2001 7.3 smoking blue, the whole time its running

[jbuller]

i bought this truck last week, the thing has 211000 miles on it.the problem was there when i bought the truck, it is hard to start(takes about 4 or 5 seconds of cranking) and yes i let the glow plugs light go off. then when it does start it idles rough and smokes blue smoke constantly whether i am idleing or driving down the road. when i put it in neutral and give it the gas it blows lots of blue smoke. it also seems like it doesnt have the power like it should. the previos owner of the truck says he thinks its an injector going out? how would i go about seeing if it is an injector and how do i find out witch one it is so i can change it out? also if there is another more likely cause let me know, i am a mechanic but i have never messed with deisels or fords so i dont know a whole lot thanks for any help.

 

[Crumm]

The hard starting could be due to some bad glow plugs or a weak GPR(glow plug relay).

Does it use any oil? Blue smoke is normally oil. Might be time for some new injector o-rings.

 

[Zookie400]

hard starting and blue smoke could be low compression as well.

 

[Frankenstien]

Agreeing with Zookie on this one, be nice to know if any mods are done to the truck... perhaps it has a K&N Filter in it....

 

[BJS]

blue smoke = burning oil

Injector o-rings are a nice suspect that won't be too costly to repair.

Check the turbo to see if it has been dusted (leading edges of fins will be nicked) As that's a possibility also

 

[jbuller]

hard start

ok the hard start problem could be coming from a weak set of batteries. i noticed that it deosnt spin over as fast as it should. it doesnt have any k&n filter or any other mods that i can tell. i dont know if these things came with garrett turbos but it does say garrett on the turbo. is there a way for an injector to spray oil as well as deisel fuel if it goes bad?

 

[Zookie400]

yes the oil and fuel are in gallies in the head, and are seperated by o-rings on the injectors. it is not exactly common, but a known problem that the orings could start to leak.

 

[MBRPCrazyford]

ok the hard start problem could be coming from a weak set of batteries. i noticed that it deosnt spin over as fast as it should. it doesnt have any k&n filter or any other mods that i can tell. i dont know if these things came with garrett turbos but it does say garrett on the turbo. is there a way for an injector to spray oil as well as deisel fuel if it goes bad?

Yup, Garrett turbos were factory equipment. Like Zookie said, the injectors in these trucks use HPO (high pressure oil) in the heads to fire the injectors. When the injector o-rings go bad, oil can leak down into the top of the cylinder. Don't know that that would cause a real noticable loss in power though. Not pee on your parade, but as stated earlier, it could be low compression, and that aint good news by any means.

 

[jbuller]

still smoking

ok i just changed all 8 injectors with brand new ones. put new glow plugs in it and everything sarted it up and drove it around for about an hour and guess what i still have the same problem. smoking light blue smoke out the tail paipe at low rmps or idle. once i get going over bout 35 mph the smoke goes away and runs fine. if i run it hard and then slow down it seems to take it a couple minutes before it starts smoking again. any more things i need to check?

 

[BJS]

I'd be checking the compression. It seems as if you have a bit excessive blow by on your piston rings.

alternative method for checking is to pull oil fill cap and see how much oil mist comes out of the valve cover when the engine is idling. there is normal for a small stream haze to come out but not with any force or any real liquid content.

you'll need an adapter to screw into the glow plug ports like this to go with your standard compression tester. which generally you can rent from someplace like autozone or advance auto for no charge but the usually don't have the specific adapter for the powerstroke only for the different threads on spark plugs.