White Smoke, No Power, Post Rebuild

[Dysfunctional Vet]

Forget about the pump timing. It has nothing at all to do with how it runs, noise reduction only from gears clacking.
Probably same for return flow. High return from a leaking connector tube will not get into the cylinder. Do I recall you had a tuner installed? More than likely need a scan tool to help confirm a couple of things. Are you sure you did not leave a rag in the intake and it got sucked into the grid heater blocking air flow?
White smoke is incomplete combustion (assuming it isn't coolant) so either not enough compression or too little air. Instead of pulling the exhaust manifold back, if you have an infrared temp sensor ($25 at Harbor Freight) check each exhaust runner shortly after starting cold to see if one or more is significantly cooler than the others.

No tuner installed on this truck yet. I bought a Smarty, but I haven't done anything with it yet.
I did get a different turbo, but I don't think that's the issue.
I will take your advice and check Harbor Fright for the infrared temp guage, sounds like the least intrusive method to check the cylinders (still didn't receive the injector cap tool I ordered).
No rags left in engine, the one you see in the picture is just me being careful during the connector tube torque recheck.
I don't think it's running on all six. My wife came out to the garage and said, "it sounds like a lawn mower".
When I received the injectors they came with test results from BBI, at least they worked for them before I got 'em.
I'm thinking it's a single cylinder although I don't know which one. Hope I figure it out soon 'cause it's driving me nuts. This must be what Darkbloodman feels like with his transmission issue.
Keep the suggestions coming, I'm trying everything I can just short of buying an expensive scan tool.

 

[Dysfunctional Vet]

Here are some sheets from All Data.

Thank you

 

[Dysfunctional Vet]

You want to see what cylinder is smoking. Likely away from the engine far enough that one cylinder exhausting doesn't smoke back out of all six ports.

Any chance oil was left in the intercooler or exhaust from the bad turbo and/or engine failure?

How loud is the knock?

Was it hitting on all 6 when running?

The knock is loud, but only under a load in gear. I haven't taken it out since that one trip.
While I'm idling there is no knock, but the truck doesn't sound right, like it's not firing on all six.

 

[Ozymandias]

Maybe you damaged a wire in the cylinder head wiring loom, they are well known for trouble once handled. You could take the valve cover off and ohm them out, from connector to injector, or even better use a light bulb to have a proper load on the wire. Ohming is sometimes odd as a single strand left of an otherwise broken wire gives you a positive reading.

And double check valve clearance while you are in there.

 

[petersonj]

(still didn't receive the injector cap tool I ordered).

I would just wait until you receive the injector line cap tool. The test will be very informative and conclusive. I am guessing that you have an injector leaking fuel into the cylinder. When an injector leaks fuel out the tip, the leak is continuous because the fuel rail is charged 100% of the time when the engine is running.

At idle, the volume of the fuel leak is less because the rail pressure is lower. The fuel being burned in the malfunctioning cylinder is from the normal injection, plus the fuel that has leaked into the cylinder for the other 700 + degrees of crankshaft rotation. This would be why you see white smoke and why you don't think it is running correctly on all six cylinders - because it isn't.

When the engine is put under load at higher rpm's, the fuel rail pressure is much higher, consequently more fuel will leak into the cylinder. That fuel / air mixture (should only be air) ignites way to early during the normal compression stroke - much earlier than the normal fuel injection event. That is the knock you are hearing. That knock can be damaging.

- John

 

[Dysfunctional Vet]

Maybe you damaged a wire in the cylinder head wiring loom, they are well known for trouble once handled. You could take the valve cover off and ohm them out, from connector to injector, or even better use a light bulb to have a proper load on the wire. Ohming is sometimes odd as a single strand left of an otherwise broken wire gives you a positive reading.

And double check valve clearance while you are in there.

Good idea. I only visually checked them when I performed the hot valve clearance adjustment. I'll go back under the valve cover and run an ohm check from the four-prong valve cover side wire connector to the injectors.
This may sound dumb, but how do I check it with a light? Are all the wires hot and I just check them with a test light at the top of the injector?
Appreciate the help.

 

[Dysfunctional Vet]

Thanks John

I would just wait until you receive the injector line cap tool. The test will be very informative and conclusive. I am guessing that you have an injector leaking fuel into the cylinder. When an injector leaks fuel out the tip, the leak is continuous because the fuel rail is charged 100% of the time when the engine is running.

At idle, the volume of the fuel leak is less because the rail pressure is lower. The fuel being burned in the malfunctioning cylinder is from the normal injection, plus the fuel that has leaked into the cylinder for the other 700 + degrees of crankshaft rotation. This would be why you see white smoke and why you don't think it is running correctly on all six cylinders - because it isn't.

When the engine is put under load at higher rpm's, the fuel rail pressure is much higher, consequently more fuel will leak into the cylinder. That fuel / air mixture (should only be air) ignites way to early during the normal compression stroke - much earlier than the normal fuel injection event. That is the knock you are hearing. That knock can be damaging.

- John

Thanks John,
Do you know if there'll be a pronounced drop in RPM when I cap a good injector? I've never done it before, so I'm assuming I'll see a big dip in idle RPM when I cap off a good injector. I'm just wondering if the ECM will compensate for the drop, and I won't be able to notice.

 

[BigPapa]

You’ll know when you cap a good one, no change if you cap a bad one.

 

[petersonj]

You will hardly notice the difference, especially if a leaking injector is blocked off. A malfunctioning injector will not carry its share of the load at idle - that is how you will know if there is a faulty / leaking injector. If you find a leaking injector, the engine will idle smoothly with exception to the blocked off leaking injector. The smoke should slowly clear up. Leave the block-off tool on and drive the truck. If the fuel knock is gone, you have found the problem.

- John

 

[Ozymandias]

Good idea. I only visually checked them when I performed the hot valve clearance adjustment. I'll go back under the valve cover and run an ohm check from the four-prong valve cover side wire connector to the injectors.
This may sound dumb, but how do I check it with a light? Are all the wires hot and I just check them with a test light at the top of the injector?
Appreciate the help.

You would use two additional wires, one positive from the battery that goes to a 20w bulb with that you would touch the disconnected ends at the injector side, and one ground that you attach to the connection* point of the injectors harness at the outside of the valve cover with a small crocodile clamp.
Again, the harness is disconnected on both side, no power goes to the injectors nor to the ECM. We only test te wiring I side the valve cover.
*one after another, 12 wires to check.

I hope it helps, it's a little bit difficult for me to explain that.

 

[Topzide]

Use the old fashion test light set up. What @Ozymandias is saying is to disconnect injector harness at both ends (injectors and main harness connector). Apply 12 volts to one wire at a time and with test light on a good ground, test each wire. A good bright bulb tells you the you have a good connection! If the bulb glows dim, you may have broken wires. This is why when you just OHM out the wires, they'll show good due to a connection were the bulb changes with the amount of good conductors in the wire. I hope this helps clarify what OZY was explaining. Waiting on tools to help with the fix is the worst thing. At least you've got some other checking that can be done.
#ad

 

[Dysfunctional Vet]

Use the old fashion test light set up. What @Ozymandias is saying is to disconnect injector harness at both ends (injectors and main harness connector). Apply 12 volts to one wire at a time and with test light on a good ground, test each wire. A good bright bulb tells you the you have a good connection! If the bulb glows dim, you may have broken wires. This is why when you just OHM out the wires, they'll show good due to a connection were the bulb changes with the amount of good conductors in the wire. I hope this helps clarify what OZY was explaining. Waiting on tools to help with the fix is the worst thing. At least you've got some other checking that can be done.
#ad

Appreciate your input. Yes, I needed it broken to sesame st level! Will try that next chance I can get in the garage.

 

[Dysfunctional Vet]

Had a friend let me borrow his Solus Pro. Thought I was gonna finally figure it out. I got the screen below instead.

 

[Dysfunctional Vet]

 

[Dysfunctional Vet]

Tried resetting the scanner multiple times, same result. I know I input everything correctly.

 

[Dysfunctional Vet]

 

[BigPapa]

If I’m not mistaken, it should have pulled that info on it’s own. Did you reconnect that ECM ground?
Double check that ALL connectors are fully connected. When I put my 12-valve in the ‘98.5, it would intermittently not charge, gauges would drop out, etc. I finally found the bottom connector on the firewall in this pic was just pushed together, not snapped. Snapped it together and never had another issue.

 

[Dysfunctional Vet]

Did you reconnect that ECM ground?
Double check that ALL connectors are fully connected. When I put my 12-valve in the ‘98.5, it would intermittently not charge, gauges would drop out, etc. I finally found the bottom connector on the firewall in this pic was just pushed together, not snapped. Snapped it together and never had another issue.
Yah, I did connect the ECM ground. Just couldn't connect get the Soulus to connect. I didn't check the harness you identified, but I will tomorrow when I can get back to the truck. I have a simple Bosch code reader, hooked that up to the OBD II port, it connected just fine. I'll just have to go ol' school on it with a test light and the manifold cap later this week.

 

[Topzide]

Just throwing this out there, is the scanner up to date on software? Have seen that with software on scanners before. Frustrating to say the least! Fingers crossed for you!

 

[Killer223]

Another food for thought, you didn't over tighten a injector wire and crack the solenoid.?
one way to see if you have a bad or sticking injector is take one wire off at a time from each injector, see if the engine runs differently. i did this and found i had a bad injector that would work sometimes.