BJ60 White Smoke (Coolant) (1 Viewer)

[GarrettS]

Howdy ya'll, after driving to get a burger last night, I hopped back in my truck and after starting her up I noticed there was some smoke coming out the tail pipe. Figured it was no big deal because it had been raining and I thought it was just steam off the exhaust. This stopped at driving speed RPMs.

Today after driving around to do some errands, I hopped back in my truck and noticed it was white smoke coming out of the exhaust. I figure it's probably coolant burning from a head gasket leak, but the coolant level didn't seem much lower (granted it's a new problem). Once I put the car under load the smoke stopped again. I really can't tell if it's sweet smelling like coolant, but the smoke is definitely white and I doubt it could be anything else. The only recent work I've done on the truck is changing the fuel filter and some coolant hoses.

My 1984 BJ60 and the 3B in it are sitting well-loved at about 442,000kms. She's probably a bit tired but I've never had any severe issues. I'm assuming I may have a blown head gasket.
- Does anyone have any info on how labor intensive a head gasket job is on this engine?
- Can I leave the engine in the truck to do a head gasket/head job?
- Is there any other possibility for white smoke out of my tail pipe?
- How can i check my oil for coolant? How can I check my coolant for oil?
- Should I have a shop diagnose my problem?
-Where's the best place to buy a 3B Head gasket?

This is my first diesel vehicle, and my only previous experience with engines is a top-to-bottom engine rebuild on a turbo-charged Subaru. The Subaru was much more modern and I feel like the engine had plenty of moving parts, so should I consider myself up for the job on this truck?

Thanks all, I did a little bit of searching, but didn't see too much specific to my predicament.

-Garrett

 

[ForealBoreal]

If you aren't losing coolant your injectors will be the culprit.

WHITE SMOKE occurs when raw diesel comes through the exhaust completely intact and unburned. Some causes of this include

• Faulty or damaged injectors
• Incorrect injection timing (could be a worn timing gear or damaged crankshaft keyway).
• Low cylinder compression (eg caused by leaking or broken valves, piston ring sticking, cylinder and/or ring wear, or cylinder glaze)

 

[GarrettS]

If you aren't losing coolant your injectors will be the culprit.

WHITE SMOKE occurs when raw diesel comes through the exhaust completely intact and unburned. Some causes of this include

• Faulty or damaged injectors
• Incorrect injection timing (could be a worn timing gear or damaged crankshaft keyway).
• Low cylinder compression (eg caused by leaking or broken valves, piston ring sticking, cylinder and/or ring wear, or cylinder glaze)

Thanks for the reply! Good to know there could be other culprits. I'm going to keep an eye on those coolant levels too. Guess this is something a shop could diagnose for me...

-Garrett

 

[Mookies]

If you changed the fuel filter with anything but the oem one it will NOT seal well unless it is way too tight which just invites the gasket to fail (ask me how I know).....but if you are getting some lumpy idle and smoke it could be air in the lines...as well as a lot of white smoke as suggested. If you have a head gasket leak your t-stat will show it fast with a 3B. You will also be filling the overflow reservoir and seeing bubbling in it.

 

[ForealBoreal]

The other thing to take into consideration is a bad injector spray pattern like a drip or a stream which it sounds like you may have can actually burn a hole through a piston...

 

[roscoFJ73]

Coolant in the exhaust flow will give off an unmistakeable acrid smell.

How can i check my oil for coolant? How can I check my coolant for oil?

Oil slick in the coolant or oil will get milky and you often get condensation under the oil filler cap as the heat the causes the water in the coolant to rise to the highest level.

Can I leave the engine in the truck to do a head gasket/head job?

Yes.

Does anyone have any info on how labor intensive a head gasket job is on this engine?

Its not a minor job but one that can be done by an amateur if you take time to plan it properly. Read through the FSM and ask on here about the parts you don't understand. The most important thing is making sure the head is undamaged otherwise all the good work will be in vain. 3B crack heads although they can usually be fixed.
And you will need a decent set of tools.

Is there any other possibility for white smoke out of my tail pipe?

There are other causes as outlined in earlier posts, but generally fuel injection problems would come on slowly and with the B engines propensity to crack heads and your's on 440000klms, I think it will be coolant leakage.

Should I have a shop diagnose my problem?
-Where's the best place to buy a 3B Head gasket?

You wont really know until the head comes off what the exact problem is. But you could do this yourself and take the head to a machinist to be checked. We have cyl head specialists in Australia who fix these cheaper than regular workshops , maybe you have similar. They can do the job from start to finish.
A Toyota gasket would be safe but there are aftermarket types out there that are reputed to be better. But once a head warps or cracks , the quality of the gasket wont help much.

 

[roscoFJ73]

If you changed the fuel filter with anything but the oem one it will NOT seal well unless it is way too tight which just invites the gasket to fail (ask me how I know).....

Maybe you got a bad one, but I have only ever used aftermarket types. I recently used some OEM filters I got for free but when they are gonne Ill be going back to quality aftermarket types that are cheaper, probably Ryco or Donaldsons.

 

[GarrettS]

Long, thorough post.

I really appreciate how thorough your post was! That's some good brain food and I will be sure to keep all of that in mind.

The other thing to take into consideration is a bad injector spray pattern like a drip or a stream which it sounds like you may have can actually burn a hole through a piston...

I appreciate your posts and feedback! As far as the filter goes, it's something I'll look into, but the new NAPA filter i used seemed to fit pretty well.
Do you think a half-decent diesel shop be able to do an injector service for me?

Like I said before, this is my first foray into diesel powered vehicles so i'm still quite green. I really do appreciate everyone's helpful feedback!

-Garrett

 

[roscoFJ73]

Do you think a half-decent diesel shop be able to do an injector service for me?

Half decent means half assed. I wouldn't even consider anyone who does not have full diesel credentials with the equipment to back it up.
Servicing injectors is around a seventy to hundred dollars (guessing) per injector. Injectors usually blow black smoke as the nozzles wear out and they drip some of the fuel rather than atomise it all.
You could ask a shop to test the cracking pressure of the injectors before going any further.
A weak injector spring might cause something like this.