Howdy all!

My 82 240D has started acting up . . . about two weeks ago, I drove 3.5 mi to work, then 2 hrs later I drove home, loaded up the car, added 2.5 gal of filtered WVO to the half tank of diesel, then I made a 200 mile run to Phoenix, and left late, so I kept it running hard to about 75 - 78 mph . . . on the way back I stopped and filled up with diesel, and was running the A/C, and slowed down to about 70 - 75mph, the next morning I noticed that it was starting harder . . .

The next week I left work, and drove 3.5 mi home, loaded up the car, and added 1 gal of WVO to 2/3 tank of diesel, then left for a 90 mi run to Tucson in about 10 min . . . It still started hard even though it was up to 70c, and I glowed it till the light went off . . . I backed out of the drive, and drove 100 yards to the end of my street, as I was taking off, at first it seemed normal, but as I shifted to 2nd gear, it lost all power (well it doesn't have much to start out with!) and I saw a cloud of whitish smoke/fog, I did a quick U-turn, and headed for home, it perked back up and ran normal in the drive, so I took it to Tucson . . . 75 mph it ran fine.

When I came out of Sportsman's Warehouse with my new Ruger SRH Alaskan 44 Mag! I glowed and started it up . . . almost through the parking lot, it died, with a cloud of whitish smoke, I cranked while I was rolling to a stop, and still no joy! I checked and there was fuel in the filter, and then it started, and we drove about 15 miles and stopped for fuel, I decided to leave it running . . . at an idle it seemed to be a load clacking noise, but it quieted down as I increased rpm, drove it home . . .

It still starts hard, and clacks loadly at an idle . . .

I changed my oil about 1500 mi ago, checked valves at same time, all were still in spec from the last time I adjusted them 10k ago . . . oil pres is about 1.7bar at idle when warm/hot.

I have no record of any injector work ever being done on this . . . could it be it just needs new nozzles? Oil consumption has slowly been climbing . . . when I first got it, it was about one qt per 1kmi, now it is about one qt per 750mi . . . does not seem to be fuel in the oil, but I noticed Sat that I had driven it about .75mi and left it idling, and there was a slight blue haze around the car when I came out!

I have in the past mixed in about 1-2 gal of wvo to the diesel, no problems, but the stuff I put in recently, was thinner, seemed more like the thickness of regular diesel . . . going down the road it runs normal . . . I have ordered a compression tester, but thinking that the injectors need some help . . . and possibly that the thinner WVO contributed to the problem.

So what do you think?

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82 240D Manual 277K and still rolling!
02 Volvo S60 AWD For Sale

When was the lat time you did a valve adjustment? Might be due.

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92 300D 2.5L OM602 OBK #59

Yes, in fifth paragraph above . . . do you think that they could get that much out of adj in 1500 miles?

I noticed this difference since my fast (for a 240D) trip, and adding the thinner wvo . . .

I have at times run the car up to 88mph which is it's top end a few times . . . but only for a min or two! I usually drive 55 - 65 mph . . .

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82 240D Manual 277K and still rolling!
02 Volvo S60 AWD For Sale

I found a couple of nice videos on the Diesel Giant web site last night showing a before and after (sound) comparison of a 300D with old and new injectors... may be your sounds will be familiar?

White smoke is either Coolant (steam), unburned Fuel (fuel not atomized so it was in small enough particles to burn) or water in your fuel (steam again).

Late timing can cause white smoke but since the problem comes and goes this does not seem likely.

If it was mine I would try runing staight Diesel Fuel from a Station you know sells clean water free fuel; as a test.

Air, maybe.

Sticking Injector Nozzle Pintle; possible as it can be intermittant. Try cuting out one Injector at a time and see if the clacking sound goes away when youy do that to any of the Injectors.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

It only cut out those two times, after I posted this morning I drove to the shooting range, and shot for about 25 min, then started up and drove home without any problems . . . other than clackity clack at about under 1000 rpm, (I don't have a tach) then it smooths out, I have run about 40 gallons since the morning I added the first installment of the thin wvo, two were from a Flying J truckstop, the other two were from the Triple T Truckstop in Tucson, a large truckstop on I-10, so I'd assume that they have good fuel . . . but . . . it only cut out after the last gallon of wvo (and then only a few mins of running!) and since then I have only put in about 10 gallons, I'm down to 1/3 tank now, figuring if it was fuel related, that I'd get it as low as I could, then fill it up with fresh stuff.

I'm not sure if this is just it's time as it has 247,300 miles on it, with no record of injector work . . . or whether it has to do with the wvo I put in it, or it did not like running hard for 6 hours!

When you say "cut out an injector" do you mean with it idling, loosen the line going to the injector?

The white smoke was only those two times it died out . . . not normally.

Would an injector cause hard starting? It kinda stunmbes on one of the cylinders for the first 15-20 seconds, (kinda like a glow plug is out) then runs smoothly, but clacking!

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82 240D Manual 277K and still rolling!
02 Volvo S60 AWD For Sale

Sounds like fuel starvation to me

But why would it quiet down at higher rpm?

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82 240D Manual 277K and still rolling!
02 Volvo S60 AWD For Sale

higher RPM means more fuel gets to the engine and could quiet the system down

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hum.....
1987 300TD 311,000M Stolen. Presumed destroyed

Could the return line to tank be blocked ? as you posted it had fuel in filter.

Grey/white smoke is running lean and plus the fact it cuts out as well points to a fuel issue.

Crack the return line banjo open a bit with the engine running and see if the clacking stops.

All WVO is not created equal. No WVO I know of is the viscosity of #2 diesel at 80 degrees (even canola).

Do you check it for water? Whats your filtering and dewatering process?

Here's what Id do:
- change both fuel filters
- run a diesel purge
- fill it with #2 fuel for several tanks before doing anything else

Look on the Frybrid.com website for the 'hot pan test'.

It sounds like bad WVO. Tossing in a few gallons to your main tank (assuming its good WVO) shouldn't be giving you these issues.

Im not a WVO hater either...I run it 100% in a two tank kit.

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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

I don't think if return line was blocked it would starve of fuel, more like have to much, but I did loosen the 17mm bango that feeds the cigar hose to the return, just leaked fuel over the top of spin on filter, no difference in clacking.

I then loosened the injector line to the top of each injector . . . it just stalled down the engine a bit, but with change in rpm, it was hard to tell if clatter went away . . . seemed the same on each injector, also spilled diesel on the tops of them . . .

Here is a video, listen to the clacky clatter come and go, I'm sorry the sound is not real good, it sounds much more distinct in real life, but it does seem to clatter for 5 sec, then quiets down like normal, then starts again with no input from me . . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kc-WEPEXcvM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOpSNJQDUTI

Should I just change the filters? I am hesitant to do that until I use up more of this fuel . . . It has the same filters it came to me with, I have about 10,500 miles on it, and they were changed less than 1K before I got the car.

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82 240D Manual 277K and still rolling!
02 Volvo S60 AWD For Sale

DD44,

I was only visually checking for water, and stopped pouring, as it got to the bottom of the jug if it looked like it was there . . . I did not know that it could blend into the oil . . .

I was just filtering it through some paper towels, gravity feed . . .

The only way I could do the hot pan test would be to put a skillet in the oven, and wait until it got up to temp . . . I was not doing that.

Would bad fuel make it start hard?

I see we both posted at the same time.

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82 240D Manual 277K and still rolling!
02 Volvo S60 AWD For Sale

Everyone, including me, is speculating because its not our car, but it sounds like you might have two problems that both might have been brought on by a poorly processed batch of WVO. You might have sent a marginal injector over the edge and that would contribute to the noise and the hard start. But the fuel starvation issue sounds like filter or tank issues that could be WVO related. Check previous suggestions on isolating the clack if its an injector.

If you have been blending WVO in your diesel tank, then poly likely has formed in your tank and may have clogged the intake. WVO should not be put in stock metal tanks. I say this from personal experience in addition to consensus. Do the fuel delivery/return switch to check on a full tank of diesel, and consider cleaning the intake or pulling the tank and cleaning everything if that suggests clogging. Installing fuel pressure gauge is very helpful in sorting things like this out. My opinion is that if the intake is clogged, its worth the extra effort to pull the tank and have it cleaned, especially if you intend to continue blending WVO and diesel.

Oil burning at 247K...not surprising. Perhaps a head rebuild is in your future.

Another unlikely possibility is the overflow/pressure relief valve on the return side of the IP, but I've never heard of it causing acute symptoms in a 616/617(though it does on the similarly designed older Cummins). The clacking definitely sounds like an injector.

Water?...I would check the contents of the filter to see if you introduced any water. Probably not, but would be useful to know.

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1983 CD
1958 Studebaker Packard (being resuscitated)

No one has mentioned that WVO can cause sticking rings. The increase in oil consumption may be caused by the gradual sticking of rings.
As you say that you are not using much WVO, just stop it all together for a few months and see if there is an improvement.
The clack clack at low revs could be injector noise. the loosening of injector hard lines is a good way to check on this.
Doing long distance h/way runs normally improves the injectors & quietens them.

Your idea of running the tank down very low & then filling with diesel is a good one.

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Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group

I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort....

1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving