Diesel in high elevations. DO NOT keep the pedal in the floor, your EGT levels will blow through the roof and you risk melting down the inside of the engine! You can melt piston tops, rings, and valves! Try to keep an eye in your mirrors, and keep it from smoking. Keep it right where you'll see just a light haze of clear black smoke, not that thick black coal. As soon as you see abit of black smoke, you won't have any more power than you have at that point, you'll just overfuel it, wasting fuel, and getting to hot.



My 87 E350 motorhome is 26ft long, and weighs around 12k lbs loaded for long trips and in the rockies, I couldn't give it more than half throttle in those 9000+ft of elevations without seing that huge thick black smoke, yes it was a slow ride up, but it made it and back again. My real temp gauge never went over 210*.




Also, does your fan clutch work? You will CLEARLY hear it when it locks in. Sounds like an air plane taking off under your hood.

I have a video of a locking fan clutch if you want to hear what it sounds like.





And if it turns out to be white/grayish smoke, that can be bad timing. That's a whole other story with symtoms and problems of it's own.

 

anything but motorcraft/beru plugs won't last.
that's the reason for the hard cold starts followed by lots of white smoke.
now that your up in the mountains,you'll need to turn the fuel screw down or add a turbo,because you now have less air getting in with your fuel.so you'll want to adjust the fuel to match what you had at sea level.that will take care of the "smoking like a mother" up there in the sky.
if you let smoke like that,it causes too much heat and will eventually burn 'er up.

 

Thanks for all the replies. So it sounds as if none of you think it could be my injection pump going bad, huh?

Akamacgyver - I'm in Boulder/Denver/Lyons for the time being. Love it here. I put on a fuel return kit a couple years ago. Just bought the '92-'94 style 1/4" return kit (so I could put my own viton 1/4" check valve from the filter housing since the one that comes in there has failed me after only two years since I bought it for $25). That along with some viton o-rings from Mcmaster (more than I needed)... I have yet to install. Maybe tomorrow.

I actually think I may have a slight leak on the filter housing (some moisture on the housing). Perhaps coming from the heater, or somewhere. I'm tossing out the standard filter housing and replumbing the fuel to suck through a new filter housing (so I can plumb my WVO system in there and use the stock pump). I'm doing a re-plumb of this tomorrow, so hopefully this will help take care of air intrusion. (Napa filter 3405 on Napa head 4770)... Yes, I'm going to lose the heater, water in fuel light, and fuel filter (clogged) light, but I'm adding in an inline electric heater to boost temps if I need for WVO, as well as a pressure gauge (pressure to IP). I have yet to find much water in my fuel filter, so I'm not to concerned over losing the water in fuel light. The new filter has a drain, so I'll just drain her off a tad every few fill ups.

I've been constantly monitoring the glow plugs. They're all operable at this point and now it starts better. Still think there's some air though. I'm going to wire a light to my dash that tells me when the glow plugs are on, just to make sure they're not staying on longer than their normal cycle. I'll replace them with Motorcraft ones as soon as I know for sure they aren't staying on.

The smoke is BLACK on some hills. Instead of turning down the fuel on the injection pump, should I just keep a light foot on the pedal when I see smoke? I'm driving back to sea level in a week or so, so it doesn't seem to make sense to adjust it now only to adjust it back then. But perhaps it'll save me on some of those hills.

I want to install a pyrometer. Any good brands/places to buy? Do you just drill and tap a hole in the exhaust manifold where all four exhausts meet on one one side of the engine? Or weld on nut to thread into? Max temp on a non-turbo? If I install this, can I just keep an eye on exhaust temp (and black smoke to some extent) and adjust my driving accordingly?

I don't think the fan clutch works. Can't hear it on overheating. Bought a Hayden brand one yesterday from Autozone. Lifetime warranty, but I've heard mixed reviews. I have yet to hear of a good brand of fan clutches for these rigs. I'm replacing the water pump soon as a precautionary measure while I have my coolant drained for plumbing my WVO system, and since I'm adding so much coolant/lines to my system (clean WVO tank, dirty WVO tank, coolant heated hot water heater, additional heater core - all with selector valves). This should help keep my temps down a little, but not terribly.

Whew, I sure have lots to say...

 

Oh, and one more thing.

I like to put on my hazard light when I'm driving slow up those hills. The only problem is that when I put on the hazards, my bus automatically downshift which puts a much larger amount of smoke out. Is that normal? Or do I have a wiring issue?

 

you have the E40D trans in there? auto with overdrive?
if so,what happens when you turn the flashers on,is the converter unlocks.
now your pushing real high heat on top of a radiator that's already running too warm,and your going to cook your trans in short order.
you may want to check,and probably flush the trans after you get your fan clutch on there.the fluid is probably not the best looking stuff.
if you need to keep your flashers on above 35ish mph,then do a search here for E40D lockup mod.

 

What kind of bizzareness is that ??? lol thats.. odd. Anyway, sounds to me like theres air getting in, from what you say i would suspect the fuel heater o-ring. An easy way to tell would be putting some clear line in place of the rubber lines going from lift pump to filter head, and filter head to IP. Fire it up, hit the schrader valve a couple times and shut it off and look for air bubbles coming in. Might take a minute to an hour to show up. Other than that i would stick in some motorcraft GP's and make sure the light comes on 8-10 seconds, and listen for the solenoid to make sure it cycles, not sticking on or off, the volt gauge will show it if its working. Black smoke is telling me your in altitude, nothing more, i noticed a difference in mine going from 2600 to 4100. let alone sea level to 5k +

You could turn the fuel down a little, you will have lost power at sea level, but it will be no less than you have now with it smoking.

As far as the fan clutch, i dont think theres a better brand than FoMoCo, but it can be pretty pricey. At least if the vato zone doesnt work you can get another one freebie style.

Dunno about brand on the pyro, but if you mount it in the exhaust manifold (where you want it) you shouldnt go much over 1200 for very long.

 

Yes, E40D. I have a temp sensor on the line that sends trans fluid to the radiator, and it doesn't get above 225 or so on the harsh hills. Is that acceptable?

Are the hazards supposed to unlock the converter? It just seems weird to me...

Update: New lift pump maintains 5 PSI on idle and down to 4 when pushing it. Some people say this is good, others say it isn't. What's spec?

Definitely some kind of fuel leakage on the filter housing. Not the heater. Maybe the water sensor. Is it bad to drive long distance like this? I need to get back to CA ASAP. I don't think much air is getting in. I've been monitoring the return line (clear line) and haven't seen much unless I've tampered with the fuel system (e.g. filter replacement).

Glow plugs all are working and run for at least 10 seconds in 55-60 degree weather. Starting was EASY. No white smoke. Just a little blueish. Normal?

 

225* at your inline sensor is good.



The converter unlocking does sound weird, but wanna hear something more weird?



On my C6 motorhome, if I put the hazards on, while i'm on cruise control, it kicks off the cruise.

 

yeah that's a little high,but nothing to be worried about.surprised to hear without a fan clutch.it must have an external trans cooler?
how warm was the engine getting? you know these engines can run 240 probably all day without over heating right? not that id push one so close to the limits,but i wouldn't exactly be scared to try it either lol.anything under 240 and your golden.kinda need a working fan though im sure lol.though i didn't! not until summer was over,and i went to plow.then i understood the need for a fan.i skipped them failure prone energy hogs though and went straight to dual ford windstar e-fans.

 

i've never had a fan clutch fail on me...


now that I have said that, I wil lcross my fingers...i can hear the 90's working, and can hear the 83's....a little...those stacks are REALLY LOUD!

 

You crazy guys and your auto trans's. I have just gone through a spiritual experiance going through my return line/ entire fuel system to find a air intrusion problem one trick I learned was to put a clear hose between your filter and your # 1 injector and watch which way the bubbles go and that will help you figure out where your air intrusion is coming from. Dont forget to replace the olives when you do the return lines I think Russ includes them in his kits I would ask to make sure though. also the 2 o rings on the fuel heater on the filter head should be replaced one is 5/8 id x 1/8 the other is 3/8id x 1/8