Smoking like crazy and cyl imbalance

[jtrigger]

I have a '95 crew cab with 231k on body and supposedly only about 100k on engine. Have put air induction kit, remote FSD, marine injectors, upgraded cooling system, and #9 resistor on FSD. The truck has been running fabulous till 2 weeks ago. It seemed to have a slight miss every once in a while when driving on the highway or accelerating. Then I noticed it running really rough at an idle and it was smoking a white/blue smoke really bad. It seems to smooth out when I get up to speed, but still smokes. The only codes it is throwing is for cyl imbalance. I just had the lift pump and oil sylenoid replaced about 2 months ago. Took it to the shop and they ran a cyl disengagement test and said that when #8 was disengaged it made no difference in the engine at all, and #2 and #6 made very little difference. It also developed an exhaust leak somewhere by the turbo, I have not looked close enough to see it it is coming from the downpipe somehwere, or off the engine itself on that side. This all happened like all at once in one day. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Jim

[More Power]

Might be a good time for a compression test. Do you see any excessive puffing when you remove the oil fill cap with the engine idling? A normal and healthy engine will produce very light wisps of white vapor.

Jim

[jtrigger]

I have not been able to run a compression test yet since the turbo is right in the way of access to the cyl that I need to test. I removed the CDR while the truck was running and have significant white vapors coming out. Enough that it built up pretty good preasure when I put my hand over it. It is looking to me like broken rings or a cracked piston :( The strange thing is that it does not seem to be burning any oil though wich I would think it would be burning significant oil with how much it is smoking. I have only driven it about 2-300 miles since it started doing it though, so it may be and I just have not driven enough to notice yet. I did notice that the enxhaust smells almost like it has gas vapors in it. Not the normal diesel smell. I did put a heavy dose of injector cleaner in the tank hoping that it might be a carboned up ring or injector, maybe that is the cause of the gas smell in the exhaust. I am going to try and do a compression test on it as soon as I find the time to pull the turbo. If anyone else has any ideas, I am all ears.

Thanks,
Jim

[Mark Rinker]

Diesel injector cleaner, or...? You don't want alcohol based products in these engines, or injector cleaners intended for gasoline engines.

I would start out with the most simple test to rule out air in the fuel. Check for bubbles at the fuel purge near the waterneck on the intake. Also crack the bleeder at the top of the fuel filter and look for air and/or bubbles there.

Trace your fuel lines from end to end, looking for signs of any leaks. If its between the tank and the lift pump, there may not be any visible leak, but air entering the fuel, causing the rough running condition.

[jtrigger]

The injector cleaner was for diesel, it was the Valvoline stuff I think. Said it was endorsed by Cummins. I will check for the bubbles. I know when I had the lift pump and solenoid replaced 2 months ago they checked for air and did not find any. They did say that they thought my IP was rather weak, but I don't think that would cause the amount of smoke and blow-by I am getting would it? I am thinking that it might be time for a new used truck :(. If it is a cracked cyl or head or something my truck is not worth the cost of a new engine. With 231K and some other electrical issues and a bit of body damage I might be better off replacing it. I found another 95' 6.5 CC here local with only 107K. It is a 4X4 with dually and in much better shape body wise than mine. The only bum thing about it is it has an auto trans, I have the 5 speed man in mine. Does anyone know how good the 4L80E trans are? I am thinking of getting that truck and using mine as a parts truck for it. I could take all my upgrades off this one and put it on that one. Then maybe sell the 5 speed man trans :(. The guy is only asking $8500 for it. Thoughts?

Thanks,
Jim

[Mark Rinker]

From someone that has owned and maintained both...find a way to get into the new stuff. You'll be money ahead in time...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Chevrolet-Silverado-2500-3-4-4x4-LT-2002-DURAMAX-CHEVROLET-4X4-AUTO-LEATHER-LOW-RESV_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ90969QQihZ019QQite mZ290055863632QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

I mean no disrespect to the legions of 6.2 and 6.5 owners here, just stating my findings.

[jtrigger]

I wish I could. The problem is that I need a 1 ton crew cab 4X4 and I cannot get the wife to let me spend the money to get a newer one. I would love to get a Duramax, but where can I get one like I need for about $13k or less?

[Mark Rinker]

Find an LB7 with high miles, run it until it drops, and repower it with one of the many LB7 takeout engines/transmission combos found for 6-7K.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/DURAMAX-6-6-DIESEL-ENGINE-LB7-2001-2004_W0QQitemZ190055868977QQihZ009QQcategoryZ33615 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

If you can get a good maintenance history including warrantied injectors, I wouldn't be afraid of 250K road miles on a good 2002 or 2003 chassis. You'd have two or three years to save up for the eventual motor swap. Your price should be around 10-12K.

They are out there.

[jtrigger]

Where would I find a truck like that? I checked eBay, craigslist, and Autotrader and came up with nothing.

[Mark Rinker]

What was the highest mileage truck you found? What was the asking price? Remember, the higher the miles, the more leverage you have to make a solid offer below their ask, and make a deal.

One idea would be to ask a local used car dealer to watch the auto auction for you. Give him a price, a year/make/model/mileage limit and let him get to work.

Use www.kbb.com to find the profile and price range. If you use 'person-to-person' or 'private party' valuation, he should have some room for a reasonable profit margin and earn a new customer.