I'm not talking about whether or not I was in the gifted program in elementary school. But I'm working on a diesel that is hard to start after it's warm and I can smell unburnt fuel at idle. Lots of WHITE Smoke.

If I recall correctly... this means the timing is too far Advanced???

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Tom's Imports of Columbia MO Ruined the IP in changing leaky delivery valve O-Rings - Refused to stand behind his work. Mid-MO MB drivers-AVOID Tom's.

Hard starting and white smoke is usually a blown headgasket or cracked head.

Advanced timing will cause slow/irregular cranking as the fuel ignites too soon before TDC and make a sound like rattling a bucket of nails when it runs but usually no smoke.
Retarded timing will cause white smoke when the engine is cold but it will go away or lessen as the engine gets warm.

How much white smoke is lots?
White smoke that smells like diesel is probably diesel. My 603 was impossible to start when hot...went through all the simple fixes but it ultimately needed a new IP.

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1987 300TDT ~264,000 miles