Is there an altitude sensor? White smoke in Mountains.

[RyTaWaY]

85 6.9 4 speed manual, compression front 5 are 400 back 3 are 380

When towing 8000 pounds above 3500 foot elevation up a grade it starts blowing ALOT of greyish smoke even though I only seem to be giving it around 1/2 - 3/4 throttle in 3rd (4 speed manual).

I am passing big rigs just fine but it got up to 1/2 temp on the dial and the overheat light came on.

And now I noticed that its blowing lots of white smoke when the engines cold especially idling or decelerating and sometimes when giving the gas starting up a little hill after coasting for a while from around the 8000 foot elevation to around the 3500 elevation.

When I get down below 3500 feet its fine and blows little or normal smoke when floored and the smoke looks just like any other diesel. But by that point the engine is at normal operating temp.

I changed the fuel water filter and just reciently had a professional install a new injection pump all new injectors added the 7.3 style fuel water filter with lower threaded bleeder, and all new glow plugs

Thanks everyone...

[RyTaWaY]

The truck starts quickly warm or cold but recently when cold at high altitude it ran fine for the first 15 seconds or so then started idling rough and blowing a ton of white smoke. Thats when i replaced the fuel filter. The old filter did have alot of redish little dots in it. Now it hasnt done the rough Idle and didnt start blowing white smoke until I decelerated or gave the gas after coasting for a while. Dont know if this is related but it doesnt seem to slow down much when I downshift.

[M.L.S.C.]

Hmm, something odd is going on - on your initial question, no, there's no altitude sensor on your truck, so you can rule that out as a potential culprit. I've had my truck blow tons of white smoke and run rough, but that's cause for a few moments she was running on antifreeze and WMO (which is why one should always check their WMO batches). When these trucks are starving for air they usually smoke black as a result of the overfueling, a white smoke is often an indicator of either coolant being burned off, or timing that is way off.

[Joe Mc]

Half temp? I guess that you have the stock gauge and not a real gauge.
For towing I would install 3 or 4 gauges, water temp, oil pressure, pyrometer and maybe a voltage gauge. Voltage in a better way to watch your battery state and the pyrometer is needed with your elevation changes. With my truck at 8,000 feet my exhaust temp can hit 1,200 degrees in a blink, while empty. I like the triple-pod on my A-pillar in my truck so much, I installed a one in my Toyota Camry. Unfortunately no one make a triple or double pod for your 85 or my 86 anymore. But one for a 92 will fit if you cut the top and bottom ends off. This has been written up way back on this site.

Cooling off while idling or easing down a long grade is common with a diesel and will cause white smoke. Check your thermostat, it should be a 192 degree unit from Ford or International ONLY.

[RyTaWaY]

Alright this is weird... I changed the thermostat Ford 192. When I go into mountains and drive up to 7000, when idling, it starts blowing alot of white smoke even when the engines warm and I have driven for an hour or so climbing the mountain. The weather is probably 30-50 degrees.

Now when I let it sit for a few hours now even in lower elevations, and the weather gets down to the 50's or less. It starts and runs for a sec. and then the engine revs up to 2500 or so then back down to idle then revs then idle and does this totally on its own until it warms up or I take off driving while blowing a ton of white smoke especially in the mountains. Its very embarrassing and I hate letting a cold motor do this.

I start the motor in the morning when the temp is in the 30's and its fine and runs like normal. Its only when I drive it and let it sit a few hours then start it again, or go into the mountains that I have a problem.

I smelled the white smoke and its definitely diesel and not antifreeze.

I really cant afford the mechanic now. Any help would be greatly appreciated this truck is my moneymaker.

Thanks.

[Plywood]

Is there coolant in the oil?
Oil in the coolant?
Does the oil smell like diesel at all?

If those are all a "no" then I would ask if the new injection pump was really new, most likely it was rebuilt, and either it wasn't rebuilt correctly, or something out of whack inside it was not caught.

The only relation to altitude would be that the engine is getting less dense air, therefore it will burn hotter, especially when towing.

[cdnsarguy]

Did the IP installer time the pump......
White smoke is usually retarded timing or air entering the fuel system.

Visit..... Ford diesel 6.9 7.3 IDI do some reading......

[RyTaWaY]

Thanks,
There is for sure no antifreeze in oil or vice versa. The oil does look thin and extremely black immediately, even after mixing lucas with oil during oil changes. Compression is posted earlier.

The motor does run hot (about half way on gauge but heat light came on) during hauls up the mountain in third at half throttle, but would that cause excessive smoke and how would I fix that? Bigger radiator?

The "auto reving and huge white smoke" in the evenings when I leave the jobsite at altitude 3500-7000 feet.

Or white smoke even when engines warm at high altitude 30-50 degrees,

Or 50 degree or less weather "auto reving only" even at 200 elevation IS STRANGE.

Like I said in the mornings at 30 degree weather it starts and idles just fine.

I called a diesel mobile mechanic and he states 6.9 fuel pumps have all sorts of problems. Should I just bring it in to the shop?

[RyTaWaY]

Guy, It has started perfect and ran great all summer since the new pump and work was done. The shop was a pretty high end shop with diesels packed up all the way out to the street. Its only since the cold weather and the trips up to higher altitude to work that this problem presents itself.

[Plywood]

As far as the auto reving, is there by chance a cruise control on this truck?

[RyTaWaY]

Yes Ply but the switches on the steering wheel are broken. I will look into completely disconnecting it. Either way it goes away after about 5 min of driving.

[Plywood]

Well you could certainly disconnect the black one at the throttle shaft to be sure that isn't causing the reving. Or at least look and see if the shaft is moving as it is reving.

The reason I asked if the oil smelled like diesel is because it is possible for a bad mechanical lift pump to pump diesel into the crankcase.
I was thinking maybe diesel was coming in through the CDR valve causing the engine to rev and then when the truck revs to 2500 the CDR might be closing as it should and dropping it down to idle and then opening and so on.

Probably a long shot, but that seems to be all you got. Sometimes two or three problems together can cause confusion too.

[RyTaWaY]

Looks like its the

Cold start switch--fast idle solenoid and timing advance part # E8TZ-9E939-A

from dieselmann's Store: Ford

cool injector pump schematic diagram under google images http://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gall...d=132028&.jpg=

I notice the thing was sticking after putting a little "brute" into the thing. I guess you can only baby these trucks so much before you have to force them to give it up... ...
Anyway I will find out tomorrow but it looks promising. Thanks everyone!!!

[Plywood]

Neither of those will make it rev to 2500 rpm!

[Joe Mc]

Originally Posted by RyTaWaY

The motor does run hot (about half way on gauge but heat light came on) during hauls up the mountain in third at half throttle, but would that cause excessive smoke and how would I fix that? Bigger radiator?

Did this more than once?
What do you do when the heat light comes on?
The heat light comes on when your engine temp is 242 degrees, IIRC. One way to get your engine that hot on a pull is a high exhaust temp.