4000 4 cylinder diesel puffing white smoke

Tom in TN

Well-known Member
I have a Ford 4000, 4 cylinder, diesel, general purpose tractor. It puffs white smoke on startup and any time the throttle is advanced, even when it is advanced by the governor. So far, I have:

1. Drained the fuel tank and put in fresh fuel
2. Added a high priced Barr's head gasket sealer to the radiator
3. Timed and checked, rechecked, and rechecked the injection pump timing. It is set to 18 degrees BTC, without any doubt.
4. The coolant level in the radiator is not going down and there are no bubbles or foam in the radiator.
5. I cleaned and refilled the oil bath air cleaner and even ran the engine with no air cleaner on it, but that made no difference.
6. I replaced the two umbrella seals and the O-ring on the injector pump drive shaft, plus the large O-ring on the end of the shaft that mates with the engine block when the pump is installed. I replaced these seals because the oil level in the oil pan was growing when I ran the tractor. It is no longer growing. I changed the oil and filter and the oil now looks perfectly clean.
7. Replaced a couple of fuel lines whose ferrule nuts were screwed up.
8. I can hear the engine surging slightly when it is idling. The tach shows a variation of maybe ten RPM.

I'm flummoxed. Any ideas of what I should do next to fix the white smoking?

Thanks for any advice.

Tom in TN
 
Later engines are timed 23 degrees BTDC, I'd try that. If the engine speed is unstable at any throttle setting injection pump MAY need serviced. Just returned a 172 pump that the weight retainer ring was bad, and that was his complaint. If it IS going bad, and the pins shear off the pump MAY seize the hydraulic head, and break the drive shaft. Gets REALLY expensive when that happens..
 
Dieseltech,

Thanks for the response. The degree markings on the flywheel are VERY indistinct. I counted and recounted the marks many times to insure that I had the pump at 18 degrees. There is a major line on the flywheel up at about 40 degrees BTDC, but I discounted it because it is so far advanced.

The pump is very tight in the block. It is nearly impossible to rotate it even with the securing nuts backed way off. Does that sound normal to you? I had planned to rotate the pump slightly while the engine was running to see if it cleared up the smoke, but I really couldn't do that with reasonable force on the pump. To move the pump even slightly, I had to put a brass punch on the base of the pump and tap it with a light ballpeen hammer. That doesn't seem right to me, but that's the way it is.

The engine starts very easily and has good power, but the excessive smoke is obviously wrong.

Tom in TN
 
On ANY Stanadyne/Roosa injection pump, ALWAYS ADJUST TIMING WITH ENGINE OFF!! There's a risk of head seizure and drive shaft breaking when "power timing" like a gas distributor when the pump hold down hardware is loose. Pump should not be that tight in the block, unless there's something wrong with the steel pump pilot tube which is special to the Ford engine. I'm more concerned about the engine speed, if not stable, and varies without touching the throttle there MAY be governor issues. If that's the case the advance curve will be effected also, making white smoke more noticeable.
 
Dieseltech,

Thanks for the warning. I won't try to move the pump with the engine running.

This particular pump doesn't have the pilot tube in it. I think they might have eliminated them on later models. The umbrella seals go up into the pump housing itself. At least, I didn't find a pilot tube when I pulled it apart to replace the seals.

Thanks again,

Tom in TN
 
Pump DOES have a tube, a steel one like no other Roosa pump has with an O ring groove on the end. Been repairing them over forty years, every one I've ever seen, including one just last week has the steel tube. MF and IH had some models with steel also, while most pumps do use brass in different lengths.
 
Dieseltech,

Oh, Wow! I really missed that when I put the new seals in. Is it possible that the pump pilot bushing was inside the pump and just didn't come out when I pulled the shaft? I have a parts diagram from the New Holland website clearly showing the pilot so I was expecting to have it. I also have a parts diagram from Stanadyne that I THINK is for this particular pump that doesn't have a pilot. So, when I didn't see the pilot, I wasn't surprised.

Is it even possible for the pump to work without the pilot in it?

Thanks again,

Tom in TN
 
The pilot tube is part of the pump housing, is not shown even on the Stanadyne/Roosa parts break down spec sheet. It's listed at the end with other parts, like top cover solenoid if used. New housings come with it installed, while replacement tubes are a bit smaller, with grooves cut on the OD for the two part epoxy used during installation. Pump won't be centered on the engine without it. A new one from Stanadyne takes most of a Ben Franklin, as it's only application is Ford.
 

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