White smoke...

[mattt]

Howdy again all :-)

Our 98 Rodeo with 2.8 t/d is blowing a little white smoke - mostly when cold, but also a little on the odd occasion when revved to 3k or so while going through gears.

Two things I know are wrong presently are that the thermostat has been removed, or has failed - it's cold here in Brisbane at present, and the temp gauge takes *ages* to register at all, and stays below a quarter. Also, the prime pump's diaphragm must also be gone, as the pump no longer works (I worked around this by installing a boat fuel line primer bulb) and I'm getting diesel leak-back (which results in occasional air in the line - truck loses power savagely and usually winds up on the side of the road being primed again. This happens about once every couple of weeks).

I have installed a new air filter element and fuel filter, both within the last 1,000-odd km.

Ideas?

Cheers,
Mattt.

[nig]

What sort of mileage has your truck got?

Mine has 229k up and blows pale smoke on cold start-up and under full-throttle - but the it still starts & runs OK. The experts reckon I am due for a set of reconditioned injectors - ive never touched them and assume they are still the originals.

If you are getting air in the system then check for splits in the fuel hoses - I had a similar problem with mine a while back which got fixed by trimming the frayed end (about a half inch) of the end of the hose from the filter to the pump.

Those primer pumps are a real pain - my original one didnt work when I bought the truck with 128k on the clock. I put up with it for about 2 years - priming it on filter chages with a syringe until I weakened and bought a chinese copy replacement. This lasted amost exactly 12 months - so I am back to the syringe. Might have to try the boat primer though, good idea, and probably a lot cheaper

[mattt]

G'day Nig

The truck has about 307,000 km on it. Aside from being a little noisy (a common thing with the 4jb1, I'm learning), it runs very well once warm. Doesn't like to start real easy in the morning, requiring about 3 crank tries on average, and a little throttle. Starts with 1-revolution cranks most of the time once warm, but often needs to be cranked a little more - assume this is the leakback.

A truck driver / mechanic I spoke to recently definitely thinks it's the primer pump (which he referred to as the "lift pump")...

Cheers,
Mattt.

[deestingray]

Another little trick you can do is stick a one way valve inline between the pump and the primer. That will leave some fuel in the pump at least. I had a similar problem recently but it was leaking air through the front of the fuel pump.

[mattt]

Heya Deestingray :-)

The aforely-mentioned boat primer / pump bulb has an integral one-way valve, although I'm not sure how great it is...

I took the truck to a diesel specialist, who are quite sure (but without any decent testing - didn't even start it up) that it's the fuel pump - $850 rebuild...

I put in a shock treatment (a tad over twice the recommended dosage) of the Morey's diesel treatment and, lo and behold, I think things have improved - it's been *great* for about 48 hours so far (although has done that before, however not quite as well as it is now - it's running great, and starting absolutely first crank every time after morning start, and (as of today) no more white smoke in the morning or after lengthy sits at red lights).

I'm wondering, if it *is* the injector pump, and it's not very bad (loses prime, but no matter how much I pump the primer, it won't leak fuel), whether I can install some kind of electric, inline pump to keep prime... and stave off the IP rebuild awhile. That's assuming the Morey's hasn't already saved me the trouble ;-)

Cheers,
Mattt.

[geeves]

If this started after the fuel filter was changed double check it is not leaking. It is on the suction side so will not leak fuel but will suck air. The smoke is more likly dirty injectors esspecialy if a fuel treatment cleans it up. The injectors will be worn and less tolerant to a little dirt. Moreys costs a lot less than injectors and the 4jb1 is meant to smoke at idle. Do relace your thermostat though A faster warm up is always good

[mattt]

Hi Geeves,

Actually, it lost prime in a (level) driveway a couple of months ago - I had no idea what was wrong at the time and replaced the fuel filter then as part of the troubleshooting process.

As the problem progressively got worse since, I've actually removed the fuel filter *and* factory water separator, and installed an after market filter / separator. This did make it look like the problem was nailed... for about 48 hours, when it struck again :-(

Put the Moreys in four days ago and, thus far, haven't had a problem (it's been happening daily until now) ;-)

The smoke isn't while it idles but, rather, after taking off from a few minutes idling. This has also all but disappeared since adding the treatment.

My main concern, presently, is that it's *not* the IP (or at least that the treatment can save it for a few months while I find the money and time to have it rebuilt). I'm rather thinking it can't be, as if I prime the system lots (using the boat pump bulb I installed a couple of months ago) no diesel escapes the pump.

Have checked *everything*, and can't find a source of air leaks (that I haven't already fixed, anyways). Hopefully, the Moreys treatment will save my sanity for a while longer :-)

Cheers,
Mattt.

[geeves]

There has been oner pump with an air leak which wouldnt of leaked diesel it large enough amount to detect as it would leak into the timeing belt cover. Unfortuanatly yours is sounding the same

[mattt]

Geeves,

Strewth, I hope not...

The Moreys may well be doing some good - today is day 4 since I last had to prime it ;-)

Cheers,
Mattt.

[j-ellis]

mine was leaking diesel out of a gasget some where causing my fan belt to squeal but it was not a noticeable leak dont no if that helps but yeh
cheers

[geeves]

moreys has a seal conditioner in it that softens and swells the seals. It will work for a while but this might be 10 years or 10 weeks. Still consider it a temp repair although it might last a long time

[mattt]

Hhhmmm... Maybe it wasn't so much the Moreys, but the full tank of juice which helped - on day 5 (and down to just over half a tank), I needed to prime the thing 3 times from the driveway to about 3km down the road after the morning start (ran well all day after that...).

Question - what if I were to install an electric pump with some kind of pressure valve, so it only operates when pressure to the IP falls? If this is a reasonable idea, any clues as to what pressures and specs the pump should be?

As I've said before, hand priming introduces no (visible) diesel leakage from the pump.

Just trying to get a couple more months out of the IP...

Cheers,
Mattt.

[mattt]

Been thinking some more about this problem (which still hasn't resolved itself)...

Spoke to a diesel "expert" yesterday, who raised an issue that should already have occurred to me - even if I prime it up *real* well before the first morning start (or after it's lost prime not long outta the driveway), it still requires a lot of cranking to get it firing / started. Shouldn't it start on or about the first crank / revolution once their's plenty of diesel at the IP?

At any rate, I'm still considering replacing the aforely-mentioned boat primer bulb with an electric pump. The trick seems to be finding a cheap pump that will do the job - no point spending good $$$ on one, as I'll get the IP rebuilt one of these days, which will render the electric pump fairly redundant (outside of having an auto-primer for those occasions priming is required).

Any ideas / clues / etc?

Cheers,
Mattt.