FCA or Hole in piston?

Brian Lent

Brian Lent

New member
Joined
Feb 29, 2008
Messages
290
Well I had just put new injectors in because it started idleing real rough, like it did the last time injectors went out at 90k. 140K on it now. Put 6 new bodies in and still the same. ChugChugChug and some white smoke, not alot but it is there. Could the FCA cause this or am I just wasting time changing it before I tear it apart. If I do have to tear it apart what should I do differently. I have a bad feeling in my wallet.
 
Don't forget to tell them..... truck was running good, shut truck off, started it & had very rough idle with white smoke. No codes are present.
 
Quote from a post on another website I found

"Bad FCA (fuel control acuator) if you want to trouble shoot it put some 2 stroke oil in your fuel tank if it goes away it's your FCA "
 
Just pop the injectors out and look around inside with a bore scope.
 
Might be nozzels. I am having a similar problem, so don't think your the only one. But mine seems that the stock injector bodies have 160k on them. So changing the SS bodies on Monday hopefully and putting Hamilton Springs. So 1st valve lash as well finally.
 
fordassassin said:
Might be nozzels. I am having a similar problem, so don't think your the only one. But mine seems that the stock injector bodies have 160k on them. So changing the SS bodies on Monday hopefully and putting Hamilton Springs. So 1st valve lash as well finally.
Click to expand...

He just had the nozzles installed on new bodies & tested. The nozzles were like new.
 
Bore scopes are expensive especially ones that small. Do you know any mechanics that might let you borrow one? The one i used was a snap-on scope. Wasnt able to see the piston walls very good but could see the tops on the pistons. Injectors might be your problem, i have had several reman injectors that were bad from the get go.
 
Tonight, we changed the FCA to rule that out. Nothing changed. Then we removed the turbo/exhaust manifold & fired it up. No.6 cylinder rolls the white smoke out constantly as the rest of the cylinders puff smoke. We are going to swap the #6 injector with a different cylinder to rule that out, then its off with the head.
 
Head gasket? Had the same symptoms the last time I blew a head gasket. No coolant loss or anything, just missfire in cylinder 5
 
tcalvin said:
Head gasket? Had the same symptoms the last time I blew a head gasket. No coolant loss or anything, just missfire in cylinder 5
Click to expand...

I'm thinking scored cylinder wall. There is no sign of oil in Antifreeze or Antifreeze in oil.
 
We switched the injectors & problem is still there...#6 cylinder smokes like a train. We are unbolting the head now...not looking good.
 
Well I hope its not a scored cylinder that would be expensive. Hopefully its the head gasket. Great work on diagnosing it so far though!
 
The cylinders all look good, but #6 has minor scratches from where a piece of the headgasket broke off scratching the wall. Can't even grab the scratch with your fingernail. The head is at the machine shop getting fluxed, flattened & freshened. Here are pics.

http://i423.photobucket.com/albums/pp318/cummins724/SD532871.jpg
http://i423.photobucket.com/albums/pp318/cummins724/Brians%20pistons/SD532879.jpg
http://i423.photobucket.com/albums/pp318/cummins724/SD532870.jpg
http://i423.photobucket.com/albums/pp318/cummins724/SD532873.jpg
 
been there with a scored cylinder wall on number 1 before.... thank god it wasnt number 6. we bored it .020 over in the truck... it has 30k miles on it now and still runs like a champ...
it had a ton of blow by and would drop a qt of oil on the ground after a short highway run....

good luck on the head. it could have been a lot worse!
 
Thanks guys. we will see what they say about the head. If not out she comes. Money is tight this year so wishing for the best.
 
Only one of those pics works. At least it looks like it ain't the cylinder. If you can't catch the scratch on your nail then I doubt it's a dead cylinder.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top