head gasket failure or possibly IP?

[thatwilkersonboy]

ive got an 87 6.9 thats sick and has been for a few weeks now. i know this isnt the 6.9 forum but it seems like theres more of you guys on here all the time. but anyways it starts fine in the mornings provided its plugged up cuz i have a problem with gp's too, but when im going down the road and have a mild load on the engine it misses really bad and blows blue/ white smoke out of the drivers side stack. theres more though, every since i got the truck it will out of the blue start missing while im going down the road until i mash on the pedal for a sec and occaionally blows blue smoke out of the passenger side stack but has no noticeable affect on power. my main problem on the other hand is a dead miss and of course huge drop in power. it uses alot of oil but always has. the motor doesnt have terrible amount of miles on it (about 170) and it just runs too damn good. it doesnt sound worn out and the timing is advanced but its getting PLENTY of fuel. she been cranked up quite a bit on the pump which i thought could the culprit of the failure. sorry this is so long you guys but i need help BAD and any would be greatly appreciated.

[Evel486]

IP cannot cause smoke on one bank only. Check all injectors on suspect bank. Maybe do compression test as well.
If you remove the injectors yourself most Diesel Injection Shops will test them at no charge.

[thatwilkersonboy]

i would hope i dont still have a bad injector seeing as theyve already been replaced due to this.

[thatwilkersonboy]

i guess i should have mentioned this too. the guy i got it from said you cant get enough out of them by advancing on the pump itself, you have to pull off that cap and do it by the gears. he claims he only went a tooth over. i have it as far retarded as i can put it right now but it still its advanced. it turns rpms as quick as a gas burner.

[rotaryboots]

Move the gears to set the timing? About one mm of movement equals 2 degrees of timing. How are you verifiying the timing. How fast it revs has no reflection of the timing being close. You can have it 10 degree+ adv or ret and she'll still rev right up quick like. Makes me wonder if you ever took the IP off and didn't set the gears to the right marks before you put it on. Then again heavy smoke on only one bank and not the other isn't nessesarily timing related either. If the timing is way off the that would effect both banks equally. When you replaced the injectors you also replaced the caps and o-ring seals etc too right? Also a comp test wouldn't hurt. Perhaps a down cylinder not firing the diesel will cause excess smoke but I don't think it'd be blue smoke for a non firing cylinder. Blue usually equals something like oil, the whiteish color for non firing fuel or water, and we all know what black equals

[thatwilkersonboy]

ive never had the ip off but the guy i got it from said that he advanced it by the moving whatever gear the ip is driven by. i dont know what it looks like in there, ive never been that deep in it. the caps i had not replaced, o- rings and return lines yes. i had done it on a budget and the caps looked fine (not wet on the outside or any visisble cracks). but ill go get a new return set if you think it would be a good idea. i just hate to troubleshoot with parts but i dont know alot about these engines so i dont have much of a choice.

[Kevin 007]

I also recommend a compression test. I could indicate a head gasket failure, no uncommon with the ol 6.9l. Or possibly stuck rings.
If you have the valve covers off at some point, just double check the head bolt torque. The 6.9's required a "re-torque" at 30,000miles or so after leaving the factory. People who failed to do so are now experiencing mass head gasket failures at 200,000miles or so. Ive seen 6.9's in industrial and commercial use that have never had any head gasket issues and are pushing ridiculous amounts of miles now...the heads were all re-torqued as required.
Just something else to look out for is all

Good luck Buddy!

[LMJD]

The 6.9's required a "re-torque" at 30,000miles or so after leaving the factory. People who failed to do so are now experiencing mass head gasket failures at 200,000miles or so. Ive seen 6.9's in industrial and commercial use that have never had any head gasket issues and are pushing ridiculous amounts of miles now...the heads were all re-torqued as required.

Couldn't agree more, same applies to the 7.3's. Years back a Ford heavy truck shop foreman told me the very same thing. They didn't deal with diesel pickups, but had to work on some since some of their truck fleet owners had 7.3/6.9 pickups. I retorqued mine at 30,000 when I installed my ATS kit and took note that each bolt took up an additional 1/4 turn past the original wrench position after I cracked it loose and retorqued.

[Kevin 007]

Oh is this true with a 7.3 as well?? I was always under the impression that the redesigned held bolt system of the 7.3 eliminated the need for re-torque. But i could easily be mistaken.
Now if someone has a higher mileage 6.9 or 7.3, without headgasket issues even though heads haven't been re-torqued, It wouldn't hurt to re-torque em anyways...correct?
Does anyone have the torque sequence and specs for the 'wilkersonboy'?

[LMJD]

Oh is this true with a 7.3 as well?? I was always under the impression that the redesigned held bolt system of the 7.3 eliminated the need for re-torque. But i could easily be mistaken.

No, you are right. The 7.3s have bigger head bolts so it's less of a problem. However, the shop foreman said they'd installed quite a few ATS turbo kits at their Ford truck dealership and he said no matter if it was a 7.3 or 6.9 they would NEVER install a turbo without retorqueing and he told me to do the same. This was WAY back in '92 when the 6.9/7.3s were all over the place and people were installing aftermarket turbo kits like crazy. I was a heavy truck diesel mechanic at the time but the small Ford diesels were new to me and I had basically phoned him to get his opinion as to whether or not my pickup would self-destruct if I installed an aftermarket ATS. That was when Ford was big into heavy trucks and the dealer was far away but they had better and quicker heavy truck driveline, engine, etc parts availability for us rather than the local Peterbilt, KW, etc dealers so that's how I ended up picking his brain.

[thatwilkersonboy]

every since the first gallon of oil i put in it ive been skeptical, so i dont think its beyond rings im just hoping not. i can deal with a head gasket. i noticed in an earlier post a guy had mentioned white smoke being unburned fuel. it blows a BIG white ball out of the drivers side as if from one cylinder when it misses. i really appreciate the help all of you guys are giving.

[Kevin 007]

Is it going through coolant? oil in coolant? foamy oil on dipstick?
U say it start generally well in the cold...so my guess is that the timing is not out a heck of a lot.
Does anyone think it might be an injector stuck open?

[LMJD]

the guy i got it from said you cant get enough out of them by advancing on the pump itself, you have to pull off that cap and do it by the gears. he claims he only went a tooth over.

That statement waves the old Red Warning Flag big-time! Who knows what all forms of mechanical abuse have gone on under that hood?

[Kevin 007]

Im not sure I follow?

[LMJD]

m not sure I follow?

If the previous owner was inexperienced (translation--ignorant) enough to try to increase power by jumping teeth on the pump timing gear, who knows what else he did?