Smoking and missing on cold start

[Lickit]

Just a quick question for the tech minded ones of the forum, since my overheating problems of late when i start up in the morning or after work my truck gives a large puff of whiteish gray smoke and runs as though missing on one cylinder, spoke to a man from toyota in chelmsford who for a change seemed to know his stuff and he said it sounds like a crack in the head as some of the hilux pick up's used the same or similar engin and what would happen is you get a fine crack in the head that won't show on a colour test until the engine has been given some stick and made to get hot enough to cause the crack to open slightly, he said one of the first symptoms was the puff of white smoke and lumpy running on a cold start

Please Please help as although i love my truck to bits it is getting to be a bit of a problem as my pockets are quickly emptying of cash evey time she has to go back to the dealer and i have to hire a car

[Vagrant No2]

White smoke and missfire does sound to me like water in 1 cylinder . You can have a crack in the head that will allow coolant into the cylinder as the engine cools . Rare , but I know it happens .


Rick

[Lickit]

can you do compresion tests on a diesel engine? stupid question i know but my mech experiance is petrol or hgv and there is no way i would like to try and compresion test a huge lorry engine...... could be fun though i suppose lol

[Vagrant No2]

can you do compresion tests on a diesel engine? stupid question i know but my mech experiance is petrol or hgv and there is no way i would like to try and compresion test a huge lorry engine...... could be fun though i suppose lol

Yes , you need to remove injectors and use a suitable compression tester .
This may not show the fault though , as a cracked head which draws coolant into bore as it cools may not show a difference in cylinder compression .

Rick

[Lickit]

poo i need to find a way to get the dealer to do something about it as i am due to go to south wales for the weekend of 3rd july and realy dont want the head to go and also my warranty is runing low now so if it dont go before that runs out i am going to be very out of pocket , the dealer is some what of and idiot and so far as i can see so is his mechanic as it took him over a week to think to change a thermostat and rad cap on a vehicle that is overheating

[Vagrant No2]

I have heard it is possible to lock the engine so that it cannot turn and , in turn , remove an injector and pressurize that cylinder with an airline and see if the coolant rises with the rad cap off . It may take up to an hour for the coolant to rise as the system is pressurised by the crack in the head . It would need to be done on each cylinder and takes time to do .

I have never tried this one, but my mate has , with sucess in finding blown head gaskets .

Rick

[marky]

poo i need to find a way to get the dealer to do something about it as i am due to go to south wales for the weekend of 3rd july and realy dont want the head to go and also my warranty is runing low now so if it dont go before that runs out i am going to be very out of pocket , the dealer is some what of and idiot and so far as i can see so is his mechanic as it took him over a week to think to change a thermostat and rad cap on a vehicle that is overheating

Throw it back at him as there was cooling problems previously

[Lickit]

he does seem to want to play that game and i realy dont have the time for it as i need the motor for the said weekend in july and knowing the dealer it will take about two weeks for him to do the head i am just getting so fed up with keep taking it back to him time and time agian just to be told there is nothing wrong with it even though the definatly seems to be something a miss

[robnw67]

Are you sure?

Grey-ish smoke and lumpy running in the first minute - sounds like incomplete combustion of the diesel. Sounds like no glow plugs.

This situation seems (IMHO) like a typical case of the person who re-assembled the head making the usual mistake with the glow plug bus bar spacers.

I think it's worth checking the glow plug fuse and making sure that the plugs are working before going into full panic mode.

Rob

[jackpot]

i agree with rob as my bus did exactly the same thing so i checked the glow plugs and only 1 out of 4 was working, replaced them all and its like owning a new car again when starting!!! no smoke and no complaints from the neighbours :-)

[Lickit]

why then has it only started doing this since overheating (the head hasnt been off) and i am also missing some coolent every morning and cant find a puddle to explain the missing coolent?

[Smurf]

Mark, if the warranty is close to running out do you have any documented proof that you have already had problems with overheating, it is just possible that the dealer is putting sealing compounds in the engine to delay any problems until the warranty expires, i think you should be insisting that the head comes off to investigate the problem fully and resolve it for good!!!!
I also am getting a little greyish smoke sometimes in the morning but no loss of coolant, however my glowplugs dont always come on at the moment so after reading this i am assuming that is the cause.
Just dont let the warranty period slip away without getting your concerns sorted!!!!!!

[Danno]

Mark, mine started doing this soon after I had a "new" head fitted. That was 10 months ago.

Every morning / left for a long time, it will start lumpy, a bit blue/white smoke and a little rev and its ok.

Glow plugs have been checked and cooling pressure test done, still nothing wrong.

I've stopped worrying about it now.

[mark g8awo]

Its worth having a preasure test done on the coolant you may find some of the gasses could be escaping into the water in which case its inevitable




Orfff with the head

[Smurf]

Mark

Just thought, if you bought the car on dealer finance get in touch with them also and find out your rights on the finance side, lenders dont like the thought of getting something back that is potentially a non-runner, they will want your truck to be in perfect working order, after all they do own it until you have paid for it!!!!!! They would be interested to hear of your problems and may lean on the dealer to sort it. With all the overheating grief you have had it could even be described as unfit for the purpose for which it was sold (or something like that)!!