White Smoke from 1HD-T (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Feb 25, 2020
Threads
8
Messages
48
Location
Costa Rica
Just picked up a 97 Cruiser with a 1HD-T and I knew it seemed to have a lack of low end power when I purchased, but it was a good deal even if the motor needed a rebuild. Shiny black undercarage with zero rust, and awesome factory options: winch, heavy duty bumper, dual fuel tanks, ice maker center consol, rear seat overhead AC, 5 spd. We drove it 6 hours to bring it home and other then it's hesitation to accelerate it drives great, and with higher RPMs the turbo kicks in and it has decent power, seemed to climb hills ok (never driven another 1hd-t so i have nothing to compare it to) but at low rpms it's deffinately sluggish. Now that I have it home I also see that if I give the throttle a little punch I get some white smoke from the tail pipe, not a tun but some. I had already suspected it needed the injectors cleaned, as it is pretty common where we live in Costa Rica to get dirty fuel and clogged injectors. The motor has about 155k miles on it and I believe it has a good service history based on the overall condition of the car, interior, and engine bay. What do you guys think? We live about an hour from a city where I can find some parts, so tomorrow I was planning to pull the injectors and take them with me to a shop that has a machine that can test and clean them, I will also get a new timing belt since I don't know how old the current one is. Anything els should get or look into? Compression need to be tested? It starts immediately, sounds good, no studdering, shows no signs of blow by when I loosen or remove the oil cap. Just the white smoke, and a lack of power. Thanks so much, attaching a few photos of it.

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On diesel engines low compression can cause white smoke from idle until turbo kicks in. White smoke is unburnt fuel should have strong smell at idle.
 
Nice rig! Mine was a total dog when I got it but a couple of adjustments made it about as fast as a supercharged gas rig. I'd say look at 2 really easy things:

1. Check and make sure your kickdown cable on your trans is adjusted. This will keep you from bogging down at low RPMs while driving.
2. Ensure that your boost compensator in your injection pump is properly adjusted. It almost sounds like someone turned your main fuel screw up and didn't adjust anything else. This will cause you to run rich throughout all RPMs, but especially before the turbo spools. This will also cause your rig to run hot... perhaps dangerously hot.

Do you have an EGT and boost gauge? If not, I'd invest in both to make sure that you are properly tuned.
 
Nice rig! Mine was a total dog when I got it but a couple of adjustments made it about as fast as a supercharged gas rig. I'd say look at 2 really easy things:

1. Check and make sure your kickdown cable on your trans is adjusted. This will keep you from bogging down at low RPMs while driving.
2. Ensure that your boost compensator in your injection pump is properly adjusted. It almost sounds like someone turned your main fuel screw up and didn't adjust anything else. This will cause you to run rich throughout all RPMs, but especially before the turbo spools. This will also cause your rig to run hot... perhaps dangerously hot.

Do you have an EGT and boost gauge? If not, I'd invest in both to make sure that you are properly tuned.
Thanks! a kickdown cable is just on at auto transmission right? No EGT or boost gauge, I will try to get those. I will look into the pump adjustments too. As long as my engine temp gauge is working it was not running hot.
 
Thanks! a kickdown cable is just on at auto transmission right? No EGT or boost gauge, I will try to get those. I will look into the pump adjustments too. As long as my engine temp gauge is working it was not running hot.

Yep, the kickdown is just the transmission cable. Mine was loose and caused my engine to want to run really low RPMs. Good call getting gauges, IMO. Your coolant gauge won't be able to tell you if your exhaust gasses are getting too hot.
 
OP has a 5-speed.

I have nothing to contribute, but I feel compelled to say dayum. Even with the troubles, that is a helluva setup.
 
Since I don't know much about all the boost adjustments and pump adjustments. Is cleaning the injectors a decent starting point? Something that should be done anyway at this mileage in a country known for dirty fuel? Plus we have a bunch of driving coming up and the only good shop is tied for two weeks. But I could do this today I think. It doesn't seem like a total shot in the dark does it?
 
OP has a 5-speed.

I have nothing to contribute, but I feel compelled to say dayum. Even with the troubles, that is a helluva setup.
Doh! I'm an idiot and need more coffee. OP: forget the trans adjustment... you have a 5 speed.

Since I don't know much about all the boost adjustments and pump adjustments. Is cleaning the injectors a decent starting point? Something that should be done anyway at this mileage in a country known for dirty fuel? Plus we have a bunch of driving coming up and the only good shop is tied for two weeks. But I could do this today I think. It doesn't seem like a total shot in the dark does it?

Cleaning injectors and servicing injection pump are commonly required and usually a good idea. I'd definitely check the main fuel screw first... just to see if it's been messed with. It's on the back (toward rear of vehicle) side of the pump. Mine was marked so that I could see the stock position. That will be a 1 minute task that is free. I'd also want to see what boost and EGT you are running. There's a fuel pump tuning thread in the diesel section that has all the data you can ever want.

Posting in the diesel section will probably get you a lot more responses as well.


EDIT: There's also an idle fueling screw on the top of the pump which sets your idle fueling. With mine, I set that lean. I set my main fuel screw at the stock location. I turned my aneroid to the max fueling side and turned my star wheel to much more preload. Don't forget to check your fuel filter, when thinking of cleaning up the fuel system as well.


When you mention hesitation... does it feel like the engine isn't running right? Or does it just feel sluggish till the turbo kicks in? Fueling in the pump is dictated by the boost compensator in the pump. So, when the turbo kicks in, the fueling increases and you get more power. Without an EGT gauge, it's hard to tell how much fueling your are getting.
 
Doh! I'm an idiot and need more coffee. OP: forget the trans adjustment... you have a 5 speed.



Cleaning injectors and servicing injection pump are commonly required and usually a good idea. I'd definitely check the main fuel screw first... just to see if it's been messed with. It's on the back (toward rear of vehicle) side of the pump. Mine was marked so that I could see the stock position. That will be a 1 minute task that is free. I'd also want to see what boost and EGT you are running. There's a fuel pump tuning thread in the diesel section that has all the data you can ever want.

Posting in the diesel section will probably get you a lot more responses as well.

Great thanks, I'll go look for that screw.
 
Since I don't know much about all the boost adjustments and pump adjustments. Is cleaning the injectors a decent starting point? Something that should be done anyway at this mileage in a country known for dirty fuel? Plus we have a bunch of driving coming up and the only good shop is tied for two weeks. But I could do this today I think. It doesn't seem like a total shot in the dark does it?
Absolutely no harm in having injectors cleaned/pop tested/adjusted.

A boost gauge and a pyrometer (installed PRE-turbo) are necessities for any Diesel engine. They are your early warning signs and will provide you with a wealth of knowledge about your engine. Having a pryo is also essential for learning to drive a turbo Diesel engine correctly. When EGT is high, shift down, bring rpms up. This lightens the load (most turbo diesels have a load based fuel metering system) and will instantly lower the chance of piston melting.

For peace of mind, if you have the tools, a compression test and a leak down test will give you a very good idea of the health of your engine. If you don’t have a leak down tester (or access to one), you could probably jerry-rig one. Can take apart the one in the shop if you want some details.
 
You should try the diesel tech section..


 
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Mine was sluggish with white smoke due to a leak in the fuel system. Air was getting in, and it had a low idle and eventually became almost undrivable off the line.

Reseating the filter and using a new o-ring on the float sensor was the most dramatic fix, but Im sure the new fuel lines helped as well.
 
White smoke is due to unburnt fuel. It will also have a strong smell of raw diesel

It's most likely due to a problem with pump timing, or simply air getting into the fuel system.
Air in the fuel system disrupts the injection timing.

If someone has turned up the fuel settings, you'll see black smoke, not white

In regard to cleaning the injectors, this is not really something you can do yourself. You can remove them and clean the outside, but to clean the nozzles they need to be disassembled by someone who knows what they are doing
 
White smoke is due to unburnt fuel. It will also have a strong smell of raw diesel

It's most likely due to a problem with pump timing, or simply air getting into the fuel system.
Air in the fuel system disrupts the injection timing.

If someone has turned up the fuel settings, you'll see black smoke, not white

In regard to cleaning the injectors, this is not really something you can do yourself. You can remove them and clean the outside, but to clean the nozzles they need to be disassembled by someone who knows what they are doing
Cool thanks, yeah I wasn’t thinking about cleaning myself, only removing. I know a shop (probably one of two in the country) with that machine that cleans and tests them.
 
Because you don't know the history life of the car , I would start with:
Compression test first . This will give you a good feed back of how good is the piston world .
This will also allow the pump shop to do a fine job.
Not all pistons compression are the same , so the injector and pump must be time to each single piston.
Not all shops do this , but you can feel the diffrence when a motor is fine tuned.
Cleaning the injectors is a good thing , but....as far as you don't know the history of the car , even better will be to tune the pump with the injectors.
In this way all doubts will be gone .
It is also cheaper , because when you will recheck the pump , also the injectors must be tuned together .
So do the job onece , in the proper manner.
Some one advised to installa EGT , or pyrometers .
This is the MOST important upgrade you can do to the car .
Will allow you to drive you motor safe and get the max out of if , with out blowing it .
I have the same motor , and gearbox .
Pump /injector settings , together with pyrometer can make the drive much mor pleasent .
 
Mine was sluggish with white smoke due to a leak in the fuel system. Air was getting in, and it had a low idle and eventually became almost undrivable off the line.

Reseating the filter and using a new o-ring on the float sensor was the most dramatic fix, but Im sure the new fuel lines helped as well.
Because you don't know the history life of the car , I would start with:
Compression test first . This will give you a good feed back of how good is the piston world .
This will also allow the pump shop to do a fine job.
Not all pistons compression are the same , so the injector and pump must be time to each single piston.
Not all shops do this , but you can feel the diffrence when a motor is fine tuned.
Cleaning the injectors is a good thing , but....as far as you don't know the history of the car , even better will be to tune the pump with the injectors.
In this way all doubts will be gone .
It is also cheaper , because when you will recheck the pump , also the injectors must be tuned together .
So do the job onece , in the proper manner.
Some one advised to installa EGT , or pyrometers .
This is the MOST important upgrade you can do to the car .
Will allow you to drive you motor safe and get the max out of if , with out blowing it .
I have the same motor , and gearbox .
Pump /injector settings , together with pyrometer can make the drive much mor pleasent .
[/QUOTE
Awesome, I made an appointment next Thursday with the best shop around, but I probably won’t make it since my wife and I have a baby due right around then. That shop will be able to order an EGT I’m pretty sure, and hopefully a boost gauge.
 
Update, I discovered yesterday that the throttle cable was greatly restricted. There was some slack in the cable under the hood. Didn’t seem like a lot but after I tightened it up to remove the slack it helped a lot with the power issue. There still seems to be some lag, especially from a dead stop. I can’t believe the previous owner did not realize that about the cable. I wonder if he drove it like that the entire time he owned it.
Still going to have a shop clean the injectors and tune the pump. I’ll order and install a boost gauge and EGT sensor. That stuff will probably have to wait a few weeks, as I could become a father any day now and must keep the car on the road as it’s our only one. I will keep you updated. Thanks for all the advice!!
 
good spotting Zach ,
congratulation for the new comping father and baby .
certainly the land cruiser can wait the happy event
 
as per FSM about smoke
1. IMPROPER INJECTION TIMINGHINT: Black smoke indicates advanced timing while white smoke indicates retarded timing. Adjustments should be made accordingly
2. CLOGGED FUEL FILTER| 1 Refer to step 5 of LACK OF POWER.HINT: At high speed (2,000-3,000 rpm), a clogged filter tends to make exhaust smoke white.
3. FAULTY INJECTION NOZZLES| HINT: Excessive exhaust smoke is often caused by nozzle pressure being too low.

 

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