valve seals? or glowplugs?
Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 8:10 pm
I have been kicking around the idea of pulling my cyl head off my 1.6 N/A and getting a reseal kit. The reasons being that lately(its kinda cold in the tundra) when I start it, there is a blue/black cloud when I start it. I'll warm it up for a few minutes before I start off to work, and it usually clears up about 3 or 4 miles towards work. My theory: I suspect that my valve seals are going downriver, and/or my glowplugs are on their way out too.
I replaced the glowplugs 2 winters ago with a new fast relay. I am wondering if that is about the "normal" half-life of glowplugs and I need to think about getting new ones. I bought the Bosch type from Jack along with the relay, and they have worked awesome until about a month ago, when I started to notice a little more smoke than usual. When it gets really cold (< 0 F) I always plug in the block heater, and I barely turn the key and the thing is purring. A little blue smoke, but not as much.
2 winters ago, I pulled the engine/tranny and cleaned it up, replaced the cold start o-ring , new head gasket, and various other seals on the engine. I installed the IP, removed that horrendous A/C setup and made my own alternator bracket, and "hillbilly tuned" the IP.
But I am kicking myself for not taking the head into a shop and having it worked over with new camshaft seals and valve seals. I know, I know kinda dumb.
Ok---so my question is ---should I consider a new set of glowplugs and see if the blue/black smoke decreases on start up? Or do I have leaky injectors and/or crappy valve seals and just do a once-over on the damn thing? After reading this post again, it sounds like I'm trying to convince myself into pulling the head and doing all of this stuff. Time and $$$ right? Anyway, thanks for any input........
I replaced the glowplugs 2 winters ago with a new fast relay. I am wondering if that is about the "normal" half-life of glowplugs and I need to think about getting new ones. I bought the Bosch type from Jack along with the relay, and they have worked awesome until about a month ago, when I started to notice a little more smoke than usual. When it gets really cold (< 0 F) I always plug in the block heater, and I barely turn the key and the thing is purring. A little blue smoke, but not as much.
2 winters ago, I pulled the engine/tranny and cleaned it up, replaced the cold start o-ring , new head gasket, and various other seals on the engine. I installed the IP, removed that horrendous A/C setup and made my own alternator bracket, and "hillbilly tuned" the IP.
But I am kicking myself for not taking the head into a shop and having it worked over with new camshaft seals and valve seals. I know, I know kinda dumb.
Ok---so my question is ---should I consider a new set of glowplugs and see if the blue/black smoke decreases on start up? Or do I have leaky injectors and/or crappy valve seals and just do a once-over on the damn thing? After reading this post again, it sounds like I'm trying to convince myself into pulling the head and doing all of this stuff. Time and $$$ right? Anyway, thanks for any input........