i'm looking at an '86 f250 4x4 deisel. the guy wants $2600 asking price and we think it's 161,### miles. it's been sitting for forever he said. he's an amigo and i really only pick up on every other word. so, from what i can understand, it hasn't been run in over a year. well, after a couple tries she cranked right up and ran strong, BUT she smoked a continues puff of white/grey smoke. we started the test drive but both tanks were empty and didn't get to drive it much.

i'm just looking for advice. what can i check? how much smoke is REAL bad for a deisel? etc, etc?

thanks guys- russel

Diesel exhaust should be blackish, white smoke indicates water in the combustion chamber meaning a cracked head or block. BUT... if it has been sitting for a real long time there is likely a great deal of condensation in the exhaust system, so just driving it around for a couple minutes might not blow it all out.

Diesel fuel will collect water if it has been sitting for that long, try running it on some fresh fuel. White smoke is a sign of poor combustion, check and see if it goes away after running for a while - could just be bad glow plugs or GP relay. I know on my stupid duty when the GP relay goes it puffs white for a minute or two in the morning.

JP

Black Smoke = too much fuel, not enough air(plugged filter)

White smoke = poor burn... form my experience caused by puking injector and sometimes glow plugs

Bluish tint = oil

I think the motor is most likely mechanically sound, but probably needs a little TLC. Very possibly could clear up with some good fuel and some driving

thanks guys,

yeah, i don't know how much of a "bluish" tint it may have had. like i said before, it was "white/grey". i guess it could have been blue. oooooh, that's not good. i will have to pay closer attention.

if it is blue, what would be the most likely culprat? worn out heads? it would cost me about $200 to get em reworked at a local diesel shop.

thanks again for the advice, i'll keep posting when i find out more.

-russel

I've got an 86 F350 Diesel (IH plant) It smokes a bit on takeoff, and it eats some oil, but otherwise smoke fairly normal. I need to have the engine torn down and re-ringed in the next year or so due to the increasing oil comsumption. The injector may need adjustment by a qualified diesel mechanic, mine was out of whack a bit and the adjustment made a HUGE difference.

I was told that with the correct tuning of the injector performance can be increased as much as 15 percent.

Cheers,
:D