Guys, (not being sexiest, just honest!), anyone have any ideas about the problem here? Have a 1999 F-250 Superduty Diesel. Filled it up with fuel on Wednesday, ran just fine, parked it in front of the barn, plugged it in (cold here lately in Colorado) and then today, when I started it (not plugged in, no blonde moment there....), it started rough then blew out a ton of blue smoke and chattered like crazy. Loud chatter too. Checked the oil (it was low, but not dreadfully so), and when I tried to pull forward, no power. Have limited power in reverse (thank goodness, can now unhook horse trailer!), but not any when trying to pull forward. I thought letting it warm up might disperse the blue smoke, but it has never smoked liked this before. Not the "pleasant diesel truck running" smell, but burned oil smell. Shut it down in fear that I would hurt it by keeping it running. Any suggestions?

 

How long did yo let it warm up?

Sounds like typical cold running to me.

 

Fill it full of oil and warm it up and see if the chatter settles down. What wt of oil are you using? Roy

 

I let it warm up for about 10 minutes but when the smoke did not stop (and the smell of burning oil was worse...) I shut it down. I did top off the oil about an hour ago and tried it again, but same results. Lots of blue smoke, no forward momentum, and still the same loud chatter. I'm worried that it is either an injector or a glow plug (cause that's what all my horse buddies have happen to their dodges....)

If it is the injectors (gee, how many do I have?) or a glow plug, how bad can the damages go? Ouch...

 

Is the chatter more noticeable on one side?

 

Glow plugs wont cause the blue smoke and oil smell problem, just makes it harder to start.

It is warming up decently today.... Have you tried it since? How about plugging it in for about 3+ hrs and then trying it?

Where abouts in Colorado are you?

 

Plug it up for a couple of hours and see if the smoke is gone. I bet you're smelling unburnt fuel instead of burning oil.

 

Guys, thanks for your suggestions!

Uni, I let it sit for about five hours and then fired it up again (with a tad more oil added) and the blue smoke was just as bad as before, if not worse. The engine was struggling, to say the least. And no forward power still, like no compression.

Billybob 69, I'm glad to hear glowplugs won't cause such smoke. Gee, what other expensive parts does that leave? Injectors, pumps, engines?? I'm out east of Colorado Springs not quite as far as Calhan. You know, where most people would call it windy, but we call it a breeze?

cps, the chatter was definately worse on the driver's side (and no, I was not sitting in the driver's side making the chatter). But the whole thing was shaking, much more than usual.

Clux, I bought the truck in 2000 when it had 60,000 miles on it (only highway miles the salesman told me). Poor thing has sat out in the cold outside the barn ever since. It just turned 95,000 miles (nope, there is not a 1 in front of 99,000 and those are original miles) and it has never acted this way. Cold yes and rough starting, but never blue smoke and rattling, chattering.

What if it is an injector (or heaven forbid, more than one?) What causes those to fail? And even if glowplugs ruled out, what causes them to suddenly quit? I regularly change the oil and run it with a KN air filter. Any PM I can do to prevent future happenings?

Sigh..should I threaten it with a d-o-d-g-e or heavy artillery? Or just have it towed to the local Ford dealer and beg for mercy? Can't live much longer without my truck!

 

I could be #8 injector, that is the last one on the drivers side at the firewall. Injectors are 200 to 300$ each, but you need to have someone pull the valve covers and check them out before you do anything else. I was hopeing someone in your area would chime in. do you have the tools to dig in because there is a ton of info here to get you thru.

 

I thought the #8 cylinder was the rear passenger side? I was thinking along the lines of the UVCH. That harness gets loose enough and the injectors don't fire and the glow plugs don't work either. Mine never got that bad but it kind of sounds like the same problem I had. I don't see multiple injectors going out that fast at one time unless it was electrical. I would be leaning towards pulling the valve covers and checking the harness out before you go spending alot of money on a dealer diagnosis and the labor to have then reseat the harness. I have a couple of extra shims from doing mine if you want them. I am up here in Elizabeth so not too far. My daughter lives down there in Co. Spgs. So I know the area fairly decent. Or if you want, the shims are about $16 at the dealer. Or you can use a grinded down quarter for each side as a shim for the harness. About 4 hrs for the drivers side as there are a few extra items to undo to get the valve cover off.

 

Hey mine done the same thing , the Injector and glow plug harness came unplugged on the passenger side might check to see that all of your wireharness pluggs are making good connection

 

Have you ever replaced your glow plug relay?

Injectors usually don't wear out in 95K unless it has idled a lot.

What level do you event at? I used to know a lot of the eventers in Northern Colorado.

 

Or that.... The harnesses go into the valve covers about midpoint on each head. They are located under the IC tubes on each side. That would be the easiest to check first.

 

I would also say UVCH as an issue. It seems as though more then one njector isn't working and causing a very rough running engine. The extra smoke that smells like oil is puzzling but could just be from the crankcase I suppose.
The other thing that was mentioned is the kn air filter. Maybe turbo quit and is leaking oil into the engine or exhaust and burning. Check that also.
My truck smoked weirdly when my uvch come unhooked also.

 

Any codes or is the check engine light on? Will it go into high idle?
timmy