3B blowing blue sometimes. Rings? Valves? Injectors?

[KingSpence]

Alright, I'm getting worried now, because I have to get my truck from Edmonton to Golden, BC on the Canada day long weekend.

The truck is a Canadian spec BJ60. 3B diesel with the H55F transmission. It's SOA with 4.88's, 35x12.50's, and a 3 inch mandrel bent exhaust with a Flowmaster 40 muffler. About 350,000kms.

It's the oddest thing, the truck has never burned oil. I ran 0w40 in the winter without burning a drop, and with 5000kms on my last change of 10w40 the dipstick level never moved. The other day I backed out of the back lot at work pretty quick and it blew a cloud of blue, then today when leaving my local Canadian Tire it blew a cloud of blue when I gave it throttle after putting it into second gear going up a small hill from the parking lot to the road. The dipstick level in the past 1500kms has not changed, but my problem is really only two days old. Could it be injectors maybe? Driving around anywhere else it never blew, and morning cold starts are clean with no oil blowing. I have the exhaust exiting out the side under the rear driver door, so I am able to see clearly when the truck is blowing or not.

Now both times this happened the truck was at full operating temperature for several hours, and had been idling for about 10-15 minutes. Could having the truck sit idle for a period of time, then driving away cause any issues? Also, although it is blue, could it be fuel? I know that when the injectors were fried on my Dad's Duramax the truck was blowing blue.

I put some Stanadyne in the tank, and I think I might try to find a diesel compression tester locally.

 

[KingSpence]

Really? Nobody knows?

 

[burnoil]

I know they are two different animals, but my Chevy Duramax had a sticky injector and it would lightly blow blue smoke sometimes. The idle would lope a bit, too. It eventually went away after running some Stanadyne through it for several tanks. The motor was not abused and had about 60K miles on it when it happened.

 

[kim]

I have an HJ60 that has recently blown some blue and I'm in the middle of sorting it out.

For me, the truck was 'missing' a little, idling lumpy sometimes over the course of a couple of days. I thought injectors so I dumped some injector cleaner in the tank however, I noticed some blue smoke when taking off from a light at an intersection. Oh s*** says I, cause blue smoke means rings, oil going by the piston.

When I got home, I did a compression check and #4 only registered 220 psi where the rest were mid 400's. I put some Seafoam, like 30 mls, down each glow plug hole with probably 60 mls in #4 and let it sit for a few hours, then I fired it up to blow all the crap out. This cleans carbon deposits out of the engine.

Anyway, another compression check and no change. I have been driving for a week or so since this was done and I have noticed no more blue. I will be doing another compression check tonight so I'll let you know the news. I am hoping that my issue was carbon and not rings.

Another thing, if it is rings and you're blowing blue, you should also notice exhaust in your crankcase. You can check by taking your oil cap off and observing any 'smoke' rising out of the hole.

 

[77cruiser77]

idling can do it. But i think it usually puff white under that case. out of curiosity when was your injectors last serviced?

 

[KingSpence]

idling can do it. But i think it usually puff white under that case. out of curiosity when was your injectors last serviced?

I don't know for sure, but I know I have put 50,000kms on the truck since purchase in March 2010. I know the previous owner was not a fan of preventative maintenance. How often should injectors be serviced?

 

[canucksafari]

Usually blue smoke after sitting on idle means that you have one or more valve guide seals that are worn. It isn't a big deal. The vehicle should not use much oil.

Kim, when you fired it up, I am presuming you first spun the engine over with the glow plugs out to get the extra Seafoam out. Just want to clarify that because someone might not realize that 60 ml of seafoam (or any liquid in a cylinder) would hydrolock the engine.

I have also just recently picked up a product called Rost Off by WURTH. I got it from a guy who rebuilds small engines and swears by it. Says that it has even worked to un-seize pistons by just spraying it in the cylinder and letting it sit for a couple days with the plug in it. For carboned up pistons he does the same but is careful to rotate the piston up just above the exhaust port. Close it up for a couple days, and then open it up and spin out the excess fluid before starting.

Here is a pdf cat of the their products approved for use by Air Canada: http://www.wurthcanada.com/en/brochures/AirCanadaApprovedProducts.pdf I am going to try to get me a can of the ROST OFF ICE: a product that breaks rust bonds by cooling the bolt down to -40C. An we thought heat was the trick.

 

[kim]

Kim, when you fired it up, I am presuming you first spun the engine over with the glow plugs out to get the extra Seafoam out. Just want to clarify that because someone might not realize that 60 ml of seafoam (or any liquid in a cylinder) would hydrolock the engine.

Yes, an excellent point. Thanks.

 

[kim]

I checked compression this evening on # 4, 340 psi. Not perfect but significantly better than the 220 I measured last weekend.

I'm doing another dose of Seafoam in #4 overnight and will test again in the morning.

 

[torqueluvr]

Similar problem in my 13b-t. Blue smoke for 5-6 seconds when accelerating, but only after a long idle or first starting up. Can i do the sea foam trick with an engine that has a glow screen? Or would stanadyne injector cleaner be the best bet?

King Spence, when you get a hold of a local diesel injector/compression tester, let me know. I'd be interested.

Tanner

 

[BEE-JAY42]

Don't drive yourself crazy worrying about the color of the smoke, guageing the color of smoke (espeacilly from the drivers seat) is a real hit and miss affair. There is one sure way to tell if your burning oil, check the dipstick, it's alot more reliable then smoke.

 

[canucksafari]

Don't drive yourself crazy worrying about the color of the smoke, guageing the color of smoke (espeacilly from the drivers seat) is a real hit and miss affair. There is one sure way to tell if your burning oil, check the dipstick, it's alot more reliable then smoke.

Best and most immediate way is to smell it. A slightly leaking valve guide seal will produce visible smoke but barely register on the dip stick.

 

[prado t]

Dont forget some blue symptoms can be from fuel wash, especially if your motor was idling or running low RPMS with No load. If it smells like (green diesel ) then it is nothing to worry about, if it smells like oil you have alot to worry about.