MJDiesel

Hey everyone. I have been concerned lately that my VE injector pump may be getting worn out. One thing that it always does is blow out blueish white smoke when it is still cold. It usually does this for a few minutes when it is cold, but I never have noticed much smoke when it is warm outside and none when the engine is warm. Grid heater seems OK. Also, no matter how I drive it, it gets around 15 mpg. It might up to about 16 mpg is I drive slow, and down to 14.5 if i drive it hard. No bad, but a little worse than I expected. I believe that my signature has the general description of what my pickup is. I bought it about a year ago, and it was not driven much for several years before it became mine. Directly after I bought it, I was getting around 17 mpg, not caring about how I drive. I was not used to filling a diesel at a station, so I used the big nozzle at different times, which I think may fill unevenly and give a bad mpg figure. It then seemed like over a couple of months the mileage got lower and settled where it is at now. I am just trying to give you all of the info that I can think of. My cousin is a diesel mech. and him and I will check out some things, but I am not driving it now, so it is not too urgent. Thanks for any thoughts or advice.

tboling

Hey dose your truck every start hard a bad lift pump can make some thick blue smoke but will usely start hard. You Could be pulling air in the return to the tank but this won't make for bad mileage. That sounds like injector or a pump failure. wish I had the right answer for u

MJDiesel

It is not hard to start, but I should mention that it runs rough for several seconds after started, unless it is fairly warm, as in about 70 degrees. My cousin will probably test fuel pressure. What should it be? One other thing that I noticed is that there is considerable vaccum in the fuel tank when I try to remove the cap. I was told that this is normal, but I really don't think that it is.

wannadiesel

Sounds like you may have a gasser (non-vented) fuel cap.

On the blue smoke/roughness when cold, check to make sure the KSB solenoid is getting power when the engine is cold.

DODGE 92

do a search on blue smoke youll see my name pop up retrace my steps hope this helps i cured my truck

gman07

I have the same symptoms, but my pump is less than a year old. I suppose it could be the lift pump in your case though because mine doesnt run rough except a couple seconds after a really cold start. I would check the fuel pressure and make sure thats ok, and if it is, I personally wouldnt worry too much. Of course, this is just my opinion

chazecheez

I had the same thing go wrong with my 93, ended up putting my foot through the grill because it wouldnt freaking start. Good luck...

Bushy

Your smoke is most often related to timing....
The KSB has already been mentioned, if it's working then you can rule that out...
Next is the basic pump timing itself. Assuming you have good injectors and good fuel (quality) then you can tweak the pump timing to help with your smoke.
Since it clears up when warm your smack in the timing solution.
A quick search will turn up some good instructions on how to tweak your timing.

The stock lift pump on these trucks usually produces about 10-12psi at idle (brand new) and should be no less than 3-4psi at WOT.
The fact is that the VE pump is actually capable of "pulling" it's own fuel to some degree. It has a vane style "supply pump" that will draw fuel as long as the "head" is not too high...
I think that as long as you have some pressure from your lift pump, you should not see any idle or start trouble from it.
Be VERY careful if you are going to remove the fuel line at the front of the injection pump...that darn nut/farrel setup will likely twist your thin wall fuel line in half if you don't hold the thing just right.

pb...

MJDiesel

Thanks for the help, everyone. I will be home for Thanksgiving and I may take a look at it and see what I can do. Dodge 92, is it ok to tap that part on the IP, or should it be done carefully?

Underpsi

Is Idle dropping over a period of time (like a week) and having to keep adjusting it up, a sign of a bad injector pump? What are some common signs of a bad injector pump?