Ford courier diesel white smoke on start up.

[adman84]

Hi all, just after some tips as to why my 2000 Ford courier 2.5TD is smoking badly (white smoke) on start up.

So far i have changed both air and fuel filters, oil and oil filter, glow plugs,

It only smokes badly on start up, up to 2000rpm then it clears until you bring the revs back down again, when cold. its not really using much oil, and missfires occasionally even when warm and idling only. its an intermittent missfire, not a constant repeating missfire.

Like, Run for 10 seconds, missfire, run for 5 seconds, missfire, run for 20 seconds 2 missfires. etc.

it still gets around 520km per tank, uses little oil, uses no water. but when cold sometimes sounds like its pinging (im aware diesels dont ping too) occasionally when the revs are bought up when cold. the smoke smells like Raw diesel, (unburnt) not like oil.

Im leaning towards a leaking injector or fouled injector, It pretty much wont start now without assistance from the accelerator pedal. or it will start and run as rough as hell, and smoke like shit.

I used to work on large diesels sometimes but never had a problem like this..

Any ideas? or if any diesel mechanics in the eastern suburbs of melbourne could take a look at it. cheers Adam

[grundomat]

hi adam, i have started to have the same problems with my 2004 model, but i have also had the car overheat twice now, and have noticed the temp gauge go up, then snap down, etc. i am planning on replacing thermostat and coolant today, and flushing the injectors. will let you know how i go.

matt

[grundomat]

have you noticed any oil around yourturbo, wondering if maybe an oil seal within the turbo is passing oil into the exhaust?

[adman84]

Well i havent noticed the engine using any oil, and it wouldnt missfire at idle if it was turbo oil. its getting hard to start now, but the other day i changed the fuel filter and it had droplets of water in it, which may be my problem, might try runnung it on fresh fuel from a jerry can to see if it burns clean, and stops missfiring, then the problem may be solved. water in diesel fuel never works well.

I recently changed Radiator, water pump, and thermostat. due to over heating issues. that is resolved now.

[Jimbo2]

Had the same problems with my 2002 2.5TD until it boiled its head off on a long trip. Head gasket went.

Got the head machined and injectors done for good measure. Expensive failure.

[adman84]

I seem to have worked out part of the problem..

Pulled out my glow plugs and tested them, Only 1 of 4 worked!!!!
so hence the reason it barely started, and ran like a bucket of shit.

The worst part is they were new glow plugs and only replaced 3 months ago! so dont buy shit glow plugs on ebay! got genuine NGK plugs and all tested and worked fine prior to fitment.

although not it starts fine first start in the morning but if you park it after a run then start it when the engine is only warm it smokes quite a bit?? so not sure what that could be.

Still white smoke and strong fuel smell. possibly, - Fuel, Injectors leaking?, water in fuel, oil leaking from valve stem seals? not too sure does anyone else have this problem.

[grundomat]

well you just beat me by a day, i was going to say glow plugs. If you pour diesel onto a small fire, like a campfire, it makes white smoke before it ignites, so definately fuel smoke. Had problems with a hilux i had a few years ago, replaced glow plugs and problem was fixed. so i tried glowing my courier 5 or 6 times before starting this morning, started clean, no missfire, no smoke.

As far as still smoking try to run a few tanks of fuel with moreys or wynns diesel additives, if no go, then have a diesel injection place flush your injectors, far cheaper than straight out replacing them, and normally fixes them.

by the way i have just fixed my overheating problem with a $12.60 radiator cap. I pressure tested the system, all good, pressure tested the cap, didn't hold 10kpa. replaced cap instant fix!

[BadMav]

... but the other day i changed the fuel filter and it had droplets of water in it, which may be my problem...

Does your system run a water trap? It should, these need to be drained every now and then especially if you have had some of rain. I used to drain mine once every three months when I serviced and more often if it had been raining. It's surprising how much water condenses in your tank.

It's worth a look, at least you can rule it out if it's not.

[sprenger#4]

i had most of ur symptoms,white smokey start,running rough on start up ,hard to start,temp goin up and down irraticly....we replaced the thermostat, radiaor cap, fan clutch flushed the radiator(which was pretty blocked 60%)... then it started to lock up occasoinay when i would go to start it...ended up being the #3 cylinder had tiny crracks liming up with awater jacket and passing coolant when parked for a couple of hours...

fitted new head, couple of valves, and it went well with no probs ever since! it was a 05 courier 2.5t 4x4

[Dooley]

Hmm... I sometimes get white smoke on start up... bit spluttery at times.

Well hope it's the glowplugs, temperatures always rock solid and haven't noticed any coolant loss, although may keep an eye on it.

Will change the glow plugs and see how that goes.

[Dooley]

Well tested the glow plugs... 3 were okay, one was reading in megohms so swapped all 4 out buy having an issue where one won't go back in as far so the bus bar isn't sitting right... so think I'll borrow a torque wrench off my mate so I don't overtighten it getting it in.

Will let everyone know how that goes, fingers crossed that's it.

[grundomat]

ok, so the bastard started overheating again, radiator cap is fine, this time replaced thermostat, (bugger of a job), still no good, and now started to blow masive clouds of smoke unless you keep the revs over 2200. Turbo now removed and in to be overhauled. also pulled glow plugs and no.1 was completely burnt out, so 4 new bosch (not cheapies) in, and when turbo is back on we'll se how it goes.

[Dooley]

Well mine starts fine now...

[grundomat]

ok so now things got really bad, after everything was back together, she started great, no smoke or steam, but as it warmed up it started to steam. decided to bite the bullet and send it in for a full diagnostic at turbo engineering in thomastown, they didn't even get it onto the dyno as when they turned it over by hand they could hear bubbles in no.1, and air leaks in nos 2, 3, and 4. after discussing it with raymond we decided to get a head gasket and head bolts, (they can't be re-used), and i took it home to do the work. Got the head off and wiped the bores, i have at least 2 cracks in no.1 bore, which caused over heating and the head bolts to stretch and hence the head gasket to go.
After doing a bit of research i have found that i can get a sleeve put into no.1 for $250 or spend $2500 min on a replacement engine, and risk having the same problems. I have now learnt through the guys at turbo engineering that these wlt motors are bad for head probs and overheating, so whilst i fix it i am addressing the causes. the egr valve puts heat into the inlet, most of which is transferred to cyl. no.1, fix - blank off egr at the inlet.
Also you need to monitor the egt's closely, they are another major cause in these engines, so i am installing a pyro 6" after the turbo so i can watch it in-cab and drop a gear when i need to. i am also considering putting in a bigger intercooler to drop inlet air temp a bit more. they are then going to do a full dyno tune up for me, air/fuel mix, egt, exhaust gas emissions, the lot, over fuelling/unburnt fuel pushes the egt's up as well.
I am not a diesel mechanic, but i have built a few of my own engines, but they were older technology, all this newer stuff (yes old now), with turbo's and intercoolers and the rest is a real learning curve, but really interesting.

cheers
matt

as an after note, after turbo engineering re-built my turbo, the ute ran better than ever, heaps more power and torque, just the steam issue. I would reccomend these guys any day, whatever is spent with them is well worth it, they build turbos to much tighter tolerances than factory and get them running properly. They reckon they can get a further 30-50% performance out of this engine just by tuning and getting it to run cleanly and properly.

[ford suck]

hi my name is mik i own a ford courier 2003 as does my father in law i have had nothen but problams with this ute i have replaced the glow plugs 4 times b4 i relised the glow timmer was rooted the glowplugs had constant power runing to them all the time they never turned off so i went to the auto elec he wanted $300 to fix timer i told him to stick that so i rigged up my own glow switch so i was able to tell when there was power to the glow plugs, since i have done this i have had no problems with shitty starts, rough starts and smokey starts, you could say its running fine. My father In-Law and I have both had to have our gear boxes re-built, 2nd gear syncrode and hub, 3rd gear syncrode and hub,5th gear syncrode and hub in mine and 3rd, 5th and reverse in the father in laws. After speaking to the boys who did the box they informed me that the gear boxes are made from shit weak parts. Since they have been re-built with all hardend gears we havent had a problem with the gear boxes but have had problems with motors over heating and cracked heads in both vehicles mine drinks water farster then u can pour it in the motor hasent locked yet but the oterone has due too all the water dumpin into the cylender block with this man problams u would of thort the bloke who ndesigned this model should b fucked up the ass, u can speak to ford but all they wanna do is charge the shit out of ur wallet they wan $12.000 for a motor and $10.000 for a gear box with a bit more money u could buy a new ute wat a bunch of rip off Cookie not happy with a porly made car ....f.o.r.d fixed or repaird daily.........let me no if u have had simular faults

[bennyrt4x4]

I have had my 02 2.5td for a few years now ,I have to replace my glowplugs every 30,000k's and I had to rebuild the gearbox due to the syncro's,I have since found out that driving in 5th gear under 80klms or with a load put a large amount of pressure on the shaft causeing it to flex thus blowing the spiggot bearing and then syncros,after adjusting my driving habbit to suit the shitty gearbox I have had no more probs sofar.If I dont service it every 10,000 klms it runs like a pig so I make sure thats always done aswell.

[hzj75]

I have a 06 Ford Courier, i get it serviced regulary and its done around 110,000km's, the only thing i've had to replace was the glow plugs and a uni joint, no problems with the gearbox yet maybe they uprgraded them think 06 was the last year before they replaced it with the ranger..