Help in Mississippi!
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Senior User
Joined: Mar 2010
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From: Madison, Mississippi
Help in Mississippi!
2002 Excursion Limited with 122k..Cranked engine up Sunday morning for church and noticed large cloud of smoke when wife started truck up while idling for about 3 minutes. I drove the vehicle about 300 miles Saturday and ran fine with no noticeable smoke (of course, my wife says its been doing this for 3 days, as she drives it to work!)...Shut down the truck immediately and have not cranked since until I can take sometime to test/look things over....recently had new injector cups and head gaskets placed at local mom and pop shop (cups placed in heads after pressure testing at local machine shop by the local ford stealership). At this time havent checked for any noises while idling etc... did check the oil this morning before going to work and it was 2 quarts low.... any pointers? ring? gasket? injector? I just paid a lot of moo lahh and looks like im headed for another pay check!!! Anyone near Jackson MS know of reputable diesel shops nearby? Need to narrow down my differential diagnoses!
Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 26,966
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From: Texas
Why did you have the original work done? Injector cups can be replaced without pulling the heads and head gasket failures are rare unless you've got the motor chipped and are putting out lots of power. Did they put new o-rings on the injectors when they put them back in?
Check the degas bottle (radiator). Is there any fuel or oil mixed in with the anti-freeze? Remove the fuel filter and look for any signs of oil in the bottom of the fuel bowl. What color was the smoke you noticed? Did it have an odor to it?
Check the degas bottle (radiator). Is there any fuel or oil mixed in with the anti-freeze? Remove the fuel filter and look for any signs of oil in the bottom of the fuel bowl. What color was the smoke you noticed? Did it have an odor to it?
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Senior User
Joined: Mar 2010
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From: Madison, Mississippi
sorry for a late update/response....life goes on..
Little research and a scanner at the mechanics shop later, the scan showed no codes whatsoever... negative buzz test .... I replaced the ipr regulator without any change in symptoms.... cranked and ran up to temp and shut down and restarted about 10 mins later with no smoke and idleing running fine.
Let her sit for a little over an hour and recranked and was smoking again. Not as much, but still smoking.... still no codes on my superchip scanner.
So with all this done, am I looking at a bad injector? She has a knock when cranking up cold and goes away after she warms up and smoking stops...Oil level is good and unchanged as is the coolant level. Its pure whitesmoke and pretty sure its all fuel...Once truck is up to temp and smoking goes away she runs like a champ.
Stumped in Mississippi.
Little research and a scanner at the mechanics shop later, the scan showed no codes whatsoever... negative buzz test .... I replaced the ipr regulator without any change in symptoms.... cranked and ran up to temp and shut down and restarted about 10 mins later with no smoke and idleing running fine.
Let her sit for a little over an hour and recranked and was smoking again. Not as much, but still smoking.... still no codes on my superchip scanner.
So with all this done, am I looking at a bad injector? She has a knock when cranking up cold and goes away after she warms up and smoking stops...Oil level is good and unchanged as is the coolant level. Its pure whitesmoke and pretty sure its all fuel...Once truck is up to temp and smoking goes away she runs like a champ.
Stumped in Mississippi.
Posting Guru
Joined: Jul 2004
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From: Buckingham, IA
sorry for a late update/response....life goes on..
So with all this done, am I looking at a bad injector? She has a knock when cranking up cold and goes away after she warms up and smoking stops...Oil level is good and unchanged as is the coolant level. Its pure whitesmoke and pretty sure its all fuel...Once truck is up to temp and smoking goes away she runs like a champ.
Stumped in Mississippi.
So with all this done, am I looking at a bad injector? She has a knock when cranking up cold and goes away after she warms up and smoking stops...Oil level is good and unchanged as is the coolant level. Its pure whitesmoke and pretty sure its all fuel...Once truck is up to temp and smoking goes away she runs like a champ.
Stumped in Mississippi.
Senior User
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 460
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From: South Mississippi
Injectors
hey i live in columbia, ms, it sounds like injectors, if you know how to change them i would put in a new set cause the computer will show a miss but if it runs great when running its not going to tell you, i would pull and inspect them i had one lock up and it was severely burned and I knew it was that one, im in school at Carey so my schedule is tight. im not sure if i can help you but thats what i would do
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Senior User
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From: Madison, Mississippi
Will do! I didnt consider the hydrolock possibility DOHH!!!
Will get to work on covers tonight... probably get a couple of pieces of cardboard to hold over the glow plug holes to catch which one it is... any other things i need to do before this? any fuel lines or relays need to be disabled...and how many times to turn her over?
Will get to work on covers tonight... probably get a couple of pieces of cardboard to hold over the glow plug holes to catch which one it is... any other things i need to do before this? any fuel lines or relays need to be disabled...and how many times to turn her over?
Hotshot
Joined: Jul 2008
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From: N.GA Mountains
I am also suspicious about WHY the work you had done came about??? 122k miles is barely broken in for a 7.3! 
I suspect injector or o-ring issue, but would do Cyl. Contribution Test, Rotational Velocity, etc before I got dirty.
It'll prolly be next week sometime, but I'd be happy to swing by on my way home and hook up AE for ya......
Keep us posted!!!
I suspect injector or o-ring issue, but would do Cyl. Contribution Test, Rotational Velocity, etc before I got dirty.
It'll prolly be next week sometime, but I'd be happy to swing by on my way home and hook up AE for ya......
Keep us posted!!!
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Posting Guru
Joined: Feb 2010
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From: Opelika, AL
once you're up to temp, check your degas bottle for over pressurizing. i had a lot of white smoke on start up and when i changed the bottle cap it hasnt smoked since.
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Thread Starter
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Senior User
Joined: Mar 2010
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From: Madison, Mississippi
I am also suspicious about WHY the work you had done came about??? 122k miles is barely broken in for a 7.3!
I suspect injector or o-ring issue, but would do Cyl. Contribution Test, Rotational Velocity, etc before I got dirty.
It'll prolly be next week sometime, but I'd be happy to swing by on my way home and hook up AE for ya......
Keep us posted!!!
I suspect injector or o-ring issue, but would do Cyl. Contribution Test, Rotational Velocity, etc before I got dirty.
It'll prolly be next week sometime, but I'd be happy to swing by on my way home and hook up AE for ya......
Keep us posted!!!
Thats the story up till now... busy at work and kids so valve covers will have to wait till this weekend.
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Senior User
Joined: Mar 2010
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From: Madison, Mississippi
update update!!! took valve covers off finally!!! (busy with work/ kids...) and guess what I found? The AE injector in the # 2 cylinder! Now I dont know if this could be the problem, doubt it is, but don't just adds to everything I have been through with this truck. 
Gonna pull glow plugs and turn her over and see what comes out of the holes tomorrow. I plan on putting cardboard over the injectors to get a spray pattern as to how much is coming out of each cylinder. Any other ideas or comments? I also plan on doing a pressure check of each cylinder and anyone have any input as to a fair to midlin' pressure test gauge I could put my hands on locally? (orielly/autozone/ harborfreight/ etc....)
Gonna pull glow plugs and turn her over and see what comes out of the holes tomorrow. I plan on putting cardboard over the injectors to get a spray pattern as to how much is coming out of each cylinder. Any other ideas or comments? I also plan on doing a pressure check of each cylinder and anyone have any input as to a fair to midlin' pressure test gauge I could put my hands on locally? (orielly/autozone/ harborfreight/ etc....)
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Senior User
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From: Madison, Mississippi
Quick question to anyone interested.... when turning engine over with gp's out should I reconnect the injector solenoid connection if I am looking for a stuck injector? Also, I guess I should leave the fuel rail drain and oil drain plugs in also, am I correct to assume?
First time for me to try this and want to do it right the first time
First time for me to try this and want to do it right the first time
Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 26,966
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From: Texas
For any type of compression tester, you'll need an adapter to fit the glow plug hole and clear the rockers, but compression issues or stuck open injectors don't typically go away after the truck warms up.
You'll need to have the injector soleniods plugged in while cranking to determine if anything is wrong. If I were you, I'd take Jason up on his offer.
You'll need to have the injector soleniods plugged in while cranking to determine if anything is wrong. If I were you, I'd take Jason up on his offer.
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Senior User
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From: Madison, Mississippi
Well, turned OLE BESSIE over and I believe its #4 injector.... all others shooting a barely noticeable mist and 4 spouting like Ole Faithful...compression test tomorrow and after that a injector... more to come...