I've got some symptoms & was wondering if maybe they were timing related??? they are as follows

1)too much smoke in the lower rpm's

2)terrible fuel mileage, 8-10mpg pulling 4 horse trailer

3)popping & cracking through the exhaust at a certain rpm (2300-2500 or so)

4)slight lope at idle, nothing horrible but noticeable

I thought i had my plate slid a little too far, but after sliding it back & removing my boost elbow ( dropped from 42psi tops, to around 32-34psi loaded) I still have lots of smoke, & bad mileage, & that horrible noise through the exhaust, I was hoping that maybe the timing would help all or @ least some of these problems, I will note that egt's are stable ( never over 900* post turbo loaded or empty) don't know if that's a problem with slipped timing or not?? any ideas??? thanks, Dusty

 

Your fuel overflow valve could be worn out, a weak spring results in low fuel pressure in your injection pump. And yes, check your timing.

 

It could be the timing but it also sounds like a overflow valve, so I'd give this a shot first unless you've recently replaced it.

The OF valve is probably the single item the wears out most often on a 12 valve.
Precision Diesel Injection and Turbo Inc.
Marty Tompkins
888-734-7349
$35 + $5 shipping and handling.
Replacement takes one wrench and five minutes.

If you don't have a gauge symptoms are:
low RPM miss/instability
white smoke
hard starting
engine dies at idle
low power
fuel filter cracking