Hi every one,

Im Matt, new to the school bus and diesel world, going through complications, on my 2002 Ford E450 7.3l (Thomas Short Bus).

I bought the bus in december and drove it from San Diego to San Fransisco without having this issue at all. I’ve been parked since and have ran the engine about every week or two. Until i move it to and back from the shop to have front train fixed ..

The engine is starting & iddling fine but spits clouds of white smoke and loses power on acceleration, still after putting in new fuel filter.

After inspecting rear engine while running, oil ish black liquid runs down the intake from drivers side before and out of turbo into the exhaust line.

Would anyone be able to help out with any direction or thought ?

Is there a way i can be sure between head gasket fail and o-rings fail or i just have to pray for it to be the o rings if i start putting my hands in there ?

Smoke would be blue ish if the injector cups were involved, is that right ?

At worse, the smoke gets a little gray but is mostely white. Could fuel/oil mix do that ? Not sure also what a missfire sounds exactely like.

Thanks for any help


Matt

 

Seen from the rear engine

 

Hello and welcome. You are in the 6.7 section. Hopefully a moderator will come and move it to the proper section.

 

Has this truck been filled with "gasoline" by any chance?

 

Moved to the 7.3 area...

 

Welcome to FTE!

Looks like blown seal in the turbo. The lubricating oil that comes up through the turbo pedestal is leaking out from the interior of the turbo. You can get a rebuild kit and DIY, or buy a new turbo. Never rebuilt one myself but many others have and say it was easier than expected. And when doing a turbo new bellowed up pipes (the pipe with the oil on it) would be a wise investment.

White smoke could be from that or a dead/dying fuel pump. Any chance the bus has a fuel pressure gauge?

Head gaskets rarely go bad on these.

Take a look at your coolant, see if any oil is in there. Also dipstick, make sure it's just nice black oil not a chocolate malt. If those are ok your cups are ok.

If the fuel filter was black it's typically a sign of bad injector o rings.