My symptoms that lead to the rebuild were smoke and 0psi comperssion on #4 cylinder. The smoke was lite and smelled of fuel. The smoke I have now is very heavy and smells of fresh oil not burnt oil.
The fuel tank did not have any coatings on the interior. Tank filters were plugged with rust particles so I cleaned them up and cleaned out tank.
The turbo compressor wheel does not look too bad, small chips on the leading edges.

As far as breaking in, I will probably only get 50 miles or so before I have to drive it to Nevada, 2000 miles. And once we hit the freeway I don't plan to vary the speed much except to fill up the fuel tank.

 

Should have the turbo seal kit when I get home tonight. Reseal the turbo and take it for another spin. If she still smokes I am not sure what to do. Otherwise it seems to run good, A/C still works.
Still no luck on that extra ground cable.

 

I know you have already considered this, so I would like your thoughts.

Looking at your first post, your white smoke stopped when you unplugged # 4 injector. And # 4 cylinder was also the cylinder with 0 compression.

I haven't gone through your entire thread, did you replace all the injectors or at least injector #4?

Did you do a compression test after your rebuild? If so, I would like to know what the numbers are after a rebuild such as yours.

 

During the diagnosis stage I swapped the #4 and #6 injector and the smoke stayed on the #4 hole. I have not replaced the injectors or completed a compression test. I have limited time and a compression test would require removal of the valve covers which is a multi-hour project. I too agree that a compression test would be very valuable info to have but I can't afford the time right now. Maybe when I get to Nevada I will find the time to do it.
Also some day I may do some more diagnostics on the injectors but that too has to wait.
As it sits now there is no smoke at idle and the last drive I took produced only a slight blue haze(before turbo rebuild). I have rebuilt the turbo and will put it in tonight and take it for another drive. Rebuilt means new seals and bearings, stock impeller.

 

While I haven't pulled the VCs off a van yet, but I'd bet some tools would greatly abbreviate the process. A 13mm flex-head socket and a cordless impact driver with a loooong extension spins things out (and in) right-quick, with the right torque setting. Pulling the GPs with semi-rigid plastic 5/16" fuel line helps as well.

 

While not impossible it is a very tedious job. Many of the bolt can only be removed with a box end wrench and the VCs are touching the insulation on the dog house on both sides. I did remove both sides and perform compression test before removing and rebuilding the engine. I could probably do it a lot faster the second time but I only have 8 days left to pack a whole house and garage to move 2,000 miles, and I still have to go to work 6 of those days.

 

I just would like to say "wish you the best!" It will eventually sort itself out. Don't let the stress get to you. Keep the important things like family relations in mind let the little stuff (and it is all little stuff) go.
Just get on the road.
These guys have a RHN by the way. Tugly can tell you where to find the map.

 

Say Tim, I am only going to be about 4 hours away from you. Maybe we could hook up at Lake Tahoe some time this summer?

I do try to let the little stuff roll of my back but sometimes it gets piled pretty high.

 

Yes, I know, I am currently burried myself. (My wife and I moved from her house (now rented) to my condo (needs to be remodeled for renting) then we will move to South County Sacramento. I need to do work to earn the money to do the remodeling work, but need time to do the remodeling work. It is a part of the great Mandela of Life which I decided to step on and must circle until I can afford to step off.

But definitely pm me about this Summer. ScottTahoe is also in your area whom I also have never met.

 

The BEST map is a link in my signature.

 

I'm not on the map.

 

Is that to say you want on the map? PM your zip code and what you're equipped with. A pin will magically appear in a location near you.

 

Ok I PM'ed myself the info.

 

Sorry so much has happened and no reports to show for it. The move happened so fast that I could not keep up. Since my last post we have driven 2000 miles across the US and arrived at our destination in Minden NV. The truck made the drive with minimal issues, actually only 1. I had to add a couple quarts of tranny fluid because it left a puddle on the ground in Salina KS. I know it is leaking a small amount now out of the bell housing. I am guessing that I might have damaged the seal at the torque converter because it sat for over a year with TC just hanging in place.
As for the engine, it ran great. I did not drive it for even 1 mile of the whole trip so my diagnostics come second hand. The first fill up resulted in the worst mpg I have ever seen in the truck, 7mpg. And the driver said it could barely hold 70mph on flat ground. Each fill up after that showed an improved mpg with the last fill up being the best at almost 12mpg. After each leg the driver said the engine was getting stronger and by the end I was using the box truck to cut the wind for my rig so we could hold 75mph in the wind. The box truck was full and was pulling a small motorcycle trailer, maybe 6,000lbs of stuff total. I am very happy that the truck made the drive on a brand new engine, still hoping that I can squeeze a couple more mpg out of it.

 

Congratulations on the move! And congratulations on the engine rebuild!