Smokey 98 d22 qd32

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Meaty

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Hi guys n gals. I'm a happy new owner of a pre loved 98 d22. I'm working through some basic maintenance items and learning a lot as i go. The 'ol girl has an issue where she spews out a fair bit of white smoke on cold start up and occasionally runs rough to the point of near stalling. I replaced the glow plugs, which helped their warm up time, but hasn't really helped the white smoke issue. The smoke problem improves markedly once warmed up, but I have noticed an exception to the rule. If I Travel down hill under engine breaking and touch the throttle slightly the white smoke appears even when warm. I've done some stationary tests in the driveway and found that at 2000 rpm the smoke appears in a big way and she runs pretty rough. No issues at 1000rpm or 3000rpm. I'm suspecting a dirty injector (or four) and hoping it's not something more serious. That aside, it's a great ute, and I'm looking forward to a lot of adventures down the road. (I threw new shocks in all round and couldn't be happier with the improvement in the ride!). If anyone has any thoughts I'd love to hear them. Cheers for now!
 
Welcome aboard!

Dirty injectors are a common cause of this. Personally I have used Liqui Moly's Fuel System Treatment in the past with good results - it's $18 or so depending on which Supercheap store you buy it from (I don't know why the prices varied, maybe they were in the middle of a price rise and some stores hadn't done it?). Just pour the bottle in the tank and drive it. I've noticed a difference within 100km.

You could go one further and use Liqui Moly's Diesel Purge. This takes a bit of fiddling to do, but it's super-intensive and provides much quicker results.

White smoke is overfuelling so severe that there's no chance of the engine combusting it. It is dangerous because it fills the exhaust with unburnt fuel (you should be able to smell the diesel in the exhaust with the engine off). The resulting cloud behind your car will also be quite stenchy.
 
Hi and thanks for the reply! I thought this may be the case and actually bought a can of purge yesterday. I fear I've watched the wrong you tube video however, as when i hooked it up, instead of running on the stuff for a good 20 minutes, it sucked it straight down in about 30 seconds. ??? Ultimately the stuff is in the fuel system somewhere at least, so I guess it's time to go for a drive and see if i get a similar result to the actual fuel treatment. A rookie mistake that will hopefully work out. Regardless, the reply is much appreciated, and yes, i can smell unburnt diesel sitting at the lights! Cheers.
 
just get the injectors reco'ed. they are meant to be done every 100,000km. odds are its never been done.
its not all that expensive. a lot of diesel injection shops will have exchange injectors.

it can also be leaky turbo seals (if yours is turbo of course). sometimes its oil being ingested into the intake (via breather or valve seals).
it also can be injection timing issue ie worn injection pump.
its certainly not overfueling.
 
Hi and thanks for the reply! I thought this may be the case and actually bought a can of purge yesterday. I fear I've watched the wrong you tube video however, as when i hooked it up, instead of running on the stuff for a good 20 minutes, it sucked it straight down in about 30 seconds. ??? Ultimately the stuff is in the fuel system somewhere at least, so I guess it's time to go for a drive and see if i get a similar result to the actual fuel treatment. A rookie mistake that will hopefully work out. Regardless, the reply is much appreciated, and yes, i can smell unburnt diesel sitting at the lights! Cheers.
Did you put the return line into the can as well? Sounds like you may have sucked the liquimoly through the pump and returned it to the tank?
 
Did you put the return line into the can as well? Sounds like you may have sucked the liquimoly through the pump and returned it to the tank?
Yeah it almost certainly went straight to the tank. The vid I got the technique from said simply to put both lines from the fuel filter housing into the moli and run the engine. Anyway....I guess it ended up as fuel treatment instead of a localised intensive cleaning fluid. Not the end of the world. (Or my motor I hope). Cheers for the reply.
 
just get the injectors reco'ed. they are meant to be done every 100,000km. odds are its never been done.
its not all that expensive. a lot of diesel injection shops will have exchange injectors.

it can also be leaky turbo seals (if yours is turbo of course). sometimes its oil being ingested into the intake (via breather or valve seals).
it also can be injection timing issue ie worn injection pump.
its certainly not overfueling.
Yeah, I agree with all of these possibilities.. I've yet to investigate a good diesel mechanic here in Hobart, and I'd prefer a local injector exchange to any of the ebay options I've seen. I've never worked on a diesel before and as much as I'd like to replace them myself, it looked like a bit of a handful when i did the glow plugs. I assume those solid fuel lines needed to be loosened at the pump end as well as at the injectors. The glow plug job was quite simple, Still I decided not to push my luck after that small win. It does actually have a turbo, which is not factory, and could be an issue for sure. This is an old bus after all. The injection pump is probably my worst fear (expense wise) and will get investigated after I do the injectors and see if she improves. Yes, it's a bit of a laundry list but I was pretty much prepared for these problems when I got the thing. This model is as reliable as any once dialed in apparrently, so I'll keep plugging away and look forward to plenty of enjoyable k's. It's great fun learning the ins and outs of Navara ownership so far and fantastic to find such a wealth of info here on the forum. Thanks!
 
i would check the play of the turbo. leaking oil into the exhaust will make lots of white smoke. usually more at idle.
how has the breather been done?
 
i would check the play of the turbo. leaking oil into the exhaust will make lots of white smoke. usually more at idle.
how has the breather been done?
Hi. Just saw this! I strongly suspect valve stem seals, which I'm currently attempting to fit. (A headache!) But have bought a turbo rebuild kit also. Hopefully I'll knock the problem over. Cheers.
 
Don't rule out your injector timing. A lot of white smoke like that would indicate it's over-retarded. Check the 3 mounting bolts for tightness. If they're loose, it's likely slipped.
 
Hey mate just so you're not too stressed by it, ive owned my 98 for about 7 years and it's pretty well always done the same thing. Throws some white smoke on start up even with good glow plugs (letting it cycle glow plugs a few times helps). White smoke on light throttle going down hills, also does this. Not to say it's by design but i've come to accept these things on an old diesel.
Let us know if you manage to fix it!

edit: worth noting mine has a turbo fitted as well but it was doing it pre-turbo
 
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Hey mate just so you're not too stressed by it, ive owned my 98 for about 7 years and it's pretty well always done the same thing. Throws some white smoke on start up even with good glow plugs (letting it cycle glow plugs a few times helps). White smoke on light throttle going down hills, also does this. Not to say it's by design but i've come to accept these things on an old diesel.
Let us know if you manage to fix it!

edit: worth noting mine has a turbo fitted as well but it was doing it pre-turbo
Thanks Jarone. There is some comfort in that! I'm close to getting her back together although it's been a steady process. I still have to rebuild the turbo, which is going slow as the exhaust side housing just doesn't want to come away from the body of the turbo. I ended up reconditioning the injectors and one was for sure worse than the others apparrently. The valve stem seals have had to wait, as I don't have the correct fitting to get air into the cylinder as yet. All fun and games but I will get there! I might actually throw it all back together with the "new" injectors and see how that effects the issue. You're right though, she's an old diesel at the end of the day. So I'm not expecting miracles. I just want to have the best shot at a tidy engine as I can. Whatever happens, she's a great ute!
 
Hey Meaty have you still got this truck?
Just wondering how your progress was. I know the thread is a bit old but I recently bought two QD32 powered Navara’s, a Ute and a dual cab. The Ute has more kms on it than the dual cab and blows white smoke until it warms up. I was wondering if you got around to doing the valve stem seals and if it had made a difference?
 

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