EXTREMELY HIGH FUEL USE at idle ? Bad Injector

TKB4 · **Posted:** Tue Aug 06, 2019 12:12 pm

I am working on my salvage CRD to see if its motor might be serviceable. History is unknown other than it was partially disassembled by previous owner and then reassembled and I was told it wouldn't run. I turned the engine over by hand without problem. So I checked timing pins which indicated timing was ok and put a small cheap lift pump similar to facet pump but cheap with its own switch to battery and ran pickup fuel hose to 5 gallon container and output directly to fuel head which is a new style since I didn't know condition of tank and fuel system. Put battery in and after bleeding a bunch of air out I got it started. It idles ok but when revved up at around 2000 rpm or a little higher it will put out a lot of white smoke then when return to idle its rougher and a small amount of white smoke . It also doesn't run as smooth about 2000 rpm then smooths back out . Of course this is all with no load on engine. I have run it stationary about two hours . The oil level has stayed the same and has no unusual odor or appearance. Coolant level has not changed. The quick head gasket test does not reveal a leak. When I put my hand in front of exhaust there doesn't appear to be any excessive moisture in the smoke and smells maybe a little more oily than normal. There are no visible leaks under the jeep.

A code check reveals no codes .

So I feel like the white smoke is fuel.

What surprised me is the KICKER !! I restarted it to try and unplug injectors one at a time and engine quit . I found that the engine had gone through between 4 and 5 gallons of diesel while idling with intermittent revving over about 1 1/2 hours while I let it get up to temp and checked coolant and oil and radiator hoses etc. This is the equivalent of a gallon about every 15 minutes of just idling! So I would guess there is an injector stuck open etc . Now I have to go get some more diesel in the 5 gallon container but I am also very surprised about the amount of fuel used and no codes . I don want to run much without changing out injectors etc because of overfueling . This is a ridiculous amount of fuel being used!!! I am also surprised it isn't 'Missing" more obviously. It will be interesting to see what eventual problem is but its definitely not a driver in this condition even if it isn't harming the engine.

Billybob · **Posted:** Tue Aug 06, 2019 12:54 pm

Good grief! I do not even have to convert gallons to Litres....which I am used to..to know that this is a ridiculous usage of diesel at idle! :shock:

I will not get involved here though...have not even touched my injectors on my 2002 Export CRD..I will leave this to the serious experts here! :wink:

geordi · **Posted:** Tue Aug 06, 2019 1:58 pm

HOLD UP! Don't panic just yet, you are missing a primary fact here:

Where'd you have the fuel return line going? Back to the tank, or into your bucket?

If you didn't have it into the bucket, then you will find that fuel IN THE TANK. Diesel engines pass 3-5 times the running fuel through the pump, because the fuel is used to cool and lube the pump at the same time as running the engine. This is why diesel fuel systems are made in a LOOP.

This doesn't mean that you don't have a fuel leak, although it should definitely be black smoke and not white. It doesn't take much coolant at all (just a couple drops) to make a healthy amount of white smoke, so start there - has the EGR cooler been bypassed? The only other place that coolant can easily get near the combustion chamber is the walls of the cylinder... And the cold test seems to have eliminated that leak potential. That's a good thing.

flash7210 · **Posted:** Tue Aug 06, 2019 2:25 pm

Maybe try running some Powerservice or other diesel fuel system cleaner through it.

Yup, too much fuel should be black smoke.
It’s possible that you might have some coolant being burned.
The quick head gasket test is not the end all test.

Get the fuel system cleaned up and check for fuel leaks first.

TKB4 · **Posted:** Tue Aug 06, 2019 3:48 pm

Thanks for Replies

Geordi:
Great point! No, I didn't have return going to the 5 gallon tank. That possibility had totally slipped my mind or lack thereof ! Now I am not quite as concerned as I was at least for that part. The EGR has been deleted. It does leave an impression of how much fuel is running through the system though. Guess if I had kept going I would have discovered that when the fuel tank started overflowing :ROTFL:

Thanks!

Flash:

Guess now I will start with pumping as much of the tank out as I can with the lift pump then put a few gallons of fresh fuel in the tank. and hook lift pump to it instead of the 5 gallon container. I will also add some of the fuel treatment and may try some seafoam with diesel directly into the filter which is new. I hope the cylinder sleeve etc isn't cracked etc. but that would certainly explain why they would want to sell it , they did say it had been overheated. At least I have already broken even on body parts and transmission and few other things like radio and speakers that I have already used .I thought for sure it would be black smoke also . Yep if I can't get it doing better will try coolant system vacuum leak down.

Thanks!

Steve777 · **Joined:** Fri Oct 16, 2015 11:31 pm **Posts:** 284

What does your white smoke smell like? Is it acidic (burns the eyes/nose to be in it)? If so, then it likely is fuel. I have seen diesels smoke like that from partially clogged injectors when they were left idle for long periods of time before starting again, which sounds like might have been the case with this one. The spray patterns are not working right and combustion is incomplete. If so, some cleaner in the fuel and running a 100 or 200 miles usually clears it up...

TKB4 · **Posted:** Thu Aug 08, 2019 11:10 pm

Thanks it smelled a little like oil and it did decrease after the pumping tank out and putting fresh fuel in and it did burn my eyes some. Now there is absolutely none at idle and just a little barely noticeable when revved up and running much smoother too.

EXTREMELY HIGH FUEL USE at idle ? Bad Injector

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