I got some good advise a few months ago and now have another problem. My 95 PSD with 95k miles
has suddenly began to emit a cloud of blue smoke
at a cold startup. Once it has warmed up everything is fine. Runs good,plenty of power,
and no smoke. This is an F250HD 4X4 extended cab
model. Any suggestions will be much appreciated.
##### Lewis

 

Blue smoke is oil burning most of the time. If your engine sits for a while, say 8 to 10 hours, and then smokes a lot for a minute or so the problem is oil leaking down the valve guides. I have a pick up that is getting bad that way. Look up the exhust pipe. You may see heavy oil deposits almost running out of the pipe. I drive it only short distances. It runs good just smokes heavy for a few minutes....Richard

 

I hope somebody w/ more expertise will chime in but I think that is a sign of bad glow plugs or a bad GP relay.

 

I've also heard this could indicate a bad injector. But I definitely don't qualify as an expert either.

 

I have a similar problem with my late 94 PSD (1st year production). It has 132K on it. It has been doing it since it had about 100K on it. I have had it since new and done all maintenance religiously. Smokes blue/bluewhite smoke on cold start only. It does not smoke under heavy engine load. It is definitely related to the ambient air temp; at 50 degrees and above it does not do it. The colder it is, the more it smokes, and longer it lasts, although even at cold temps (say below 20 deg) it never lasts more than the first five to ten mins of running time. The truck consumes no oil between 3K oil changes and still runs great and has good power. I trouble shot the glow plug relay, it checks good (it was replaced under warrenty at about 80K). I replaced all 8 glo-plugs pre-emptively, since they had over 50K on them anyway. I checked the axial play in the turbo by removing the compressor side air inlet, the turbine blade has no play, and there is no roughness that I can feel by spinning the turbine compressor fan blade. I have not had the truck checked by a shop for any reporting Digital Trouble Codes yet, but would like to find a code scanner for the OBD I Powerstrokes that is affordable for a home mechanic, so I can do it myself. Could the cause be a malfunctioning sensor? such as an Engine Oil Temp, BARO, or MAP?, as I understand it, all effect fuel delivery at some point. How about worn injector O-rings?, and if so why only during cold starts at cold ambient temps? Would appreciate any knowledgable assistance.

 

It does sound as though something is amiss with the glow plug system.

Les

 

More questions than answers on my cold start, blue smoking 94 PSD. Just R&R'd the fuel filter, and noticed the heating element wire in the base of the filter/seperator housing had the center contact/solder point on the wire broken free from it's post. Could this cause the blue smoke at cold start at cold ambient tempratures?
How does one trouble shoot the fuel filter heating element on a 94 PSD. No mention of it in the Ford factory service manual. Can the heating element be replaced without replacing the whole separator/filter assemmbly?

 

The wire in the bottom of your fuel filter is the heater and thats all it does is keep the fuel from gelling when its cold out. This will have no effect on white smoke when engine is cold. Injector o-rings can cause this symptom but not likely. You would probably have a miss while it was smokeing and also possible oil dulition from fuel bypassing o-rings. If the o-rings get real bad all your engine oil goes into your fuel and gets burned. (Went thru 13 quarts in 24 hrs once then engine wouldnt run anymore due to lack of oil for injection system. This was due to a blown o-ring on an injector.) I would check out the glow plug system. Even after thr light goes out the glow plug should cycle for a couple of minutes depending on how cold out it is. There is a chart in the service manual that tells how long the plugs should burn in relation to the ambient air temp. (P.S. that broken w heater in the bottom of filter hsg. should be replaced because when it breaks more and it touches the hsg. it will blow the fuse and this on some models is the same fuse that powers up the E.C.M. therefore your rig will cease to run leaving you on the berm wishing tou did change it.)

 

Thanks for the info on the fuel heater. Ordered one from my local Navistar dealer for about $25.00. Ford wanted $58.00 and were out of stock. Told me they sell a lot of them. Looks to me like the whole filter/separator assembly has to be pulled out to R&R the heater; is that correct? Doesn't look to be too hard a job. I have had the regulator block off the filter/separator a couple of times to clean the crud out of it...another thing the Factory Manual doesn't mention at all. I did check the glo-plugs for resistance, all were under 2 Ohms, relay ran at 11.22 Volts, cycled the plugs on about a minute at 50 degrees ambient temp, well within specs. Guess I should just pay to have a shop run the diagnostics on it, to see if any DTC's turn up.

 

Once you've started the truck, the glow plugs stay on for a while to help get you going, but once they shut off, your still not warmed up enough to be efficient. I've heard that a little smoke is to be expected, not billowing clouds, mind you, but visible smoke. Mine does it a little. It's the only time I see any visible smoke out of it. Right after the glow plugs shut off, first thing in the morning. The explanation I got was, as the engine warms up, things expand and "tighten up." It makes sense to me.
This may or may not be what you're talking about, but it could be adding to your "problem/situation".
I hope this helps.

 

I had the same problem as you with my 96 with 87K on it. I got my glow plugs changed and it cured the problem completely. No longer do I have any smoke. Also in case anyone is wondering the tech told me that in order to prevent bad things from happening, you should change the plugs every 70K.

 

Did you change your heater yet? If so you know that the plastic stand pipe that holds the heater in has a left handed thread on it.

 

Thanks for the tip on the left hand threads; I would have never guessed. My International Dealer ordered the wrong part, so I'm back to Ford (Part # F5TZ-9J294A, $57.08). Should get to it shortly, and will post the results.