White Smoke!!

[stomperz71]

Looking at another Caddy Pickup to buy. Went to go look at it today and its in really good shape but runs really rough. Smokes white real bad at cold start and runs real rough. After being warmed up it still smokes white but not as bad and at idle its a little smoother but still not real good. Seems to be real low on power compared to my other caddy, hard to keep 55 mph. Any quick ideas on what this could be. The owner said with in the last 10 years and 30,000 miles it has had the head rebuilt because of an over heated engine, new timing belt, injector pump rebuilt, new injectors and I think thats it.


Just did a search on "white smoke" and found it could be alot of things?

[rabbitman]

Sounds like the injection is retarded.

[stewardc]

Also sounds like the glow plugs are bad. White on cold start is normally unburned fuel. Rough idle on cold start is normally one or more bad glow plugs. Does it sound/run better once it has warmed up? It should.

[stomperz71]

Also sounds like the glow plugs are bad. White on cold start is normally unburned fuel. Rough idle on cold start is normally one or more bad glow plugs. Does it sound/run better once it has warmed up? It should.

It does run a little better once warm but still not real smooth. It still sounds as it may have a slight miss once warm.

[Familydiesel]

Does the white smoke evaporate quickly once it is expelled?  What does the smoke smell like?  Does the water tank pressurize quickly at startup, or does it bubble?  If it has any hint of anitfreezed smell out the exahust or the cooling system quickly pressurizes upon startup, then it is highly likely the head gasket is bad, and this would account for the lack of power.  My 1.5 caddy did this some and it didn't have much power either.  I found that several head bolts were loose.  Some who repair vws, don't follow the protocol of retightening the head 10 min. after warmup, then again @ 1000 miles.  I don't think the mechanic that repaired my 1.5 with the previous owner followed this protocol since the head bolts were loose.  You could check the head bolts for torque to see if any are loose, and this would help to narrow down your problem.

I could be fuel related as the others have stated. 

If not, it may be a head gasket or even a ring problem.

The rings could be bad if the previous owner really overheated the motor.  Overheating lessens the tension of the rings, and they won't seal like they should if they get hot enough.  Also, the pistons/rings may have scored the cylinders and this would create a lot of blow-by, again reducing compression and bad combustion. 
Also, if one or more cylinders have a broken ring from overheating, then this could be a problem also.  It would be interesting to see what kind of compression you have in each cylinder.  This would give you an idea whether or not compression/combustion is an issue.
It may not be any of these more major problems, but these are possibilties.

Greg   

[Black Smokin' Diesel]

Does the white smoke evaporate quickly once it is expelled?  What does the smoke smell like?  Does the water tank pressurize quickly at startup, or does it bubble?  If it has any hint of anitfreezed smell out the exahust or the cooling system quickly pressurizes upon startup, then it is highly likely the head gasket is bad, and this would account for the lack of power.  My 1.5 caddy did this some and it didn't have much power either.  I found that several head bolts were loose.  Some who repair vws, don't follow the protocol of retightening the head 10 min. after warmup, then again @ 1000 miles.  I don't think the mechanic that repaired my 1.5 with the previous owner followed this protocol since the head bolts were loose.  You could check the head bolts for torque to see if any are loose, and this would help to narrow down your problem.

Re-torquing is really important when using new OEM stretch bolts. When I did the HG in my TD (which didn't even leak before, I installed a metal HG) I noticed a small oil leak at one corner of the block/head after 1000km (1000miles = 1600km). I hadn't retorqued the bolts yet. When I did, a few of them were quite loose compared to the others. The leak stopped once the bolts were tight.

To the OP, ask the seller for records of the work that was performed. A pressure test on the cooling system will tell you if there's coolant leaking somewhere.

[96jetta]

it could be the fueling is out of time. my motor did that where is runs rough at idel and still smokes while driving. i found the ip out of time with the cam/crank time. If its a 1.9 (may work on a 1.6 IDK) bring the motor to TDC and and make sure all the timing marks are lined up right.

[stomperz71]

Thanks guys, I'm going back to take another look at the truck to chack a few things.

[jtanguay]

i'm guessing two things:

1) if its mechanical lifter, the valves need adjusting
2) timing is retarded

but if there is a lot of bubbles going to the injection pump, it could be a clogged filter etc...

[stomperz71]

OK get this! Called the guy today to see if he'd be around to look at it and he sold it. When I looked at it the first time he thought it ran pretty good, he just put injectors in it not to long ago. When I drove it I told him it was low on power. He doesn't drive it much. But anyways he said he drove it the next day and he said it was low on power. So he took it back to where he had the injectors installed and they couldn't figure anything out. On the way home from that placve he said it kept getting worse, couldn't hardly get 45 mph. When he got it home he had a guy their waiting to test drive it (wanting to buy it) the guy drove it and said it had big problems. The owner told me he was just tired of dealing with it and told the guy if he wanted it for a parts truck he could have it for, get this---------- $100  , he had it advertised for $2500 I had him down to $1750 that first time I looked at it. So long story short I missed out on a steal, remind you the truck itself was in real nice shape. The guy still had the window sticker! Did somebody on here get this crazy deal.

But thanks for all the help on this topic. I guess I will go back to rebuilding my 1.9 AAZ that's going into a Suzuki Samurai.

[theman53]

What a pity!
I wish I was whoever that guy was that got the deal...but I never am. Good luck on your Sami