Excess rattle at idle/light throttle...

[Refalgren]

...but upon increased throttle(normal steady increase, not pedal to the floor) it abruptly smooths out and regains power. Occasional black-ish smoke when starting off, but that may just be the engine is too cold? Something is probably loose, but I am not sure where it would be.

Where should I be looking for loose/worn out bolts and parts when I have the above symptoms?

 

[cucvrus]

Check the power steering brackets and the starter support bracket. A lot of these trucks are missing the lower power steering brackets and that puts to much stress on the main bracket and causes cracks in the bracket and wears holes around the mounting points. Also open the oil cap while it is idling I hear gear noise from the injection pump at times. Check it out and let me know what you find out.

 

[Refalgren]

the lower power steering bracket you refer to is the bottom "4th" bolt of the pump correct? if so, it's still there and was just tightened when I tightened the power steering belt.

the starter bracket is there as well. It also just got tightened.

As for opening the oil cap and listening for noise...

Also open the oil cap while it is idling I hear gear noise from the injection pump at times.

You wrote that poorly so I am having trouble understanding what you are trying to convey.

 

[cucvrus]

Gear noise, You can hear gear noise from the injection drive pump gear at idle.

 

[Refalgren]

So i'm to listen for gear noise. Is gear noise bad? Or is gear noise good?

 

[Refalgren]

...cucvrus just got banned didn't he...

 

[Nuke113]

Just to clarify is it a rattle at idle or a rattle and rough idle just wondering how the rattle and gain in power go together or if they are separate.

 

[Refalgren]

Rattle is from idle through light acceleration. If I give it a little more pedal it tends to smooth out and it feels like a boost in power. When it's doing the excessive rattle the engine feels gutless, especially in third gear. It's almost like the IP has two stages.

Also to note - on the IP, from neutral to light throttle the cable moves easy, adding throttle past that seems to take more force.

 

[Nuke113]

To me that sounds like actual engine trouble but hopefully one of the more knowledgeable people will chime in here as I would just be guessing at this point, best of luck to you though.

 

[Refalgren]

I appreciate it nuke. The lack of power is very noticable on hills as well. I can maintain speed, but acceleration is almost non-existant, and I tend to get grey smoke out the exhaust when I try.