Smoking Diesel

When I took the 109 out in the woods the local forest service airdropped tons of fire retardant on me!! ;-)

I never did get the blasted thing to run correctly......I did,however, learn alot about the Rover"Deseazel"........OK smoke you say? It would help us all to know what color..oops colour smoke it is. I will risk insulting the members that KNOW this stuff, but here it goes...

white smoke- water...or late fuel pump timing..Water kinda' BILLOWS as opposed to late timing which "hazes"..water could be head,head gasket,cracked block(if someone did not clean out the head bolt holes in the block,the crud and coolant in the hole will hydralic(sp) the block,cracking it into the water jacket....clean up block at bolt holes and look carefully if you suspect......Late timing can be caused by air leaks in the system(like were YOU hooked up the fuel lines..Hmmmmm?)if the air gets into the pump, the plungers have to compress the air before they can supply enough pressure to the fuel to open the injector..this compression takes time and the fuel is injected"late". Anything in the supply to the pump that is restricted or leaking air will give you*BIG* problems...a weak lift pump (NEVER use a petrol pump..not enough pressure)can cause the timing to run late..If the smoke only occurs at higher speeds,a transfer pump problem is indicated..after all the OTHER things I mentioned are correct..the transfer pump is located in the top of the injection pump..(were you installed the banjo fitting w/o the copper rings perhaps?) this is a rotary pump and acts a thrust bearing for the whole shebang..the end plate is aluminum and wears lustfully..CAV knows this now and the replacement part has a sandwich of steel there..the pressure regulator is up in the very top of this end plate and it is possible loose the spring,strainer seal and plunger from here if the banjo fitting is removed.(OH so THATS where those little things came from!!) know it is a pain in the ... to take the pump out,but if you do, you can have a CAV agent test it and set it to spec. cost her was about 175 dollars with a new transfer pump and other goodies..WHEW!!!!

Black smoke-over fueling...or very early pump timing...this can be caused by a restricted intake or exhaust system....(over fuel,not timing...)can be caused by bad injectors(you changed) or miss-adjusted pump(you changed) The pump timing is related to cam timing,and if the chain or other parts are worn it may be impossible to get the timing correct(It wasn't ever turned backwards,was it?)

Blue smoke- Oil burning...this is the easy one you KNOW what that means... It is possible that there is some crazy breather problem...late valve cover on an early engine,for example, so LOOK an THINK before starting down "Rebuild Lane"....

Low commpression will cause all kinds of smoke combinations depending on load and speed,but this would be noticed mostly as hard starting,and low power.(what? In a Land Rover Diesel? Low power? Ha! I should think NOT!..)

Unless the garageman used a*BIG* hammer and chisel to remove the carbon,this should not effect the smoke...yes,I read the book that says to leave a ring of carbon around the outside edge of the piston to act as a heat shield for the upper ring....really, don't you think that Rover whould have BUILT the thing with a carbon ring there if it NEEDED one? If the fellow used heat to burn off the carbon..(yes.. these people are out there...) it is possible,no,Likley that he got the piston hot enough to stick the top ring in its groove and/or take the temper out of it...And while we're on the subject...WHY did this engine NEED the carbon removed???????If it was running properly, the piston should have only had a light coating of carbon...all the rest gets flung out the exhaust to blacken the windscreen of that @#%#%&$&^#^& Vauxhall that's been tailgating for the last 20 miles.....

OH well I hope this helps some what ..If you can clarify the conditions,I could give you a better idea on where to look..

Steven M. Denis, denis@oswego.oswego.edu