I just got the truck running and now I have a feeling the head gasket is done for. It blows white smoke until it gets warm. I don't know if it has to do with me grinding the afc lever and it is over fueling or if it is because of the air getting back into my fuel system and cause it doesn't start easy there might be a bunch of fuel sitting on top of the piston cause of that. It is leaking coolant, but I can't see anywhere that could be a head gasket. It looks like it coming from the thing threaded into the top of the head cause there is coolant puddling by my valve covers. What are some ways to check for a head gasket? It just seems like the problems don't end and I'm out of money and patience with the **** thing. I just want to light a match and let it burn.

 

I think once you find the air leak it will start fine and not smoke. The coolant leak is a separate issue. If you aren't getting oil in the coolant and it's not blowing bubbles in the radiator the head gasket is most likely fine.

 

White smoke til warm is a timing or fuel issue, not necessarily a head gasket. But a surefire test is to sniff the white smoke- is it acrid, stinging the eyes, or does it have a sweet smell?

The hard starting is likely an air leak between the tank and injector pump. A PITA to find, but normaly an easy and cheap fix.

The leak around the valve covers is likely the elbow hose coming off your heater line (two of them run parallel with the manifold). They get replaced with every "new" 1stGen I get- at $8 apiece, I can buy a lot of them for the cost of one tow charge.

When troubleshooting, step back, take a deep breath, and start with the simple/ cheap stuff, and work your way to the more complex/ expensive stuff. Normally it will be fixed at the lower end of the scale. At least that's been my experience.

Daniel

 

Thanks guys for the replies. I was thinking it is a timing or fuel problem, but the way things are going for me I have just been thinking the worst and hoping the best. It is leaking from where the rotor head meets the pump. It has a steady drip when it is running so I think that is the problem with the air in the fuel system.

 

Time to reseal the pump. ULSD takes another one down.... environazis.

If we were truly concerned about the environment, we'd force China and India to meet the same ultra strict standards we do. Not to mention getting the 20+ year old smoking minivans and Towncars off the road.

DP