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  #1  
Old 08-19-2009, 11:04 AM
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Exclamation 84 300td white smoke, missing at idle.

322k on car, put 62k on it in last 20months. car almost never sits still. i sleep in it at times. yes sometimes it's on the highway when i'm sleeping. never had a serious problem yet. but this worries me.

last couple of weeks been feeling sluggish on roadtrips especially when hill climbing, so changed filter. power improved but not much. still hesitates at first then starts to pull.
for about a week on cold starts (even w/ 95f ambient temp) car started rattled stumbled and shut down. cycled glow plugs fully and started stumbled died. some times takes a 3rd try to get it started and running.

misses even after 20 min on highway.

still white smoke out pipe after warm up. even after 20 min on highway. it's fuel not motor oil.

replaced all glowplugs in july. did valve adjust then too. will check glows today. but that has never caused a miss before.

never done this before.

what should i be looking at?

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  #2  
Old 08-19-2009, 12:34 PM
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Bad fuel can mess things up for a while.
Might be bad injectors, bad timing, and air leak, etc.

When people say "white smoke" that can mean a head gasket, but I assume of you are doing work yourself, you'd notice a serious overheat or whether you had oil in your coolant, or visa versa.

Try a new batch of diesel and see if that clears it up. Sometimes the cheapest solutions are the best. Do you have a large air bubble in your secondary fuel filter? Where on the rpm curve does it smoke, at idle, low throttle or high throttle?
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  #3  
Old 08-19-2009, 01:06 PM
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Might be a clogged tank strainer. Try swapping the supply and return lines in the engine bay and see if they sluggishness stops.
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  #4  
Old 08-19-2009, 01:50 PM
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I'd do a compression check. I don't see how white smoke on start up can be related to a fuel supply problem.
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  #5  
Old 08-19-2009, 01:57 PM
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smoke

Where on the rpm curve does it smoke, at idle, low throttle or high throttle?

far as i can tell all the time.
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  #6  
Old 08-31-2009, 09:43 AM
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did compression test

did compression test on engine this weekend.

cylinder 1 was 310

2 was 300

3 was 300

4 was 250 and would not hold pressure*

5 was 300



*the compression test gage was fluctuating as the cylinder this cylinder was ran when i stopped it bled down. at first i thought there was some thing wrong with the gage( leaking fittings maybe). when i did the other cylinders, the gage pressure would build with each stroke and then hold till i bled it off. when i bled it off there was a blast of pressure not just a pfft. when i went back to 4 it did the same bounced up and down as it built to 250 then leaked out. i'm guessing that the check valve at the gage is fualty and it actually was showing what was happening in the cylinder.

checked valve adjust for that cylinder. almost dead on. but then they had been adjusted about 7k miles back.

i have no signs of blow by. my oil filler cap does not bounce any more than the engine vibrates. was told it might be a burnt valve. what say ye?

Last edited by bro frank; 08-31-2009 at 09:52 AM.
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  #7  
Old 08-31-2009, 11:25 AM
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If you have access to an air compressor you can put the #4 Piston on the compression stroke and pressurize the Cylinder with Filtered compressed air. Afterwhich, you will listen for an air leak; maybe with a Mechanics Stethoscope.
If Intake or Exhaust Valves are leaking you should be able to hear Air leaking at their Manifolds.
You could also try this incase the Rings are stuck on that Cylinder.
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=258757&highlight=Marvel
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  #8  
Old 08-31-2009, 12:39 PM
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leaking down

so if it's a valve i'm faced with- valve job?
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  #9  
Old 09-01-2009, 02:11 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bro frank View Post
so if it's a valve i'm faced with- valve job?
I agree. Most people would have the complete Valve Job done.
When you install a new Valve or new Valve Guide and Valve the Valve seat needs to be ground circular again so the new Valve will seal.

Assuming the labor is free another reason to do the whole job is the cost of another Head Gasket if you have to pull the Head off again.

You could get another used Cylinder head and us that in hopes it would be better than the one you have.

But, I have not been a member for 2 years yet but I have only read of 1 case were a valve problem was mentioned as a cause of a loss of compression. And they were able to hear that a when they pressurized the cylinder.

You, might try the Marvel Mystery Oil soak to see if it frees up the Piston Rings. It does not cost much money; but I would let it soak for a week.
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  #10  
Old 09-01-2009, 02:45 AM
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tighten all your hose clamps or replace the hoses / tighten all the fuel connections

Then rebuild your lift pump.
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  #11  
Old 09-01-2009, 08:26 AM
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hose clamps and lift pump

jt20: nothing leaks on the fuel side. all is/was very tight.

how would lose hose clamps and a weak lift pump effect compression on a single cylinder???
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  #12  
Old 09-01-2009, 08:31 AM
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what are my options? if then

will be doing the leak down test.

my question would be if it's in the head how much am i looking at $$$$ ?
if it's in the cylinder $$$$$ ?

at this point would it be more cost effective and less time consuming to do a weekend engine swap?

verses tearing down this engine and fixing it?
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  #13  
Old 09-01-2009, 11:49 AM
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harbor freight has a leakdown tester for $29, gives a percentage leakdown value and works pretty decent
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  #14  
Old 09-09-2009, 10:35 AM
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putting on the pressure

some one suggested that maybe cylinder 4 had been "washed down by fuel" and told me to put a little oil in it and spin it then check compression. did that and it came up to 305 and held.
i bilt myself a gage valve assembly and put air on the cylinder. didn't wait all night. just wanted to see if it would hold. air turned motor when both valves were closed. could not here any leaks. was at a buddies garqage when i did it. he used to work for carter cat as an instructor, and before that as a shop mechanic. when he saw that with the piston up and air on the motor that the piston moved, he said he was of the opinion i needed multiple injectors.
oh yeah speaking of injectors. when i di the compression test and found 4 to be low, i moved the injector from 4 to 3, just to see. well i went a head and pulled that injector again just to look at it and it was wet when it came out. when i pulled the one that is now in 4 it was dry.

thanks for everybodys support

so whats the best injector for this car/motor?
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  #15  
Old 09-09-2009, 11:03 AM
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What's the rationale for thinking that you need injectors as a result of the piston moving. I don't follow it. Wouldn't there be a natural tendency for the engine to turn with pressure on one piston?

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13
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