Club 80-90 Forums

My marvellous '89 Magnum suddenly started clattering & producing white smoke. It still pulls OK & still has coolant in. Any clues? I'll take it to the garage, but a bit of guidance would not go amiss. Cheers.

Hi Vandad,

got this off http://www.aa1car.com/library/diesel.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - it may help


DIESEL TROUBLESHOOTING WHITE SMOKE

White smoke usually occurs when there is not enough heat to burn the fuel. The unburned fuel particles go out the tailpipe and typically produce a rich fuel smell. It's not unusual to see white smoke in the exhaust during cold weather until the engine warms up.

As mentioned earlier, bad glow plugs or a faulty glow plug control module can cause white smoke on engine start up. Low engine cranking speed may also produce white smoke.

If white smoke is still visible after the engine has warmed up, the engine may have one or more bad injectors, retarded injection timing or a worn injection pump. Low compression can also be a source of white smoke. Air in the fuel system can also cause white smo

first and cheapest test would be to run some injector cleaner through with the fuel first and see if its an injector that claggered up. then run through list as above glow plugs, injectors,fuel pump timing, etc

regards doug

Thanks guys, I'll post a report when it's all been checked.

Latest news is it looks like an injector not working (when the pipe to injector 2 was loosened, the smoke stopped) AND the water pump is squirting water out of the vent/drain on the top.

Hello All,
Now looks like it's at least a head gasket as pressure is down on one cyl., so the head needs to come off. I think this can be done in situ and I'm sure I saw an article somewhere, but I can't find it now. When I read that article it said expect to find the head cracked. So I'm looking at new/recon head. JustKampers do them. Has anyone recently bought a head and had a good experience? Thanks all.

PS Found it https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=179728" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Marvellous.

Don't bother with a recon, get a new one. Bought mine from http://www.hamlinsengineering.co.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. They are based in my home town and gave good service.

I bought an of the shelf new one for 500 pounds, seems to work fine, it says AMC on it and is really shiny.

damongrounsel and Bibo Blue thanks for your replies. Please help with the following if you can: How many miles has the head done now? Did you buy a bare head or one with cams etc. in (excuse my ignorance). How did you get the bolt out of the middle of the cam sprocket when removing the old head as mine is super-tight? Thanks very much. I'm under some pressure now. I managed to buy the van in time for half term, but it then spent half term in bits. Summer holidays are fast approaching. thanks everyone for your help.

A big thank you to everyone who helped me decide to get one and then helped with advice when the engine went. Replacement AAZ now in and running and MOT'd1 year later. Marvellous. VANDAD.

well done for sticking with it and coming back to report the good news , enjoy