'01 F250 blows smoke when hot

GregH · May 13, 2010

360,000 miles on this unit, probably about 100,000 miles on this engine. Towed in to us with a massive fuel leak, and we find the line to the right side head has chaffed on the bracket under the turbo. Slap in a new line, and send him on his way.

He turns around 20 minutes later and comes back, saying he's got a misfire and smoking blue/black from the tailpipe. We bring it back in and do a little testing. Find that #3 fails a KOER cylinder contribution test. Jumping the starter with the key off shows us a nice even crank - no crow hopping. Turbo fins are sharp and square. Put in an injector, road test, and when I get back from our 6 mile route, the truck is fuel knocking at idle and rolling fuel smelling smoke.

KOER contribution test again, this time shows #8. Go to perdelta and see that everyone is happy at 0% except #8 at 10%. Get approval for another injector.

Install and road test - same song and dance after 6 miles. Perdelta is 10% for #8, KOER contribution shows #8. Remove degas jug cap to check for fuel in the coolant and I find a gray milkshake with no smell.

Call the customer to see about when these difficulties started. They were a little more forthcoming now - they said that they've had oil in the coolant many, many times. They've replaced the oil cooler two or three times, but the problem persists.

What they do is when the truck runs like this, they flush the cooling system out with a water hose, fill it back up with antifreeze, and they are good to go for another week.

Wha?

Am I looking at a cracked cup on #8 (or elsewhere). I did not inspect the #8 cup - although I did look at #3 and didn't find anything wrong. Why would flushing the coolant make it run better?

dieseldoc · May 13, 2010

Cracked cyl. head?? Where ICP is getting into the coolant passage. Cavitation erosion is very prevelant in these engines if the SCA has not been maintained in the cooling system. I had a 3406E once that had continuos oil in the coolant and we found pin holes eroded all the way through the liners. He did have evidence(a milky film on the fill cap and a little white steam out the breather) of coolant into the oil as well. Surprisingly though it wasnt a lot of coolant in the oil. I would imagine that the issue has something to do with #8. As for why flushing the cooling system helps it run better I am not sure, will have to think for a while on that. Good luck with this one though

Jeff_ · May 13, 2010

As far as the coolant issue - If you had a cracked cup you would likely see fuel in the cooling system. Since you're seeing oil, I would ask the customer about their oil cooler replacements. Sometimes there is a rough casting in the oil filter header where the oil cooler o-rings are supposed to seal... I've seen a brand new in the box filter header that had a sealing surface that was worse than the old one. I would also ask if they have used the anti-cavitation additive every time they replaced the coolant. If not, they could have a really ugly situation.

#8 is supposed to have a different perdel reading for the long lead injector that goes in that hole to prevent cackle. You did install a LL injector there right? Alliant or Ford replacement injectors only right? How many miles on the other 6 injectors?

Did it run perfect for a little while after inj replacement, or was it always rough running?

You're probably going to have to ask the customer for more diag time because I have a feeling you're going to be doing things that involve fuel pressure and compression gauges in the near future. Do you have an injector kill box at your dealer to see for sure which cylinder is being pissy? If so, it might be worth the time to rotate the crank until that piston is at the bottom of it's stroke with valves closed and then pressurize that one through the glow plug hole to see if either the cooling or fuel systems start to bubble - especially given the history of cooling system concerns it has had.

Oh yeah, and maybe try a known good cam sensor just for giggles.

GregH · May 13, 2010

#8 got the same part number as #3. I remember the long lead injector for cackle, but the parts department only showed one part number. I assumed that this concern is not present in '01, but I'll double check that this morning.

The truck ran perfect right off the bat after both injector replacements. In between replacing the two injectors, the engine had time to cool down. It ran just fine then too. When the engine warms up, that's when the problems start.

The remaining six injectors should have come with the 6006 engine that was installed about 100,000 miles ago.

I have no injector kill box to use on this truck.

The coolant used in the engine is the most inferior, cheapest coolant possible. No additives had been used. So, yes, issues caused by coolant condition are a possibility.

Thanks for the help so far...

eastendpowerstroke · May 14, 2010

I would ask the customer about their oil cooler replacements. Sometimes there is a rough casting in the oil filter header where the oil cooler o-rings are supposed to seal... I've seen a brand new in the box filter header that had a sealing surface that was worse than the old one.

Ditto on the header

this photo is of a brand new header installed when replacing the oil cooler for an external leak.After the replacment it was getting oil in the coolant.

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