Archived '97 12 valve billowing white smoke overnight? Can't drive it like this!

[ranger71]

Hi everyone, hope y'all can help me out. I have a '97 12v with 410,000 miles, bone stock. I've noticed power dropping over the las couple of years, figured it was valves needing adjusted but was always too busy to get around to it. A couple weeks ago I noticed some white smoke mainly when I was stopped at lights etc. I tried some lucas injector cleaner and after a couple treatments it went away, everything back to normal, just low on power. I worked late last Friday and drove home in the dark, everything seemed normal until I pulled into my driveway and then I noticed the motor running like it was missing on a cylinder, lumpy idle. I shut it down right away. Next morning I start the truck and notice plumes of white smoke from the exhaust. Any ideas? I removed all the injectors today, disassembled them and cleaned them, good spray patterns on all six and no apparent damage to any of them. There is no play in the turbo, no oil in the intake, truck starts up right away, barely have to crank it. Here's the bad news. The tappet cover gasket is split and the motor leaks pretty badly, I'm usually good about checking the oil level but it looks like I got a false reading as when I checked it it was way lower than I expected. The motor spools up, revs out fine, just low on power and now loads of smoke to the point that I can't drive it. There's no coolant in the oil and no oil in the coolant. Low fuel pressure? Low compression? I would expect the truck to at least be hard to start if I've worn out the rings or have piston and cylinder damage. Maybe oil leaking from the turbo to the exhaust but since it smokes immediately on start I'm thinking its a combustion problem. Need my truck for work so any help is appreciated!!

 

[cerberusiam]

Injectors are likely bad and hanging at some point, start there.

 

[ranger71]

Do they go bad suddenly? The truck was doing it's regular thing just an hour before, no smoke, no vibration. I disassembled all the injectors yesterday and soaked them in cleaner, I know I can't check the pop off pressure but I know all the internals are clean and moving silky smooth and all the nozzles are clean and clear. Would low fuel pressure cause white smoke? I tried cracking each injector one by one to see if one cylinder disconnected stopped the smoking but couldn't hardly tell any difference to be honest. Thanks for your reply, I think its great that there's still people who try and help.

 

[ranger71]

Do they go bad suddenly? The truck was doing it's regular thing just an hour before, no smoke, no vibration. I disassembled all the injectors yesterday and soaked them in cleaner, I know I can't check the pop off pressure but I know all the internals are clean and moving silky smooth and all the nozzles are clean and clear. Would low fuel pressure cause white smoke? I tried cracking each injector one by one to see if one cylinder disconnected stopped the smoking but couldn't hardly tell any difference to be honest. Thanks for your reply, I think its great that there's still people who try and help.

Just pulled the exhaust off the turbo and nothing there but twenty years of soot, no signs of any oil in liquid form so reckon the turbo is ok, at least not leaking oil down the pipe.

 

[cerberusiam]

You have a jerk pump system so it is always a question of whether the injectors are not popping correctly or the IP is failing to produce the correct pressures. Either one can manifest for no reason at any time.

 

[MLee]

Does it smoke (white) when the engine is at operating temperature? what has your cold temperatures been when driving to get this white (smoke), water vapor?
The truck I drove at work always in the winter would blow white tell it warmed up and it was new. As a mater of fact all the fleet would put out white plumbs, in the winter, I'm in Salt Lake city Utah, part of the snow belt, so we get cold, not as bad as other areas.

 

[ranger71]

Hi Salt Lake, I'm down here in Texas so it really never gets truly cold, This problem just manifested overnight. I think I wore out the rings driving back from a job in the dark without enough oil. 45 minute trip with only an inch and a half on the dipstick. I'm checking everything I can think of as it starts just fine and drives pretty well, just suddenly I've got huge clouds of white smoke. I've not been able to do a compression test yet but I'm thinking it won't be good news. Thanks for your reply.

 

[GAmes]

Where are you in TX?

 

[DonFitzwater]

"45 minute trip with only an inch and a half on the dipstick"

That won't hurt a thing. Keep looking and testing.

 

[ranger71]

"45 minute trip with only an inch and a half on the dipstick"

That won't hurt a thing. Keep looking and testing.

That’s the best news I’ve heard all week. Hope a valve job fixes this! Doing it today.

 

[ranger71]

Where are you in TX?

I’m just west of Austin in Dripping Springs.