Attention all Diesel mechanics "Powerstroke"

[KEY-LIME-PIE]

I need some help. I have a 2003 Ford F250 7.3L Diesel with 104,411 miles. Never any engine work. Regular maintaince. Recentely when I step into the throttle there is a tremendous amount of smoke discharged out the exhaust. I'm not talking about putting the pedal on the floor. It seems that from take offs to passing someone there is thick smoke. Just regular driving "no smoke". Any help would be greatful.

Capt Tom

[Questsportfishing]

all these can do that really quick. including the injectors... just hope it's not the turbo...

[dunn6253]

What color smoke, black? How is your EGR valve? Are you losing any power?

[KEY-LIME-PIE]

The smoke is black and there is alot of it, I dont know what a EGR valve is, and no real loss of power.

Capt Tom

[Dreamininjersey]

Hey Tom, its Terry from the WMO, how you doin? Cant help you with the situation, just saw you post...Did you get the pictures finally, sorry they took so long, technology and I dont really mix, haha.

[Reveille75]

I have an 05 Ford diesel and just experienced something similar. It did what yours is doing then I couldn't keep coolant in the system. It seems the egr valve has a cooling system that uses the antifreeze mix that cools the engine. When the leak in the cooling system got bad enough, the engine smoked like crazy and I lost power because I was probably running more water than diesel through the system.
My dealer covered it under warranty, thank God and I immediately bought the additional 100,000 mile warranty package for $1700.00. You might want to look into that. With the economy the way it is I am going to be keeping this truck for a long time.
David

[Ultralite]

Originally Posted by KEY-LIME-PIE

The smoke is black and there is alot of it, I dont know what a EGR valve is, and no real loss of power.

Capt Tom

If the smoke is black, you have unburnt fuel going through the engine. I would suspect that you are not getting enough boost (air) from the turbo to correspond with the amount of fuel going in. Check everything on the intake air side starting with the air filter. Also check to see that the wastegate is functioning properly.

This (ton of black smoke) happened on my '95 Suburban with 6.5 TD. I have a boost gauge, so I knew immediately that I was not getting boost. Turns out there is a small vacuum air tube which connects to a switch that operates the turbo wastegate. The tube had cracked, resulting in a leak and no vacuum to operate the wastegate switch. New tube assembly was $24, but an interim repair was achieved with a sleeve made from rubber fuel hose over the tube leak secured with 5200 marine sealant.

Does your black smoke look like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJePw...eature=related

Try asking your question here:
http://www.powerstroke.org/forum/99-...otor-problems/

[seapower]

As Ultralite mentioned black smoke is unburned fuel usually. I'm not an automotive diesel guy,but start with the simplest things first on you air intake side. Look at the air flow restriction pot on your air filter housing (round plastic cylinder that srcews in). You should not see it "popped to red", this means an intake restriction, dirty air filter. Take the hose off of the intake side of your turbocharger, reach inside and see if you can "spin"it, should spin freely, no binding. Move the turbine shaft up and down and back and forth. It should have a "little" play up and down for oil flow around it for lubrication, but not too much. If there is excessive play it will bind up and not give you the "boost" of intake air needed for complete fuel burn. Your turbo may also have a waste gate vale on it, this need's to free aswell. If you are not able to give this engine a good checking over, do yourself a favor and brings it into a competent shop. Un-burned fuel can cause much more serious problems than you have now. Frank,SeaPower

[Ultralite]

Originally Posted by seapower

As Ultralite mentioned black smoke is unburned fuel usually. I'm not an automotive diesel guy,but start with the simplest things first on you air intake side. Look at the air flow restriction pot on your air filter housing (round plastic cylinder that srcews in). You should not see it "popped to red", this means an intake restriction, dirty air filter. Take the hose off of the intake side of your turbocharger, reach inside and see if you can "spin"it, should spin freely, no binding. Move the turbine shaft up and down and back and forth. It should have a "little" play up and down for oil flow around it for lubrication, but not too much. If there is excessive play it will bind up and not give you the "boost" of intake air needed for complete fuel burn. Your turbo may also have a waste gate vale on it, this need's to free aswell. If you are not able to give this engine a good checking over, do yourself a favor and brings it into a competent shop. Un-burned fuel can cause much more serious problems than you have now. Frank,SeaPower

Frank's dead on. I don't know the specifics of the 7.3 PowerStroke, but I have a Volvo Marine turbo diesel and a Suburban with a turbo diesel. The basics are the same. If you've got black smoke, that's unburned fuel and it's usually due to insufficient air in the mix. So it's either constraints on the air intake side, or turbo related problems.

In reading through that Ford Diesel website I linked, guys with slop in their turbos also noted white smoke along with the black smoke. This was due to oil leaking past the seals in the turbo. So not only were they not getting enough boost, they were getting additional oil burning in the mix. One noted chipped compressor blades due to sloppiness in the bearings. In that case not only was the turbo shot, but he also suffered damage to the engine, as those chips went through the engine.

I'll check with a buddy who owns two different trucks with 7.3 Powerstrokes. He's pretty much on top of the mechanics of his and has seen it all.

Edit: My buddy said to check all 4 lines going to the intercooler located in front of the radiator. They've been known to pop off. He also said the same: air restriction or loss of turbo boost, which explains why you only see the smoke on heavy acceleration.

Just in case, need to ask whether the engine has been chipped (high performance tuning chip), tuned or flashed (flash programmed to increase hp)? Any of these would involve dumping more fuel through the engine, resulting in an increase in unburnt fuel, thus black smoke.

[Fortunate One]

Here ya go:

www.dieselstop.com

Click on the "Forum" Icon.

Ask those boys over there.

They've helped me a few times.

Semper Fi Capt. Tom!