Blue-white smoke, engine misses

[billmaine]

My 92 5-speed in cold weather has always had the situation where the pre-heater or whatever it is called constantly cycles through turning on and off for quite a while when the engine is cold. It sends the voltmeter right down to nothing and the headlights dim but there seem to be no ill-effects. I'm hoping this is okay for a 1st gen. Any thoughts on this?



The other more serious problem is when I start up, I can leave it running a while to warm up, but when I take off it feels like it's running on 5 cylinders for the first few gears. It also pours out huge blasts of billowing blue/white smoke and I can feel the engine missing. After I get up to speed, it comes out of it. If I park it for 5 minutes and leave it running and then go to take off again, it will go through this same thing all over again. I will add that I have a heated garage and have left the thermostat on 40 degrees to see if keeping things warm would help while we go through this touch of cooler weather we're having up here in the Northeast corner but it hasn't made any difference. As you can all tell by now, I am NOT mechanically inclined. Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[JLEONARD]

Bill,

My grid heaters knock the voltage way down also. I think this is normal. Probably wouldn't notice it so bad if we had two batteries.



Once my truck runs a minute or so it runs smooth... doen't even take a minute... after a couple of minutes the bule/white smoke is gone.

Perhaps you have a bad/crudy injector????? Or a weak cylinder??

Better to be the former, not the latter.



Jay

 

[Greenleaf]

Truck Trouble?

The grid/intake manifold heaters. That is correct. And yes, it will kill the voltage while cycling. Buses do it too! They have three group 31's.



Blue is often times oil burning off. The white is raw, unburned fuel. A cold engine will do this as well one out of timing specs say retarded or inop cold weather advance. Now, what do they call that thing again?... ... ... I disconnected mine. I don't need it to start mine as it's pretty well advanced already



Also, air leak in to the fuel system will have similar results. Check fuel lines.



Gweenweaf 'er I meant Greenleaf

 

[bgilbert]

Bill, everything sounds normal for a Cummins Diesel in very cold weather. Is the fuel up there in your area been treated? I imagine it has since its been so cold. I would still run the proper fuel additive in your fuel tank. With the temps I've seen on the news for your area lately, the fuel can start to cloud, gel even after sitting in a 40 degree garage. This time of year run fuel additive and run a few bottles of Isoheet premium water remover through your tank. Bill

 

[paccool]

Have you tried plugging in the block heater?



Other than running rough, the smoke thing sounds sorta normal for my truck. The more I turn things up the more it smokes on startup(not to mention at full throttle! ) On a cold morning here(28 degrees or so is cold here) I will get some white smoke for a few minutes. Greenleaf said he disconnected his KSB, that might be something to do with my white smoke as the timing is set to 1. 7 on the pump.

 

[1stgen4evr]

Ragged running

Bill, in the morning, raise the hood and feel the exhaust manifold at each cylinder port as the truck warms up. I am thinking you will find that one of the cylinders is dead and loading with fuel till you get going. The cold cylinder will be the culprit. The white smoke is fuel. If it is really bad you could have a cylinder problem but more likely you have just an injector problem. Run some system cleaner first and hopefully that will get the injector going. If not, one injector rebuild is not a killer in cost. You might want to do all of the injectors if you get into it. One thing I can say for sure is that it is cold related. You are having some downright cool weather there. Extended operation like that is not good but isn't as bad as for a gas engine. The unburned gas would wash the cylinder and cause extreme wear. Unburned fuel is not going to cause that extreme problem. Try the block heater as well as the warm garage and see what that does. A two hundred watt light bulb placed by the injector pump for a coulple hours will help also.



1stgen4evr

James

 

[billmaine]

Thanks, guys, for the quick turn-around help. The problem has been around about a month now, well before this cold snap we're enjoying up here, so it may be an injector problem. I'll definitely try all the suggestions given and keep you posted.

 

[dpuckett]

First off, DO NOT run any alcohol of any kind through the fuel system. It may have wokred 35 years ago, when fuel lubricity wasnt a problem, and they all ran on 5000 psi or less operating pressure, but not for modern engines. Even our relatively archaic VE pumped rigs. MOst commercial fuel additives will add lubricity, remove or suspend water, and will not burn up/ wear a fuel system like alcohol will. (remmeber, water is bad for the fuel system, and alcohol mixes readily with water, thus by association is bad as well).



Second,

billmaine- I'd go along with the aditive. Add a double or even triple dose the first tank. Someitmes it helps, sometimes not. Just have to drive it and see. Mine gets a little white smoke when I start it and go, but as soon as the temp needle moves, it clears up. I'd also go along with the timing or injectors. But if it idles a while, it starts up with the chugging, smoke, etc, again? Makes me think fuel leak somewhere; letting air in. One thing you can do if you feel adventurous is take a 17mm wrench, and one at a time, break loose the injector lines, and see how much it pulls the engine down. If one of the cylinders drops fewer RPMs or chugs less, then that injector is most likely the culprit. However, contrary to what the CHilton book will tell you, you will hardly ever (at least in my experience) crack a line and have NO effect on idle. Also need to turn the lines the same amount ot keep the pressure drop in the line close to equal. Be careful of fuel spray. On my truck, cranking alone (i. e. to bleed lines) will coat the underside of the hood with fuel.



Good luck, and USE YOUR BLOCK HEATER!!!! Though I should talk; mine didnt get plugged in at 8 above one night.



Daniel

 

[HonkinDiesel]

I would agree with pacool and other guys on this situation.

Plugging in the block heater during the winter months helps!

Fuel additives helps too and should prevent jelling of the fuel.



A sticky or fouled nozzle on an injector could cause the problem you are talking about even in warmer weather. I had this problem in my earlier days. I just bring in my injectors to the local shop and they clean and check each injector, replace nozzles if necessary. No problem since.



I was also told that idling a cold diesel engine causes waxing, possibly contributes to fouling. It is better to get driving within a couple minutes of starting and put the engine under gradual load instead of letting it sit there idling to warm up.

Maybe someone else can comment on this.



I use diesel conditioner in my fuel and plug-in (on a timer controller) for a few hours during the winter months before I need to drive. Truck cab warms up much faster too. I also have an auxilary cab heater, cause it takes awhile to heat up that big chunk of iron under the hood.