1HZ Troopy Smoking

[GoofTroop]

Hey All,

I have a 1hz troopy that we use to overland / drive between Oregon and Utah and we get some heavy smoke. It happens at different times and I was hoping someone might have a guess as to why.

Here's the different scenarios / smoke:

Overlanding
When we're out on trails typically we putts around in 1st or 2nd gear, low RPM a lot of the time (going down hills and slow rolling around). We were out yesterday and after maybe 30 miles of cruising slow we had to drop it into 4 low to get up a section of the trail. The RPMs were a lot higher now. We had THICK blueish/white smoke coming from the exhaust. It looked like we were going thru a forest fire it was a huuge amount of smoke. Worth noting we were up around 10,000 ft elevation. My guess was that maybe after cruising around in low rpm for so long at elevation we had a bunch of unburnt fuel built up so when I started to get on it, it was trying to burn that fuel? It didn't clear up at all on the trail. Or maybe at elevation its running rich? I haven't looked into how the fuel delivery works yet or how it can be tuned etc. Any ideas?

The Drive Home
The way home is on the high way. I thought we would be doomed, spewing that thick cloud of smoke. Eventually it did clear up. Which then brings us to the other variation of smoke that I've noticed for a while now. The smoke now on the high way is black. It occurs basically anytime going up a hill of any length. It also happens when accelerating shifting from 2nd gear up. Essentially anytime I'm putting a load on the engine it's blowing black smoke. I thought maybe my rings were becoming worn bc it does have over 300k miles on it. I did the oil cap test as quick check. When I pull the cap and put a piece of paper on it it actually has a big of suction at the cap. I changed the air filter thinking maybe I just wasn't getting enough air. It didn't seem to fix anything. Do they just always smoke like this or do you think I have a valve issue or something else?


Here's some pictures just for fun. Didn't get any of the smoke lol next time I'll snag some from the mirror.

 

[janyyc]

Was there stuttering at the same time as the white smoke? I’ve found that 1HZ’s really don’t like rapid altitude changes. I add diesel additives (eg LiquiMoly) which solves the problem for me.

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Is it using oil? If your valve stem seals are bad, oil gets drawn into the cylinders when in over-run (wheels driving the engine down a hill), then you get bluish smoke when you put load on the engine again.

The black smoke is you asking too much of the engine, changing up too early. These NA IDI engines are pretty gutless and they are very sensitive to altitude. Hold your gears longer and come off the pedal a bit when the black smoke starts.

 

[coldtaco]

your engine have the high altitude compensator? if not then that may be why it smokes so much. 10,000 is pretty high without it. normal for black smoke when under load especially at elevation.

 

[TreadingLight]

As others have said, black smoke is over fueling. It is partially combusted diesel.

Aside from the sooty pollution, it also drives up combustion temperatures so it is best avoided. Assuming no one has played with the max fuel screw on your injection pump, the cause and fix for this in how you apply throttle with your right foot.

I watch my tailpipe via the side mirror when I am in the mountains. Eventually I plan to fit a very mild turbo to help overcome the lost oxygen at elevation.

The bluish smoke is a lot more concerning IMO. That could be burning oil.

You might want to have a compression test so you can make some long-term decisions.

 

[TreadingLight]

Double post delete me

 

[JDM Journeys]

Do you have any info on when the fuel system was serviced? 300k miles is up there in terms of maintenance. Might consider injector and pump servicing?

Meanwhile as already said, 10000 feet is a lot when you are N/A. A high alt compensator helps a little bit but boost is the ultimate HAC. Are you monitoring EGT's? With that much black smoke I'd wager your EGT's are getting uncomfortably high.

Until you solve the issues I'd slow down and use a lower gear to reduce the smoke. But also be realistic with your expectations - a brick with an atmo diesel can only do so much...

 

[MyCruiserisaHogBeast]

I live at 6000 ft and aside from what I think is air in the fuel (which I have mentioned in another post), I've kind of tinkered around with it to figure out the best way to manage it. I ended up backing my fuel screw off from where it was at sea level and I installed 4:1 t case gears with under drive, which helped. My truck does have the HAC thingy on the pump. Like others I watch the tailpipe with the mirror. I've found that when climbing at any sort of speed, I just have to accept that 3000-3200 rpm in 3rd is the sweet spot, less pedal, no smoke, 45ish mph and it just slogs up the hills.