When My IDI T is started cold smoke comes out of the hood in the back and it appears to be around the turbo.


Curious how to stop this or what it is.


Thanks....

 

It's the down pipe where it meets the cast piece off the turbo most likely. Notorious for leaking. Mine does it, I haven't bothered to fix it yet. You may just need to re-seat it. Mine completely rusted off at the slip joint. Best of luck.

 

There's two parts here:
The first is the smoke from the back of the engine. Probably leaky turbo piping.
The second if why is it smoking at all at startup.
Chances are, you've got a single dead glow plug. You'll want to pull and test them all, install Motorcraft ZD-9s to replace anything that /isn't/ a ZD-9.
While other brands can work(My truck came with Champion's), the ZD-9s are /far/ more durable and better built.

 

So the smoke in the morning is probably bad glow plugs ? The glow plugs on these trucks is a slight problem area is it not ? My truck use to start faster when cold in the morning.....


The Cummins does not have this issue ? Thanks you all.....

 

No, the glow plugs are not 'a problem', they are likely "the solution" to part of or most of your smoke problem.

In a previous topic that you started recently, I recall that you were asking about excessive smoke from the exhaust pipe at start-up. I thought you wrote, in a somewhat confusing way, that your glow plug controller 'gizmo thing' or whatever term you used, does not work at all and you also indicated that you didn't think that glow plugs are usually necessary in Florida. (due to warm climate).

The glow plug system IS NECESSARY even in a hot climate because it is not there only to help start the engine after the engine has been shut down for a time (the engine is considered 'cold' even if the outside temperature is 110 deg. F.) It's also necessary because one of the main functions of the glow plug system is TO REDUCE SMOKE and EMISSIONS (also known as unwanted air pollution such as NOx.

The glow plug system accomplishes this by providing extra heat into the combustion chambers (cylinders) which makes the combustion of the fuel air mix more efficient which produces less smoke.

This solid state controller ALSO has an AFTER GLOW CYCLE which starts right after the WTS light turns off, probably after the engine starts and the key is in the 'run' or 'on' position and this "after glow cycle" will last for up to 2 full minutes which CONTINUES TO REDUCE SMOKE (and unwanted emissions) for up to 2 minutes while the engine is "warming up." 'Warming up' means, coming up to normal operating temperature.

Your engine may start fine if it's 95 deg. F. outside. It doesn't matter if it is 95 deg. F. (35 deg. C) outside. If your engine has not been running and 'warmed up', the glow plug controller senses that the engine is COLD. The glow plug controller will come on for it's initial 10 second period every time the engine is started and will go into the afterglow cycle until the ENGINE is warmed up to operating temperatures.

If that's what you want then you need to have a working 7.3L style solid state glow plug controller (which is the type that your truck was originally equipped with) and working glow plugs.

This solid state controller was introduced in the 6.9L engines for the 1987 model year. As far as I am aware, the main functional difference between this controller and the earlier 6.9L controllers is the after-glow cycle and timer.

I mention this in case anyone wants to upgrade their 1983-1986 6.9L to have the 7.3L style solid state controller with the afterglow cycle, etc. This would most likely reduce smoke at start-up and during warm-up and I personally think that this is a good upgrade to consider.

My truck doesn't show any visible smoke at start-up and I am happy with that because I live in a densely populated residential neighborhood with at least one neighbor who might complain to my landlord about it.

I think this "No Smoke" start-up and warm-up is mostly due to the solid state glow plug controller and it may be helped a little bit by more airflow through the combustion process with the larger exhaust and the Banks Power Pack air cleaner which is what the system was designed to do.

If your controller and glow plugs were working and you STILL had a smoke problem at the exhaust then it could be an injection pump timing issue or some other issue.

 

tHANKS, DOES START AND STOP DRIVING WEAR THE SYSTEM OUT FASTER, The biggest complaints I read on these IDI's is keeping this system working correctly and air intrusion....

 

Today it has been cold and when I let the truck sit for an hour then start it up after it has been warm it smokes a lot.


This is telling me my Glow Plugs are not functioning correctly ? Also it takes about 30 seconds of cranking to get it going this morning when really cold.

 

Yes....

Edit: this is all for the 88-94 glow plug system. Not sure on the older system; I'd just upgrade if you don't have the newer system.

Look:
First, test all the glow plugs: Take a piece of wire with one end on the battery + terminal and touch the other to each glow plug terminal(remove the glow plug wire first).
If it sparks, it's good. If you get nothing, replace it.

Once all 8 glow plugs are good, test it. When you turn the key on with a cold motor, the WTS light should be on for at least 15 seconds, and you should see the lights dim for the first 10 seconds solidly. After that, the lights should alternately dim and brighten(along with clicking noises) at about the same rate. If you just hear a click-click noise and it only dims for a split second, it's not right.

If it's not working right at this point, check all the wiring to the glow plugs from the controller. If it looks good, go buy a new controller and install it. A cheap Autozone controller works just fine.

That *should* take care of the problem.

 

Thanks.....