[Walkman]

It was a morning like any other kiss the wife and baby, heated up the plugs and vroom she started up no problem. I jumped on the feeder road for the highway and about 300m later I experienced a sudden and extreme loss of power along with a very rough sounding motor. I pulled over with it still running (roughly) and noticed that there was smoke grey, however it was a cold morning so I dont know how much was steam. Had it towed to the house.

I was hoping for advice some diagnostic test that I could do to help determine what broke?

I checked the oil that night and there was plenty plus I remember while she was still running that the oil pressure was good. The loss of power, exhaust, etc makes me think a bad cyl but I just dont know.

I dont have a compression test kit, but again was hoping for some advice on what I can do to trouble shoot this one?

Thanks in advance

This is a NZ spec 1982 BJ42 with a 3B.

[cruiser_guy]

Was it all rattly (much more than normal) before this failure? I've had a precombustion chamber drop and it simply seized up the engine but I don't recall an extreme power loss with that.

[ohrly?]

did you check the fuel filter?

[canucksafari]

If there was any steam from coolant, you would know by that wonderful sweet smell. As Orhly suggests, a clogged fuel filter or any fuel system blockage or air leak in the fuel sytem will result in the same loss of power and white cloud of smoke.

[amaurer]

Originally Posted by Walkman

It was a morning like any other kiss the wife and baby, heated up the plugs and vroom she started up no problem. I jumped on the feeder road for the highway and about 300m later I experienced a sudden and extreme loss of power along with a very rough sounding motor. I pulled over with it still running (roughly) and noticed that there was smoke grey, however it was a cold morning so I dont know how much was steam. Had it towed to the house.

I was hoping for advice some diagnostic test that I could do to help determine what broke?

I checked the oil that night and there was plenty plus I remember while she was still running that the oil pressure was good. The loss of power, exhaust, etc makes me think a bad cyl but I just dont know.

I dont have a compression test kit, but again was hoping for some advice on what I can do to trouble shoot this one?

Thanks in advance

This is a NZ spec 1982 BJ42 with a 3B.

HF has a compression tester for $50. Or where you at, you can borrow mine?

[lostmarbles]

The colour and smell of the smoke should have been able to tell you alot about what happened.

If it was blue and smelled of burnt oil I'd suspect engine damage.


But the 3B engine isn't prone to "falling apart for no reason" so I'm another who suspects a fuel issue instead. (Water in your fuel?)

[Walkman]

Really appreciate yall chiming in, here is my plan of attack:

1. Replace fuel filter (current one was replaced about 6 months ago) thanks orhly
2. Check the water separator (I will read up on the thread on how to test/service that) thanks marbles
3. Check for a leak in the fuel system - thanks safari
4. Order that compression kit, Im in Austin TX amaruer, thanks for the offer though!

I didnt notice anything out of the ordinary before the "failure", no extra rattles etc, however when I first cranked her up I noticed a whirring that goes away after 30 seconds. I have heard this before and attributed it to the lag before the motor gets oil from the oil pump.

I didnt get a chance to smell the exhaust, but I will try to crank her up briefly before I do all of the above to see if I can get any more info that way.

Again thanks for everyones help, life for us diesels would be much more difficult without this group!

[Walkman]

OK, once again thanks for everyones input. Turns out the Fuel Water Separator sprung a leak. I replaced the stock FWS with a racor 445 and all seems to be working well.

She is my DD so I guess I tend to be a little alarmist and jump to the worst possible scenario.

Thanks Again