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White smoke when hot after changing glow plugs

6K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  tinman13kup 
#1 ·
2002 F250, details in my signature.

The story...

Truck was hard to start. Stancor relay, of course, was good. About 50% of the glow plugs tested bad so I decided to replace 'em all. Went to AZ and got the FD-11's, installed 'em without any issues...... except where the dipstick tube meets the pan started leaking. Got the parts and fixed it.

Get the truck put back together, fire it up and it runs great. I found the UCVH plug a little loose on the passenger side, so now the truck actually runs better than before. Warm it up to make sure the dipstick isn't leaking (its not) and pull out of the driveway.

Immediately the truck starts pouring white smoke. Drove it around a bit to (a) warm the truck up more and (b) see if it cleared up. It cleared up - until I came to a stop. After 5ish seconds at idle, the smoke came back. After about 10 seconds under a load the smoke disappeared. Drove back to the house and parked. After idling for about 30 seconds, no white smoke at all.

Hooked up AE. I replaced Injector #8 a couple years ago and it fails the CCT but that has been a persistent issue. Got P0605 which is new from the last time I ran it (about a year ago). Nothing else to report from AE.

Other than the white smoke, the truck runs great, starts great, no shortage of power and no stumble.
 
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#2 ·
Stuck open injector probably.

#8 generally fails the CCT, probably not an issue.
 
#3 ·
What'd be the best way to determine which one?
 
#4 ·
The easiest way is with an injector cutout box, which is a switch box that installs in the main harness connector over the driver's side valve cover.

If you don't have access to one of those, you can pull the valve covers and unplug each injector (carefully so you don't get bit by 100+ V) to disable them. When the smoke goes away, you've found your culprit.
 
#5 ·
I have doubts about being able to make one - the few times I've gone to one of the junkyards around here, if they have any Super Duty trucks, they're all picked clean.

Not having a whole lot of luck finding one for sale. I'll happily buy one off of someone and pay next day freight for it - I'm starting to get in a bind without my truck!

I don't think I could get away with unplugging the injectors since it seems to only do it when the truck is actually rolling. Putting a load on it while stationary doesn't cause any smoke.
 
#7 ·
Got the cutout box built with some interesting results. No real change when I cut each injector off.

This time when I buzzed the injectors I was paying attention to the tach....
test 1
6 8 750 rpm rest at 1000
test 2
2 5 8 750 rpm rest at 1000
test 3
3 5 750 rpm rest at 1000
test 4
1 2 5 8 750 rpm rest at 1000
test 5
4 7 750 rpm rest at 1000

I'm about to the point of handing it off to the local diesel shop.... I'm perplexed.
 
#8 ·
All this started after changing glowplugs?

Maybe you should pull them and see if one is crossthreaded, not tight, or generally defective.
 
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