67 Ford 2000 white smoke/misfire

Im back again seeking advice/guidance from the best of the best!!

67 Ford 2000 Diesel

**At the bottom of this post is a link to a YouTube video of the problem**

Ok guys. Many of you have helped me along with this tractor and I appreciate it!! I have had this issue and figured I would attack it when the time is right.

Im having a problem with the tractor white smoking and misfiring at higher RPM. I cant pin point an exact RPM as the tach isnt working. At idle and lower to mid range RPM the engine runs smooth but it does white smoke a bit but when you crank the rpm up it has a miss to it and white smokes a lot more. When your outside driving the tractor around at low to mid range RPM the white smoke is barely noticeable or not noticeable at all but definitely is visible at high RPMs (when the tractor begins to miss). Also, when you blip the throttle white smoke comes out pretty good. When the tractor is running inside even with the garage door open it has a pretty strong diesel smell, even to the fact your eyes will burn if you stay in there long enough. Outside obviously it isnt as noticeable. I would say its more smoke than steam but the video does show it fairly well so let me know what you think.

Here is what Ive done so far:
New fuel filters
Fresh diesel
New fuel injectors
Flushed, cleaned the oil bath air cleaner
Adjusted the valves

The previous owner stated the fuel injector was rebuilt last year. I was originally thinking maybe it was a poorly timed fuel pump but according to the dealer it wouldnt run at all if the pump wasnt timed correctly. They are leaning toward a head gasket problem. They advised to start the tractor while the engine is cold and look for bubbles in the coolant reservoir while it was running. I did that and had no bubbles. The reservoir is full and the level has stayed consistent. The crank case oil has good color. Its not milky indicating the coolant and oil is mixing. The temperature gauge does work and it doesnt overheat according to the gauge. The next warm day Im going to get the tractor back up to operating temperature and see if it still smokes at idle and lower/mid range RPM. Again, outside its hard to see and the last time I really used it I didnt notice. I know it still smokes and misses at higher rpms even when the engine is warm.

Lastly, no I havent done a compression test. Im thinking maybe Ive got low compression in a cylinder(s) due to wore out piston rings. Ive never done a compression test before so Ill have to research the proper way to do it. In a gasoline engine Im assuming you could remove the spark plug and test compression that way but not sure how you would in a diesel. Maybe remove the fuel injector? Ill research that.

Here is the link to the video on YouTube. Again, thank you for the help and information.

https://youtu.be/BXhmm9wBNGA

Do a balance test... with the engine idling,, loosen the nut on the feed line where it goes into the injector... one at a time... as you loosen the line, the engine should slow down or even die... so do one at a time... if you loosen a line and it does not slow down or die, that cyl is not firing. And now you know were to test and look.... so.. it that cyl... have a bad injector, sticking valve, burnt valve, blown gasket, cracked block or head, or a bad feed from the injector pump only on that cyl?? What was the outside temp in the video? At very low idle, you could the one cyl not firing and the flapper jumping badly... but again if very very cold, and just started, and idle set too too low, that may not be a problem. If engine is up to temps and its still doing that, then it could be idled too low, but more likely we are seeing a problem. Your reving up farther seems to show a cyl not firing correctly... Have you cranked it over with the valve covers off to see if all the rocker arms move the same amount?? ie checking for bad cam lobe? Have you swapped the non firing cyl injector with another cyl to see if the problem stays or moves?? white is either water or unburnt diesel coming out of exhaust...

(quoted from post at 16:33:24 03/24/22) Do a balance test... with the engine idling,, loosen the nut on the feed line where it goes into the injector... one at a time... as you loosen the line, the engine should slow down or even die... so do one at a time... if you loosen a line and it does not slow down or die, that cyl is not firing. And now you know were to test and look.... so.. it that cyl... have a bad injector, sticking valve, burnt valve, blown gasket, cracked block or head, or a bad feed from the injector pump only on that cyl?? What was the outside temp in the video? At very low idle, you could the one cyl not firing and the flapper jumping badly... but again if very very cold, and just started, and idle set too too low, that may not be a problem. If engine is up to temps and its still doing that, then it could be idled too low, but more likely we are seeing a problem. Your reving up farther seems to show a cyl not firing correctly... Have you cranked it over with the valve covers off to see if all the rocker arms move the same amount?? ie checking for bad cam lobe? Have you swapped the non firing cyl injector with another cyl to see if the problem stays or moves?? white is either water or unburnt diesel coming out of exhaust...

Click to expand...

The temperature outside was not cold at all. If I remember correctly it was mid 60s. Ok, Ill crack each line one at a time and see if it makes a difference. My thoughts were the same as your and that it idled rough. Usually when I use it I never idle it down that low and yes it still does then even after the engine has been warmed up.

Recently I did have the valve cover off to adjust the valves, which they were all out of adjustment. While I did that I went ahead and bought new fuel injectors and put them on as well but it didnt fix the issue. I only recall one time that it didnt have that miss in it at higher rpm so not sure what was different that day. I have spoke to several different New Holland mechanics and all of them have agreed to disagree on this. They have all said various things but one did recommend getting fuel treatment and running through it just to see if that makes any difference at all. I know we all have our own opinions about additives but he seemed to swear by them.

When I had the valve cover off I didnt notice anything down right wrong. Having to get cyl 1 at TDC by yourself meant I was rotating the crap out of the engine by hand which sucked. and I passed TDM several times. Spinning, looking, spinning, looking, rinse and repeat it seemed that all the valves were opening and closing like they should have been. Who knows how long the tractor has been ran out of adjustment. All of them were pretty well past .020. Not sure if running the tractor this way has damaged something in the head??

The tractor is not hard to start even with that little battery in it (750cca). Even at cold temps it fires up pretty easily especially compared to some Ive seen with much bigger batterys. Even though I mentioned earlier most mechanics agree to disagree on the possible culprit(s) they all have pretty well ruled out the fuel pump being out of time due to how well it starts. You can see from the video the tractor seems to run decently smooth at mid range rpm. They all said it wouldnt start as easy or run that smooth with a mis times pump.

I know its a long reply, sorry about that. Ill start off with cracking the lines and see if that makes a difference for the idling issue. Ill pick up some fuel cleaner and run through it a while to see if any of that helps. Ill be able to try some things today and report back.

I though that I was seeing steam for a second. Too short a time to be able to tell.

(quoted from post at 05:48:03 03/25/22)

I though that I was seeing steam for a second. Too short a time to be able to tell.

Click to expand...

Its hard to tell even in person. Just judging how it floats around I believe its smoke but I could be wrong.

I cracked each fuel line at the injector and all cylinders are definitely firing. I quick adjustment of the idle screw fixed the low idle problem.

I went to my local New Holland dealer and picked up my manual today. While I was there I bought their recommended fuel additive Total Power. Im going to run the tractor for a bit, get it up to operating temp, and see if that helps any over time. I also bought some Lucas Upper Cylinder treatment to see if that helps as it claims to help piston rings and restore compression. Ive got my doubts but well see. One thing I did notice is once you go wide open on the throttle it clears up. It just seems to be in higher mid range the tractor doesnt like. Either below or above it runs smooth.

Theres no doubt to me that the engine needs redone. I mean, were talking about a 55 yr old tractor, and I seriously doubt its ever been rebuilt. The tach is showing 4600 hours but its not hooked up anymore. Im going to run it as it this year and this fall start the restoration.