jockybox

Site will not let me search so hence new thread before research.

97 Dodge 2500 with 540+ kilometers on it.

Not been driven much, or even started much for the last 3 years.

Getting a lot of black smoke, and the odd puff of white smoke out the back.
The engine has never had any work, except valve settings, since about the
10 k mark. Dodge rebuilt my injector pump at the time because of stumbling.

Would this be a sign the injectors needing replacing or would a can or so of
injector cleaner work. I just put fuel in it a couple of days ago. Before that it
had fuel that was a couple of years old.

I had always used fuel from a high turnover station, and have always used
synthetic oil in it. I just need it to run a while longer while I am looking for
another.

patdaly

Probably not your Injectors, when you say a lot of black smoke, as in copious amounts and not much power, like you had a low boost condition?

Certainly running a good dose of Power Service through would not hurt, I would probably do a couple of tanks with double or triple the amount, then alternate tanks at the recommended dose.

Just for grins, do you have any gauges in the truck?

BTW, 540K is just getting good, why get rid of the best year ever made?

jockybox

Hi patdaly

Who said anything about getting rid of it. I am sure there is no law against owning 2 Cummins.

This used to be my work truck when I worked in the oil patch and 3/4 of those miles were on gravel roads, and a lot of it in 4X4. It has seen lots of rough usage, but I had to pay to fix it so it was never abused. Spent lots of money on maintenance, but it never let me down. The box got beat up so I put a flat-deck on it and plan on using it to haul my toys and trailer when I go camping.

My wife and I want to take the trailer and follow the sun for awhile so I am looking for another truck that will look and ride better. Not going to buy new this time, but I haven't done any research on the new engines to know what the good years are. Not in any hurry so I am sure I will find a good one.

Now that the mechanic who did all of the repairs on this truck has retired I will probably get more involved in repairs on it. Haven't really done any repairs on diesels, but I know enough about them to have a good idea when someone is BSing me.

The first mechanic I talked to suggested an engine with that many miles on it should have the injectors replaced just in case. He did not pay any attention to the fact the fuel was over a year old, and that the truck hasn't had more than 50 k since last fall. This is why I am on this site.

It is not a lot of smoke. There is just a good puff of it when I take off, or stomp on it. It has lots of power and I can feel the turbo kick in.

I am not familiar with this Power Service you mention so I will have to look around for it. I assume it is a fuel additive.

I am planning on taking this truck on a 5000 k trip near the end of the month so I would like to make sure everything is up to snuff.

Tate

Where abouts are you in Alberta? With that many km on them, having the injectors cleaned and reset wouldn't be a bad idea. GCL in Edmonton is a good place to have that done. But depending on labour, it might actually be cheaper to put in new injectors.

Puff of smoke is either indicating too much fuel, or poorly atomized fuel. The latter would be injector issues. The former would be related to AFC tuning. If it didn't do this before you parked it, then its related to the fuel delivery. You may also want to put a new fuel filter in it, since there may have been some algae growing in your fuel.

patdaly

Cool beans, glad you aren't looking at replacing her.

I would definitely do the fuel filter and pre-filter if you haven't already.

Power Service is indeed an additive, usually available at the truck stops. There are others, Howes, Stanadyne, etc. Some are running Seafoam thru as well, though I doubt it will hurt a 12V, I am not sure I would run it thru my Greenie........

Tate is spot on, if you can pull and replace your own Injectors, a cleaning and Pop testing shouldn't be too bad.

DDP makes great Injectors, and I see the -2s on Ebay for a decent ( sub 500 ) price, so call the Injection shop and see what they will charge for a clean and to set the pop pressures........

BTW, look carefully at any modern diesel. If you need it for your work, great, but the complexity has driven the cost to stupid levels, and if you sneeze, they are down. A simple slug of water in your fuel can cost upwards of 20K......And it matters not if it is a Dodge, Furd, or Chebby.

jockybox

If I buy new injectors can I just install them, or do I need to adjust them?

I think I need to do a little reading on installing new injectors before I tackle this. I live in GP so a trip to Edmonton is not out of the question.

I need to ask around here and see if I can find another decent diesel mechanic.

jockybox

Thanks for the info

I have some Howes around so maybe a good dose of that would help.

I have seen prices between $50 - $70 for injectors on the net so if they are not too hard to change that may be the simplest.

I had a 2006 3500 Mega Cab that worked real well for me. I found I would rather have the extra box length than the extra cab space. Liked the way it drove, the ride and the way it handled my trailer. The trailer is 30 feet and I towed it to the east cost and back, 22,000+ km with no problems at all.

I did have to have all the injectors replaced because the dealer said I had got some bad fuel with water in it. I had never used anything but Petro Can bulk fuel, but before I had a chance to talk to them I run into two more guys in the dealers waiting room, and when we got to talking we were all getting the same story. One guy made a quick call to a friend in Ontario that confirmed Cummings was having injector problems in 2006. To make a long story short, all three of us got new injectors at no cost. Never had another problem. If it had been a crew cab I would probably have kept it.

If you know of any sites that explains what has been happening with Cummings the last few years I would appreciate it. I will check this site, and any other sites I find to see what the problem are. I suppose and RV form would be a good place to ask as well. I don't want to end up with something that is going to cost me a fortune to keep it on the road.

Maybe I should just buy another body for the one I have?

patdaly

Now you are cooking!

Actually, the answer as to what is happening needs no other site.

Quite simply, to make the emissions regs, the Injection pressures have had to increase by almost 10 fold, to 25K or so. You are really close to waterjet cutting pressures. Add to that fact that flow volume increases with pressure, and you can see that you get a condition where things melt much faster than they did when the pop pressures were 2500 PSI.

Technology is a wonderful thing, just expensive when they fail........

Tate

Just as a note, the pop pressures are around 260 BAR, which is roughly 4ksi. peak injection pressures are in the 800 BAR range. CR is around 1500 BAR. So they doubled injection pressures, not increased them by ten times.


If you get new injectors, you can just install them out of the box. Theres a couple shops up there. If you talk to Blue Rage on here, he works at one of them. Otherwise, just find a vendor you trust and talk to them. If you want a recommendation, send me a PM.

jockybox

Went for a little ride and when I got back I could smell diesel. Looked around but couldn't determine where it was coming from.

I think I will take it to the car was and give the engine a good cleaning and go from there. From what I have been reading if I have a fuel line leak that could cause the problem.

jockybox

Went for a little ride and when I got back I could smell diesel. Looked around but couldn't determine where it was coming from.

I think I will take it to the car was and give the engine a good cleaning and go from there. From what I have been reading if I have a fuel line leak that could cause the problem.

infidel

Did you use new sealing washers on the small return line?
If not that's likely the problem.

jockybox

Haven't done anything to it yet.

I had a service shop tell me I needed new injectors in a motor with this many miles on it. I started checking here and it seems poor fuel delivery could be the problem as well. After taking it for a spin I could smell diesel, but I could not locate where it was coming from. Tomorrow I will take it to town and give the engine a good wash to see if I can find the location of the diesel smell.

This thing has given me so few problems in the past I may just have to do some maintenance.

jockybox

Took her for a good wash and now I have more problems. Today when I went to start it the "water in fuel" light came on, and the "wait to start" wouldn't go off.

Yesterday I found when the truck was idling and I hit the pedal a big puff of black smoke came out, and the 2nd time I hit it a puff of white smoke came out.

In the past when I run at hi revs the black smoke would blow out for awhile and then nothing. Now when I do that as soon as I drop the rpm's down I get black smoke as soon as I rev it up again. I defiantly think I have a problem.

I think I need to replace the filters tomorrow and see if the "water in fuel" light goes out. Needs a service job anyway.

infidel

Very common for the WIF and WTS lights to come on when the connectors get wet from washing the engine. They will dry on their own in a couple of days or you can pull them apart and clean.

The black smoke sounds like you have a boost leak or the starwheel has been turned too far forward.