Deuce Smokes at Mid-throttle

[mtncats]

Hello everybody,

I'm new here, not to my deuce. What a resource, this site! Spent some time searching the archives but didn't find quite what I needed. Apologies if I missed it, but time is short. There's horse manure to move. If that avatar loads well, you can see the rear shaft driving the dump hydraulics.

Beloved '69 Kaiser (Continental engine, rebuilt in '89) was hauling a large load of horse manure home when (only at mid-throttle) she suddenly started smoking badly. Full-throttle is minimal smoke, idle is minimal smoke. Mid-throttle, pitied those behind me. (cough, gasp) Only happens after the engine gets fully warm, ~200º.

Breathing just fine and I thought from reading TM 9-2815-210-34 that I had an injector pump problem. Then, reading through some of the archives I happened on examples when the turbo goes bad. That's scary. There's also a flame heater that I've never understood.

Doesn't appear to be much engine oil missing (I've got a few drips, cured the major one yesterday- tach cable). Pretty sure the smoke is unburned diesel, but I may be mistaken. PM, I'm behind. Valve adjustment overdue. Ordering the gaskets tomorrow. Billowing smoke was a sudden change during a 45 minute trip. No other apparent change in performance.

Kaiser sees 1000 mi/yr so I've mostly just changed the oil/greased. Put on an external fuel pump last year when the injector pump rebelled at doing all the work by itself. Advice I'd been given was that it wouldn't hurt the pump. Other than that, pretty much the same as when I bought it from a NC dealer.

The '70 AM General came to me as a parts truck, but drives well. Previous owner put on maybe 3 miles in the 4 yrs he owned it. Had a set of all-but-new tires and I needed 4 for an inspection. Been driving the Kaiser for several years now, can't imagine a better all-purpose truck. Hauls anything I can get in the back (and dumps it) and will tow all but my largest Cat. Maybe that too, but 23,000 lbs (plus trailer) frightens me. Those are her tires in the Kaiser.

Great to meet y'all. Hope somebody can point me in the right direction.
Tom

 

[FreightTrain]

Was it white smoke/grey smoke?Did you hear any sounds from the turbo like a higher pitched whistle or squeel?Did the pitch change any?Pull the elbow pipe connected to the turbo.You will know instantly if the turbo blew up.There will be Tar in there.

 

[mtncats]

Wow, that was quick. Thanks. Any idea why the manual isn't so direct?

Thought the smoke was pretty black, but that's from a mirror. I can warm it up again, with a passenger. Assuming the elbow is question is the one to the intake manifold, clean as a whistle. Didn't notice any difference in turbo/engine sound behind my ear protectors.

Ummm... 8:17 am? What time zone are we working in here?

 

[FreightTrain]

The Elbow I was refering to is the one between the exhaust housing and the Flex pipe.Short one on the turbo.But if it is black then it is fuel.Pure white is Water/Coolant,Greyish/Blueish is Motor oil,Black/Dark grey is fuel.

 

[builder77]

Hey mtncats glad to see another central Va. member. There are several other members scattered around the state too. I am just south of Richmond in Chesterfield. Welcome to SS.

 

[mtncats]

Oops. OK, got the correct elbow, part of the exhaust line. It's black, not gooey. A little less powdery than what I got out of the top of the pipe.

Next?

And thank you,
Tom (sometimes clueless)

 

[FreightTrain]

Well,it has to be fuel related if it is a problem.I know on mine at Idle it would have a slight haze but you had to really look to see it.At mid range RPMs it would smoke like a freight train until the engine wound up and the Turbo was fully spooled.Do you have a gauge on the truck?Lower RPMs the less PSI you will have going into the intake.Less PSI less air to fuel ratio,Higher RPM you get more exhaust so more intake pressure with higher air to fuel ratio and less smoke.But if your blowing enough smoke to block view behind you,you have an issue.I would guess either it jumped time(gear slipped) or the Hydrolic head may be on the way out.After Re-Reading it sound more like a fuel issue since it changes with the possition of the pedal.

 

[mtncats]

Re: RE: Deuce Smokes at Mid-throttle

Hey mtncats glad to see another central Va. member. There are several other members scattered around the state too. I am just south of Richmond in Chesterfield. Welcome to SS.

Thanks. I'm Albemarle country, south of Charlottesville, on top of a mountain, with a pair of Cats. Shop's 150' lower elevation down the hill (huff, puff). And I wasn't smart enough to build it large enough to get the big pieces in. 7 tons, 8 tons, 12 tons... never dreamed I'd have such stuff when we moved up here. At least I have room. Good thing, there's also a Linkbelt crane and a couple of Galion graders.

John Winslow (NC) anybody you know? He's the guy who got me started. Where will it end?

Tom

 

[mtncats]

Re: RE: Deuce Smokes at Mid-throttle

Well,it has to be fuel related if it is a problem.I know on mine at Idle it would have a slight haze but you had to really look to see it.At mid range RPMs it would smoke like a freight train until the engine wound up and the Turbo was fully spooled.Do you have a gauge on the truck?Lower RPMs the less PSI you will have going into the intake.Less PSI less air to fuel ratio,Higher RPM you get more exhaust so more intake pressure with higher air to fuel ratio and less smoke.But if your blowing enough smoke to block view behind you,you have an issue.I would guess either it jumped time(gear slipped) or the Hydrolic head may be on the way out.After Re-Reading it sound more like a fuel issue since it changes with the possition of the pedal.

Boost guage? No, but is that plug in the top of the wrong elbow I took off a good place to read? Slight exhaust haze is what I get at idle. More smoke winding up I'd expect, but this is excessive. Jumped time is the injector pump? That's the direction I got from the manual, but it sure runs strong. No idea what the "Hydrolic head" is.

Wondered if it was running a little too strong. Dealer I bought from showed me where to adjust fuel delivery if I wanted more power. He said it'd smoke more and to be careful as the deuce engine could only take so much before it blew. Never adjusted it and have forgotten where he was pointing.

Would you believe I've got some Australians guiding me diagnosing probable turbo problems on one Cat? Awaiting a wireless tach. I was quite content in my ignorance...

Thanks,
Tom

 

[rdixiemiller]

RE: Re: RE: Deuce Smokes at Mid-throttle

Maybe FDC is stuck in the wide open position? Does the truck seem to be running stronger?

 

[mtncats]

FDC?

Yes, truck did seem to climb the hills a little too well with ~5 tons of horse manure in the back. Was surprised I didn't need to downshift and wondered if my load estimating was that far off. Still idles well, with little smoke.

 

[Stretch44875]

Check your return line to the tank, make sure when your inline pump is running you have fuel returning to tank. Had my return line stop working, and had great power, lots of smoke. May have been the FDC also, since I was running a variety of fuels in the truck. My hillbilly fix was to drain the tank and put 10 gallons of pure gasoline in it. Started it up and drive for a couple of miles, dumped some diesel in the tank, and everything was happy.

Also, if you are getting a lot of smoke and power(as in fog the whole road), you can bet you exhaust temperature is high. Extended running with the smoke will start melting things. I was seeing 1400 degrees+ on the pyro when the truck was belching smoke.
Dennis

 

[mtncats]

Thanks I'll look into that tomorrow, but I still don't know what FDC means. No intention of using the truck until I find the problem.

 

[williamh]

Fuel
Density
Compensator

 

[mtncats]

Thanks. I'll assume my manual covers that.

 

[rdixiemiller]

Yep. The fuel density compensator varies the fuel delivery rate according to the viscosity of the fuel being used. Gasoline is low viscosity, and lower BTU content per gallon, so it increases the fuel rate. Diesel is higher viscosity, higher BTU content, so it backs the fuel rate off. If the FDC quits working, and sticks in the high rate position, it will make the truck run really strong, but seriously heat up the engine. The same thing happens if you unhook the FDC, I had to back my fuel rate off 2 2/3 turns to get the exhaust temp down to acceptable levels.

 

[mtncats]

Thanks everybody, apparently it's not my FDC. Sticker on a filter housing says compensator was "bypassed to prevent fuel dilution of the engine oil" and to only burn diesel. Which is what I've been doing.

Backing off the fuel rate sounds promising. Where do I do that? The manual doesn't say anything about that for curing excess smoke that I've found.

Is there somewhere on this site that shows how to hook up a turbo boost guage and an exhaust thermometer, or whatever "pyro" is?

Tom (awaiting gaskets)