I know this looks like I am replying to my own post but this a reply from my newletter this morning. I found these links to be very helpful. I thought I would pass this along to others with diesel issues. Brian Rodgers Hi, Brian-
I am not much of a mechanic. That disclaimer being issued, let me say this- White exhaust smoke can be and often is a symptom of a blown head gasket. White smoke can also be symptomatic of oil burning. White smoke from a blown head gasket is actually steam produced from coolant entering the combustion chamber(s). When you fired the Peugot up the first time, I put my hand in the white exhaust stream. It did not feel particularly humid, which it would if the white were due to billows of steam being produced. As I recall, the pungent stink of burning anti-freeze, which would be present if coolant was exiting the exhaust, was also missing. Moreover, in my limited experience, the white smoke from a blown head gasket does not go away when the engine warms up. Are there alternate hypotheses which would account for ballooning coolant hoses and white smoke on start-up? I can think of at least one, and I am no diesel guru. From what I recall of your coolant system, there was some conspicuously bass-ackwards backyard mechanicking done. E.G, The thermostat housing was entirely absent and the thermostat was jimmied into one of the coolant lines with hose clamps. So, it is at least possible that the hoses are ballooning because the coolant flow is obstructed either by crud deposits or by misadventures of improvised repair. If this were the case, I would look to the white smoke as being non-combusted fuel or possibly oil burning on start-up, unrelated to the coolant issue. Diesels often generate white smoke on start-up due to non-combusted fuel. Diesels, particularly those run on dino-diesel, are also prone to building up carbon deposits which can in turn cause low compression and even oil-burning due to loss of ring seal. Either of these could be your problem with the white smoke. If the problem is carbon build-up, it can often be addressed by running a can or two of diesel-purge directly through the injectors (not added to the gas tank) and driving the beast pedal-to-the-metal for a few thousand miles. See here- http://www.peemac.sdnpk.org/resource/fert/tips5.html and here http://www.intellidog.com/dieselmann/idi2.htm For info on diesels indicating that white smoke on start-up is most often caused by non-combusted fuel, low compression, etc. Not trying to be a know-it-all or tell you what to do, you are after all much more experienced with auto repair than am I. I have learned though, the hard way, that the road to simplicity and bliss in such matters lies in eliminating the easy stuff first. So maybe a prudent first step would be to restore the coolant system to its proper state, replacing the thermostat housing, checking the thermostat, flushing the system, checking how the lines are routed and replacing them as appropriate. You would need to do this at some point anyway. If this takes care of the coolant issue, then you will have saved yourself many hours of unnecessary aggravation. Regards, Lee _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
