Stranded: White smoke and cannot exceed 35 mph

[Mr. Bone]

Hello,

Over the course of 10 - 15 minutes the Van went from cruising smoothly at 60mph to intermittent white smoke and hesitation in engine to all white smoke and 35mph max. :confused: The engine(maybe the IP) is making a ticking noise that was not there before.

I hope it's simply a clogged filter although the ticking noise has me concerned. Also i have the FM100 filter and am out in the sticks.


Any suggestions or words of wisdom.

Desparate and appreciative.

[Mr. Bone]

I forgot to mention that I'm 250 miles from my house. I am with in-laws. I have no tools. I have no reference material or resources for help here. Many people are on holiday now.

Are there any suggestions for someone to call or email directly for advice or consultation?

Thanks for your time.

[Robyn]

Have you changed the fuel filter.
A plugged filter can cause these symptoms.
You could have picked up some water too so check the filter when you change it.

Other than this item the possibilities get complicated quickly.

Could be IP also but check the filter first.

Hope this helps

Robyn

[daustin]

Also check the oil for water, white smoke can be gasket related as well.
Don

[Mr. Bone]

thanks for the responses.

I poured the contents of the fuel filter into a clear container and did not find water.

The dip stick looks good. . . not creamy colored. I only see the smoke when throttle is fully engaged.

The van will run and seems to idle fine. Although there is the ticking noise. It's when I'm trying to cruise that the problem occurs.

thanks

[gmctd]

Sounds like the phenolic ring has disintegrated - it's for the governor and can effect advance - pieces can clog the fuel return line - pop the cover off, see if any plastic debris floating around, also in the HPCA solenoid in the cover

[Mr. Bone]

Hello,

Yes someone else i just talked with suggested it might be return fuel line clog.

Forgive me, what cover do i pop off?

[john8662]

Does sound as though the "flex ring" inside the injection pump has failed, it's a dampner of sorts for the inside of the injection pump.

Anyways, as suggested you could remove the "top cover" of the... Injection pump that is :)

In a van this'll be a little bit interesting so you might want to save the trouble until you can get the van to somewhere you can tear it down.

Anyways, to take the top cover of the IP off you'll need to loosen the two IP mounting bolts that are on the driver's side of the injectio pump in order to rotate the throttle bracket towards the driver's side a little more.

This will give you the room you need to remove the top cover, that comes off by removing three screws/small bolts.

Observe the fuel in the pump, if there are particles floating in there (black) then it's likely that the pump you're running was equipped with a flex ring and that has failed. Most of the military pumps didn't get the flex ring update until later, well later than the civilian ones did (85).

You may try since you have the top cover off to clean any debris out of the fuel return line fitting on the top of the pump, it may allow it to run a little longer, to get it somewhere closer to home.

J

[Mr. Bone]

thank you for the advice.

Now I need to figure out what replacing the flex ring entails. Where do i get one? Where is it on the pump? Should i go ahead and get the pump rebuilt if i have to get into it to fix it?

any thoughts there? Any resources for a mechanic in Central Mississippi?

Thank you.

[moondoggie]

Good Day!

It won't help you with this problem, but I drive older diesels too, so I keep a mental list of folks I know with car-hauling trailers (I presently know of 2 for-sures & 2 more maybes). The problem is, finding a good diesel mechanic ANYWHERE is difficult; finding one when on the road would seem to me like an absolute shot in the dark. Plus, paying a mechanic really isn't in our budget.

I'm hoping to attend the Power Pull next week. I have every confidence that I'll make it out & back (~ 1200 miles each way) without any trouble. If I have any trouble of any significance, it's a bus back home & head west with a trailer.

Something to consider for the future...

Blessings!

[john8662]

thank you for the advice.

Now I need to figure out what replacing the flex ring entails. Where do i get one? Where is it on the pump? Should i go ahead and get the pump rebuilt if i have to get into it to fix it?

any thoughts there? Any resources for a mechanic in Central Mississippi?

Thank you.

Unfortunatly, this really isn't something that is user serviceable, an internal part of the injection pump that requires the entire dis-assembly of the pump to correct.

Bottom line, you're looking for a pump rebuild, or find a good used injection pump to install on the engine until you want or need to rebuild your existing pump.

[Mr. Bone]

Thanks again for the advice. The big picture is getting clearer now. The irony is I've been searching for a pump for about 6 months so i could have a back up incase something went south (pun intended).

I'm still hoping it's a clogged filter (combined with a bad fuel) and i finally found a source for a replacement.

Thank you.

[Robyn]

Replacing the flex ring is a trip to the stanadyne shop for your pump.
This is deep into the bowels of the little IP and not something most mechanics even think of.

The pump has to come all the way apart and be fixed and recalibrated.

Try cleaing out the return fitting and see if that will get you home.

Good luck

Robyn

[Mr. Bone]

After all the research, talking to mechanics, problem solving, and worrying. . . it was my primary filter(just after the tank). I did not consider it because it has a bypass and i figured if it were clogged the fuel would use the bypass function. Even the resistance on the filter bypass is too much for my fuel system.

I was not looking forward to IP R&R on the fly.

Thanks again for all the thoughts. What I've learned is diagnosis of a problem is a very complicated endeavor.

Thank you.

[Robyn]

Glad that you are up and going.
Its always pretty much standard procedure on these to check the filters if there is a running issue such as you described.

Filters can be a real simple yet often overlooked issue.

[john8662]

Rock on!

Fuel filter, no wonder it sounds like a broken record 'round here ;)

[Mr. Bone]

thank you. Yes a green horn mistake/assumption. . . a definite product of being raised on gassers.

thanks again for all the advice.

Ross

[gmctd]

Is the IP 'ticking' gone, also?

[Mr. Bone]

Thanks for the supplementary question.

NO. The ticking is still there. . . worse than before the filter clog. Could it be a lose fuel line connection at the IP? Can air slowly leaking in cause this noise?

thanks

[gmctd]

Could be -

injector pipes touching metal surface

rocker-arm loose

bad injector

original premise - something loose in the IP