running rough with white smoke.

robmee · Post by **robmee** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 6:02 pm

I was running the car today in the drive way and it began to run rough and died. I tried to start it and got white/grey smoke it would turn over then die. Did a ring go? or could it be that the IP is dry/fuel filter clogged? I am guessing if it is white smoke it is burning oil (not a good thing). It didn't do this befor today. I was messing with the water seperator thingy under the car(can I take that thing out)?

Thanks

tylernt · Post by **tylernt** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 6:57 pm

How's the timing belt? White smoke is usually advanced timing, you timing belt may have jumped a tooth.

82vdub · Post by **82vdub** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 7:48 pm

Yes, you can eliminate the water separator under the car. That is a problem area. The smoke could be from poor fuel or valve timing. I guess without any other history on the car, I would probably start by trying to run the car from a jar of fuel through a separate fuel filter than the one on the car. If it runs fine, it's fuel and/or fuel delivery related. If not, it could be a cloged IP, timing, or something else. I doubt you have a ring issue if the problem just showed up and was working fine before this.

robmee · Post by **robmee** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 8:31 pm

The timing belt is new and was done last month with no miles put on it (been doing body work). The diesel that is in the tank is what came with the car, I guess it is time to drain it and put in fresh stuff to see if that has anything to do with it. I added some diesel supplement a week ago but haven't run it much, perhaps I got too much in it. I am starting to lead toward bad diesel, will.

So I can just cut that thing out from under the car or is that thing hooked up to the glow plug light(which neve stops blinking)?

Post by **Fatmobile** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 12:21 am

Do you have a clear fuel line going from filter to the pump?
If the answer is no,... get one.
I suspect air in the fuel line.

libbybapa · Post by **libbybapa** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 12:38 am

Fatmobile wrote:I suspect air in the fuel line.

That's where the smart money is.

Andrew

robmee · Post by **robmee** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 1:04 pm

well I didn't think anything of it but I washed the motor with degreaser and the hose the other day. Could the white smoke be water? I also drained the most of the tank and when I had 5 gal of fuel in the container it was a very dark amber. Looks I should drop the tank and give a good cleaning. I also got a new fuel filter.

robmee · Post by **robmee** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 6:31 pm

I changed out the rest of the fuel lines and filled with new diesel. The car now starts and runs but is still showing white smoke....it does smell like oil (engine) as far as I can tell. There was some grey smoke in it when I gave it some throttle but that has cleared. To make things worse the dip stick has begun to leak at the base(where the tube fits into the block.

I finally get it painted and road ready and bam something else.

tylernt · Post by **tylernt** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 6:54 pm

Sounds like you have developed some serious blowby. This would explain not only the dipstick but also the smoke -- if oil is being blown up through the intake breather hose, it would get get sucked into the engine and burned there.

I suggest you pull the valve cover and clean the metal screen under the breather hose fitting. If this partially clogs up, it will send jets of blowby and oil droplets into the breather hose.

With the cover off you can also check the cam timing, just to be sure.

libbybapa · Post by **libbybapa** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 10:27 pm

Have you discounted air in the fuel?

Andrew

rustybones49801 · Post by **rustybones49801** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 10:45 am

Would an injector cause some of the white smoke?

robmee · Post by **robmee** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 9:48 pm

I opened her up today and looked under the cam cover, I saw a pool of oil sitting on the #3 lifter, could I have too much oil in the engine or is the lucus oil treatment stuff not good for these engines? I am going to drain the oil and replace even though there is about 1 hour on the engine since the last change. I got a compression tester, but after reading a bit it might not be that, cause it will crank in 1 or 2 revs when starting.

Once started it spews white smoke, and idle oddly with alot of clacking, but at higher revs will purr (kinda).

robmee · Post by **robmee** » Thu Oct 09, 2008 7:38 pm

I changed the fuel out, still getting white smoke yet it seems to be going away a little by little. I have let the car sit for a week. I am wonding could the head have a crack in it and I am burning coolant? I was told that white smoke in a diesel is usually water (as opposed to oil in gasers). I really don't want to have to tear the motor down if I don't have to.

82vdub · Post by **82vdub** » Thu Oct 09, 2008 9:32 pm

Your white smoke could be white, blue, or grey. It could be coolant, oil or unburned diesel. It's really hard to tell the proper color, but typically if it has a very strong almost putrid diesel smell, it's likely not burning the diesel fuel properly. Typically, if you have a crack in the motor and your getting combustion gasses in the coolant, your car will run hot, and the telltale sign is right when you start the car up (when it's a cold engine) and you open the coolant jug, if you have steam and bubbles, you typically have combustion gasses getting into the coolant.