03 excursion 260k miles. Massive white (burn your eyes) diesel smoke (not antifreeze) all the time (proportional to throttle). Happened quite suddenly with small lack of power. Starts and idles and runs quiet and smooth. No codes. Passes koeo and koer tests. Injector buzz sounds perfect. power balance looks great. Unknown mileage on injectors. fuel pressure 65psi. ideas?
white fuel smoke
- Thread starter Twinboys
- Start date
An injector not closing on the fuel side.would probably not show up on a buzz test, neither would a cracked nozzle. However, both should show up on a power balance. You may need to get a scanner that will let you cancel injectors while doing a power balance so you can see if one doesnt drop as low as the others when cancelled.
powerstrokedkid87
Active member
sounds like an injector, as recommended, need to get a scanner that will allow you to disable them one at a time.
if you have to replace 1, replace the entire bank. you be happy in the long run.
if you have to replace 1, replace the entire bank. you be happy in the long run.
I pulled all 8 injectors.
Injectors 6 and 8 look to have leaking copper washers (heavy carbon build up in bottom of injector up to bottom o-ring).
Injector 7 has a slightly shredded bottom o-ring.
Injector 5 has both, a slightly shredded o-ring and a leaking copper gasket.
My guess is that cylinder 5 was leaking fuel past the o-ring and past the copper washer and causing the smoke weather that injector was firing or not. My concern is that with three leaking copper washers, do I have an issue with injector cups or will it be fine if I just replace the injectors / washers? I am planning to replace all eight injectors. I was thinking of installing the the new injectors and torqueing them to spec and then pulling them out to inspect how the copper washer crushed. (in the cylinders in question anyway) and then reinstalling with a new install kit if O.K. How critical is it to have the copper washers 100% perfectly sealed? Do you think I will be able to tell if they sealed properly by inspecting them? I don't really have any way to closely inspect the cups. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Injectors 6 and 8 look to have leaking copper washers (heavy carbon build up in bottom of injector up to bottom o-ring).
Injector 7 has a slightly shredded bottom o-ring.
Injector 5 has both, a slightly shredded o-ring and a leaking copper gasket.
My guess is that cylinder 5 was leaking fuel past the o-ring and past the copper washer and causing the smoke weather that injector was firing or not. My concern is that with three leaking copper washers, do I have an issue with injector cups or will it be fine if I just replace the injectors / washers? I am planning to replace all eight injectors. I was thinking of installing the the new injectors and torqueing them to spec and then pulling them out to inspect how the copper washer crushed. (in the cylinders in question anyway) and then reinstalling with a new install kit if O.K. How critical is it to have the copper washers 100% perfectly sealed? Do you think I will be able to tell if they sealed properly by inspecting them? I don't really have any way to closely inspect the cups. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.
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Well I think I found my answer here: http://www.fleetservicenorthwest.com/Pages/60InjectorFailure.aspx
"combustion seal failure usually shows up after an injector replacement when the injector hold down bolts have not been properly torqued to specification. this failure will also cause damage to the injector cup and injector by subjecting both components to combustion heat. you will generally find a discoloration of the injector body which sits in the injector cup, and pitting in the cup sealing surface, in which case, both components will need to be replaced."
Now I know I need the cup (sleeve) removal and installation tool... ouch!
My only remaining question is, should I replace all 8 sleeves or just the three bad ones?
"combustion seal failure usually shows up after an injector replacement when the injector hold down bolts have not been properly torqued to specification. this failure will also cause damage to the injector cup and injector by subjecting both components to combustion heat. you will generally find a discoloration of the injector body which sits in the injector cup, and pitting in the cup sealing surface, in which case, both components will need to be replaced."
Now I know I need the cup (sleeve) removal and installation tool... ouch!
My only remaining question is, should I replace all 8 sleeves or just the three bad ones?
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Do I need to Loctite the new steel cups in on the 6.0? I see that the brass 7.3 cups require it. I'm sure it tells me in the instructions, But if I need it I'd like to order it now, so I don't have to wait another couple days for it to get here after the tool comes. Thanks.
BS Hauler
New member
I would do all of them with that many miles on the truck.
