Ok everyone,
Here we go again. been doing some troubleshooting this time with a mechanics stethiscope. low tech techniques for high tech diesels. anywho.....for those not up to speed my 99 was purchased a few months ago from a dealer, as-is, and wasn't running. he thought it needed an injector, but i changed fuel filter and a fuse and got it cranked. in it's previous life it worked in the oil field with bad fuel most likely and is 200k+ miles. the engine has been dusted, although I've never figured out to what extent (not that i haven't tried). I know it will need a rebuild. however I did have it running and the smoke it was producing was alleviating the more I ran it at one point. however one day after starting my new job, i was driving to the main office to do some HR paperwork and "bang" then 4 lanes of white smoke. since then I have tried various things and replaced 2 injectors (#1;#7) and all o-rings. before the bang, it was having intermittent power and stalling issues. well I know my right bank (passenger) is running COLD. at least 100*+ colder than driver's bank from dead cold start. after playing with mechanics stethiscope tonight, #7 hole (rear passenger) has a more quite and hollow sound compared to the rest (both banks checked). there is also smoke coming from the rear passenger side of the compartment (near cylinder) which i had thought maybe was oil on exhaust (from injector job), or leaky exhaust donut gasket. now I'm reconsidering. did i cook a head gasket? since replacing injector o-rings and the 2 injectors (#7 has a rebuilt injector now, after big problem occured), oil level is constant (was getting fuel dilluted due to cooked o-ring in either #5 or #7, i've slept since then), coolant has always stayed on the lower mark on resevoir since truck was purchased. engine is not blowing out fluids (as far as i can tell), but is still fuel rich smoke (although about 2/3 less than initial catastrophe), and gets worse once hot especially if you press throttle. if i cooked a head gasket, why is the entire bank cold? looking for suggestions. no check money light btw. although the "bang" a few months back did throw one, and the stalling would occasionally throw one, i never got it checked, just got it home and tore into it. truck has always had a miss as well. i didn't catch it at first, but an uncle who has been a mechanic for god knows how long picked it off 10secs after sitting in the truck shortly after purchase. I'll stop rambling now and see if anyone responds with more questions.
Chad

 

more than likely its a blown head gasket. the only reason you would white smoke is a blown head gasket with coolant in the chamber or cold combustion temps. if you remove the radiator cap you might see bubbles appear but i would put a gauge on it if you have access to one. or pull the glow plug and do a compression test.

 

I can understand a head gasket causing the smoke due to lack of compression, but the smoke is coming from rear of head, indicating a possible leak at #7 cylinder. so any ideas why the entire rail is cold? that's what gets me. i assumed i had an injector leaking fuel, but the oil hasn't measurably changed level like the o-ring leak I had. on top of that, tonight's info is making me reconsider. trying to get an idea of what to do without having to get a computer scanner. as much as a tow and diagnostic session would cost, might as well buy a scanner, but don't have money for either right now (according to my financial adviser, aka wife). but want one at some point. When you say to put a gauge on it, are talking fuel, radiator pressure, or what. I have a compression guage, but not sure I can make it work. not sure I can find a socket thin enough to tighten my GP adaptor.
Chad

 

maybe some burnt wiring and 5 and 7 arent firing thus cooler over there.

as far as the smoke i would of thought injector orings but since you just did em i would have to say head gasket. unless you have an injector dumping mass quantities of fuel.

 

I vote for blown head gasket as well. Where else is all this smoke coming from on the outside of the engine? And that also explains the "four lanes of smoke", the hollow sound, the engine miss at idle due to loss of compression out through the broken head gasket.
Being a fleet truck this thing was probably flogged back to base with no coolant or something like that and turned off.

 

It would also be a good opportunity to see if this engine is dusted at all. I am of the opinion that most of the dust that it was forced to injest is stuck in the intercooler and never made it all the way to the engine.

 

well i know it has been dusted to some extent, we had a cold front come through and knock us out of 100*+ weather, and all of a sudden the truck starts different when it's in the 70's or 80's, plus a lot of blowby. Is there a good position where I can sight the rear of the engine, or would like an inspection mirror be the best bet. if I could see the smoke's origin for sure, I would be much more confident about it. however I'm still curious about the bank being cold. similar problem or is this and issue of compound problems?
Chad

 

the gauge i was referring to was an engine compression gauge. if the smoke is coming from the rear of the engine an inspection mirror would be best i think. i dont think that i would be an oring issue becuase it is not black or blue smoke black smoke would be an overfuel issue and blue would be your oil consumption, but yours is white, and therefore it would be a head gasket or even a cracked block. its white because there is coolant in there and the combustion temp is cold.

 

this happened due to an o-ring issue while the truck was running. when I say bang, i mean i heard a bang. upon tearing into the injectors on that bank, i believe #7 had about 1/3 of a new fuel o-ring missing. could this have been a hydostatic locking issue, that blew something out? or maybe some sort of improper detonation? I looked and my coolant is down a little but I don't run it long enough anymore to determine if there is consumption. i'll need to get an inspection mirror, but I got looking today and one of my exhaust pipes behind the right head is moist. don't know what is on it, but wondering if the heat should have dried it out. let the truck get up to temp for the first time today in a while. LOTS of white fuel rich smoke once warm. not that it's insignificant when cold. smokes out my small back yard and probably a few neighbors. was playing with the stethiscope and didn't notice the sound difference as much today. wanna keep checking though, make sure before I shell out $170 for a head kit. Still wondering about entire bank being cold. Where would be the best place to put the stethiscope to here the combustion noise. I was thinking ehaust manifold at the head ports, but can reach number 7 that way. any suggestions? will dig in and try harder with compression gauge. thanks guys.
Chad

 

I've not been on here as long as most folks. It seems that these trucks rarely have a head gasket problem. Is that correct? I believe this is the first one I'm seeing.

 

i seem to remember having the same thought while I was diagnosing, but wasn't sure. However, with this poor pre-abused truck, all bets are off in my book. I was also wondering about that injector i have in number 7. wonder how well it was rebuilt.

 

I don't know where you got it from but I'm pretty sure all rebuilds are tested prior to shipping. You could always swap out injectors in your engine and see what happens. Perhaps one from the driver's side. Net cost is $0.0 and a little bit of your time.

 

true, I just hate tearing into those valve covers. mostly hate getting the injector shoulder bolts off, especially the rear injectors underneath the cab forward design. wish I had a concrete pad to work on instead of grass. yet another thing on the to do list labeled "when i have money". think I'll try real hard to get a compression reading. any suggestion on how. Shoul I take it warm or cold. do the cylinders need to be wet. anyone got sugestions? think i see if it's in that 7.3 bible.
Chad

 

well looks like the 7.3 bible doesn't have compression readings in it. got to lookin under the hood, the smoke from rear of engine is leaky valve cover and blowby gasses. confirmed it by removing the oil filler cap on passenger valve cover and the smoke stopped on the back of engine since it was free flowing out the cap. and guys when I say i have blowby, I mean up to the raised hood visible blowby. always been like that since I got the truck. so that's one strike against head gasket theory. still need to do a compression test i guess.
Chad

 

Have you checked for a clogged CCV vent? (VERY unlikely, and I've never seen it before on a diesel but plenty of times on a gasser. The diesel engine doesn't make the same kind of sludge that a gasser does.) Oil filler cap or CCV it has to go somewhere.