possible reasons for rabbit smoking???????

[Justin]

well last week i got the rabbit pickup on the road with a used 1.5 liter NA diesel i had checked the compression before i got it running and it seemed good to me
I checked compression with the engine cold and all of the injectors out of the engine the results were cylinders #1 @385psi #2 and #3 @360, and #4 trailing @ 340psi
so after about 150 miles of driving the left exhast pipe is smoking all of the time and i am not sure why, it is using a little bit of antifreeze but it seems to just come out of the overflow tank through the cap it runs at about 190 degrees F all the time and goes up to 200 if its getting loaded down
I am going to check my oil tonight but i havent felt a loss in any power and it still starts up great could the problem be a weak injector or two??

oh and i almost forgot I placed a thermo couple on the glowplugs on while the engine was running and on the last thread at the head and the number 1 and 2 gave a temp of about 200 F and #3 had a temp of 195
but #4 had a temp trailing at 185 F.

then i placed the thermo couple in both exhaust pipes and the left side (cylinders 3 and 4) gave a temperature of 65 F and the right side (#1 and #2) was 55 F

i am hoping that this could be from leaky injectors just running fuel all the time and having it burn in the exhaust pipe for these higher temps, tell me what you think

oh and the smoke is a light colored blue but almost a greay or white, its not real strong in color or in odor

thanks guys
Justin

[Justin]

well it could be a combination of these things, i know that i have talked with you about timing a few times on here and i havent done anything with that yet, the truck itself has been sitting for about 4 years, so i did a lot of little things to make it road worthy but i have been running it on the road for a week now and the smoke just started yesterday so i doubt that it is from the burning the fuel oil off

but the engine isnt original, i bought it used and it had been sitting in a garage for about 3 to 4 years so it could be valve seals since it took a few days to start smoking but it did smell more like diesel

all of the glow plugs work since i checked all of them before i put them in and the fuse and relay are working properly

if it is the injectors then it is because they are worn since i pulled them part and cleaned them really good and i think that the timing is pretty close and since this just started i doubt that the timing has changed

i have heard that the diesels hardley ever draw antifreeze so i am pretty sure that it is not the antifreeze, how much spewing would a bad head gasket be doing? the overflow is pretty much constantly running

thanks i am sure that we will get to the bottom of this

Justin

[Justin]

i will check to see if it builds pressure in the morning when it is cold

what do you think the problem is as far as the smoking? do you think that the valve stem seals are bad?

[Justin]

i keep an eye on the antifreeze and i have yet to see any oil in the antifreeze

i know that you say to time it with a dial indicator just for the record i did change the injection pump on it and just marked all of the pulleys and counted teeth on the belt and marked everything very carefully, so like i said i know that the timing is off

how much does it normally cost to get injectors tested?? and is it that hard to replace valve stem seals  when the head is off if i am going to replace a head gasket? and how bad is it to drive with a bad headgasket? and would a compression test show it?

thanks you have been a great help

Justin

[Justin]

i realize that the new belt will not be as stretched so that it will have a different circumfrence so i know that my timing is a little off because of that and that i know that the new/used pump isnt in the exact location as the old pump so timing is slightly off, it runs great until you hit the top end of the rpm band then it falls on its face a little, unless the cold start lever is pulled all the way out

i am in the process of getting the dial indicator set up so that i can time it properly, but i am sure that the belt is on all of the correct teeth and is in time, so all that needs to be done is the injection pump needs to be adjusted a little bit but it is pretty darned close

yeah i think that i have seen the special tool on a message board that was homemade and it doesnt look that hard to make

i will take your advice on the head gasket and keep an eye on the coolant for oil and contaminents and the oil for coolant in it

and yes i need to adjust my valves one of these days when i can get around to it

i guess that i will have to find a place that tests injectors

thanks
justin