smoke and some what hard start.

[seabee mike]

i just got this m1009 with the 6.2. it has 53k on it. it took a few times to get it to start. when it was trying i saw pufs of smoke more on one side. once it was warmed up it ran fine but still smoked more than i remember them doing in the military. also smell more fuel than i remember. any ideas? i have read many of the past talks on this subject. timing, pumps, injectors and plugs. it is not cold here in the 60's.

[seabee mike]

well it started right up this time. maybe the dilivery guy did not know how to start it... drove it around for 30 min. was strong. not sure on the smoke . it is raining and dark.

[TimK]

Smoke at start up tells me there is not enough heat in one or more of the cylinders to burn all the fuel. If you have dual independant exhausts pipes the side that is smoking more is the side with the "cold" cylinder. I would first start with checking the glow plugs. It's the easiest. With the plugs still in the engine, and the wire pulled off the plug, each plug should read about 0.8 to 1.0 ohms with a digital meter. Place one probe on the glow plug tab and the other at the base or near the base on the block. (Most inexpensive meters aren't very accurate at this range so if you see 0.2 to 1.5 ohms, the plugs are still probably ok.) With the wires reconnected, and the ignition on but the motor not running, the glow plugs will start to cycle on and off. With the meter on the volt setting, you should see 12 volts at plug wire.

The next test would be to have the compression in each cylinder tested. A compression tester and adapter to fit into the glow plug port can be bought for about $70.00 at Matco tools. A very valuable tool. Be sure to disconnect the fuel solenoid wire when you do this and don't squirt any oil into the cylinders. (This was a common tact for testing gas engines for worn piston rings. The oil would help seal around the rings.) Unfortunately in a diesel engine the presence of oil could initiate combustion. There is nothing like a good compression check to get a good baseline on the health of the combustion chamber.

After that your chasing down injector and timing issues. Good luck with your new truck.

TimK