6.2 losing power, Help

[Sinbadd]

Hope some one can help me with this I am new to this site and appreciate any help. Sorry for the long post but hope detail might help in diagnosis

Last week I purchased a used military vehicle. It is a 1991 Chevy C2500 with a 6.2L diesel rated at 165 hp. It has 62000 miles on the odometer and seems to be in good condition. It's the first time I've owned a diesel vehicle but it seemed to have good power and accelerated better than I thought it would. It ran fine for about a week. Yesterday I noticed it was noticeably weaker on acceleration and the further I depressed the accelerator pedal the less power it seemed to have. I also noticed white smoke from the tailpipe when the throttle was depressed.
The idle is noisier than normal (more rattle)
I checked to see if it has the same symptoms when the transmission out of gear and it does the same thing. Loud idle (seems one cylinder noisier than the others) lightly tipping into throttle it seems ok, a little more and the engine starts to fall on its face and white smoke comes out of the tail pipe. While checking symptoms I shut the engine off for a while and when I restarted it the problem seemed to have cleared up but started again after a few light revs of the engine.

[G. Gearloose]

Start with checkin gthe fuel filters and lift pump, I suspect.

[DieselCrawler]

yup, I've always been told "start with changing filters..." I make sure I always change my fuel filter at the same time as oil, every 3000 miles.

Good luck, hope that helps.

Greg

[Sinbadd]

Thanks guys. I'll check filters, and the rest of the fuel system today and keep my fingers crossed that it is as simple as that.

[doncannon]

Hello All,

Sinbadd: I noticed mine does it after I fill it up and leave it set over night. Diesels really hate water!

Don

[Sinbadd]

I changed the fuel filter and pulled the tank out. I found a lot of gunk on the strainer sock of the fuel pick up tube and cleaned it all off with throttle body cleaner. The tank had some junk at the bottom and I cleaned that out. When inspecting the fuel lines I found a pinhole in the steel fuel line where it exits the tank and brazed that up. The truck seems to be running well now, even better than when I first got it. Thanks for the pointers.