Question New to diesels. What are signs of a problem motor??

[SJB]

I'll be shopping for a used diesel soon, and would like to know what are some signs of a problem motor and even tranny (things to look for)? For instance, it has been mentioned that the 6.0's have head bolt/gasket problems along with an EGR problem. How would I be able to tell if the truck had these problems? What color smoke (if any) should the diesel be pumping out the exhaust (what color is bad)? Any help for a potential new diesel owner would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

 

[DaveBen]

White is steam which is water, blue is oil and black id fuel. A new diesel should not make smoke at all. With a mod or two you can make black smoke with over fueling. You can still see this with many big rigs when they climb a hill or pull from a stop.

Head gaskets will cause coolant to vanish from the degas bottle. EGR can cause rough running and the EGR Cooler can cause overheating.

Dave

 

[4x4grey88]

Some one told me once when I was out looking for a vehicle to purchase:
1) Make sure that you look at a diesel from a cold status (i.e. don't let the seller 'warm-up' the engine) because you can tell a lot from starting a cold engine. It lets you look at all the fluids and levels, if it is hard to start or starts ruff there could be problems. Then drive it around until you get running temperature, it will let you see how it runs at temp.

2) check the brakes, if they vibrate or wobble while braking could mean a bad rotor or brakes. Truck have a common problem with someone overheating the brakes while towing - thus warping the rotors.

3) over-all condition, and don't be afraid to climb under the truck to look at things