# Liquid in exhaust 1970 Ford 4000 201 diesel.



## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

Since the temp has cooled down, I started seeing some fine, misty black liquid spraying from the exhaust just under the muffler where the pipes connect. I split a pop can and fastened it to the to pipes to keep it off the newly painted hood. The nasty stuff ran down the pipe, across the manifold and onto the oil filter. I started searching on the net and found 2 diesel garage sites that described such an exhaust discharge and said it was causes from fuel injectors putting drops of fuel into the motor instead of atomized mist. One site showed taking the injector out and putting on a test stand. It put out a little mist from 1 of 4 holes in the tip, but mostly drops of fuel. A new injector produced a fine short burst of fine mist from all 4 holes. This also causes hard starting. I had not seen this issue on this forum.

I ordered the injector repair kit which is a new nozzle tip aND the fire ring and cork gasket. Sort of an adventure since I had never seen an injector before. Actually played the video of the injector Repair while doing the repair. Jerry thought this was funny. Something about the blind leading the blind. Finally got the job completed in 7 hours including bleeding air from the system. Probably an 1 hour job for those who have a clue.

Results were dramatic. At 40 deg the engine started up in 4 sec with 15 sec preheat on thermal start. After shut down, engine started right up in 3 sec with no starting aid. Tried this morning when temp was 24 deg. Used 30 sec on thermal start and engine started at 11 seconds. This was a dramatic improvement from what I had been seeing. No starting fluI'd at all. Confident about winter starts now. Did not even use the block heater for this test. 

No more smoke in exhaust after 2-3 minutes. Smoked all the time before. No more liquid in exhaust.

The injectors were difficult to remove due to soot buildup in injector hole. End of injectors were completely covered with soot. Went back in easily after everything cleaned. Compression was from 360 to 380 psi across all 3 cylinders. I read where it should be 400 psi plus for this engine, so might have to look at overhaul in near future. Seems to run fin now after injector overhaul.

Does anyone know the time frame for an injector overhaul/ replacement. The Web site said this should be part of normal maintenance, but did not give any time frame.


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## marc_hanna (Apr 10, 2017)

You can get thousands of hours out of the injectors. I’ve got 450,000 kms on my 24valve Cummins which equates to about 8,000 hrs, and I’m just starting to consider replacing them now. They don’t really need it, but I would like a little more HP. 

One of the concerns with tractors is the long periods that they sit sometimes. If corrosion occurs in the cylinders you’re going to get some wear and some blow-by and reduced compression. Consistently using an injector cleaner will keep the carbon deposits at bay and maintain a good spray pattern. Regular oil changes with a good full-syn and using your tractor at least once a month will keep the corrosion away.


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

Thanks for the info. Brother in law had shed that burned down and is looking at carport type enclosure for storage. I cannot afford either right now. He and father have had diesels on farm for 70 yrs. He says diesels do better when run daily. Before fire he rotated per chores so each tractor ran every other day. Outside storage needs to be run daily. Covered storage weekly. He has never had a motor failure in all the years. He doesn't fool with injectors unless the tractor starts running poorly, then replaces. Never overhauled an injector when I asked advice. At 1/2 the cost of a new injector, he now wants to farm that out to me. NO THANKS. He gets 6,000-8,000 hours out of his, as long as the tractor does not sit idle. Can be as low as 100 hours if it just sits and not run. How do these people on YouTube get tractors and other equipment to run after sitting 25+ years. Something starting to smell.


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## thepumpguysc (Jan 25, 2015)

Theres no doubt, fresh injectors WILL wake up a diesel engine..
I plead w/ my customers to PLEASE send your injectors in, with your leaking pump..
The pump merely pumps fuel UP TO the injectors.. The injectors are responsible to atomize the fuel so it can burn..


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## marc_hanna (Apr 10, 2017)

Ed Williams said:


> How do these people on YouTube get tractors and other equipment to run after sitting 25+ years. Something starting to smell.


What you don’t see is all the prep work they did before hand.


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

I still think they are misleading. It makes for a.better show and more hits on their channel. Most I have seen give the definite impression that they are starting the diesel motor "as is" . Even touting that the fuel being used is 25 years old in the fuel tank. They certainly give the impression that they slap a fresh set of batteries in and it fires right up. Just think people need to engage the brain filter prior to watching these miracle exploits, and maybe a disclaimer for those whose brain filter is no longer functioning.


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

thepumpguysc said:


> Theres no doubt, fresh injectors WILL wake up a diesel engine..
> I plead w/ my customers to PLEASE send your injectors in, with your leaking pump..
> The pump merely pumps fuel UP TO the injectors.. The injectors are responsible to atomize the fuel so it can burn..


One question. Should I be looking at replacing the entire injector? I only replaced the nozzle tip and plunger per the repair kit. Nothing touched on the upper part of the injector. The tip replacement made sense as that is wheRe combustion occurs and carbon will build up. But does the.upper section not experience wear and also needs to be replaced. I found a reputable source for rebuilt injectors for $29.95, the same price for new tips. They guarantee the injectors meet OEM specs for all parts and give a 2 yr warranty. Would it not be wise to purchase a set of these rebuilt injectors at that price to have as spares? Or, is this paranoid overkill again.


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## thepumpguysc (Jan 25, 2015)

The upper part of the inj. is the spring chamber & that's where u set the opening pressure.. its screw adjustable.. U set the pressure on a pop tester & adjust the spring tension to open the injector.
There is no such thing as a reputable rebuilt Delphi/CAV injector for 30.00..
Labor ALONE exceeds THAT..
Theres another member on here that went thru a similar experience w/ his injectors until I reached out.. 
Did u compare the #'s on the old tips to the #'s on the new tips ?? Where they the same or different..?? or did u order them based soley on the tractor model..??
U rolled the dice JUST REPLACING the tips & not getting them set or checked..
BUT.. if the engine doesn't skip or miss.. & doesnt blow black smoke out of 1 cylinder..run it..
To answer your question.. no, u shouldn't be looking to replace the whole injector.
The tip is what does the work & u replaced it.. HOPEFULLY w/ the correct one.


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

Thank you so much. That is what I needed to know. "If it's too good to be true, it probably is". I really hate being a newby. So much I have to learn yet.

The tractor is running really good now. Very little to no smoke after start, and no more black liquid from exhaust pipe. Since I never throw anything away, I took the old tips and rigged them in a small rack so they would cascade one to another. Circulated MEK solvent through them for hours. They look all Shiney now and I can see 4 tiny holes in each tip. Can they be reused after cleaning?


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## thepumpguysc (Jan 25, 2015)

Yes they can.. I try to clean & reuse every nozzle to save everyone money..
BUT U NEED a pop tester inorder to tell the condition of the nozzle.
Sometimes it works & sometimes not..
& when u have a 3 cyl.. & 2 work & 1 doesn't, its always best to replace all 3..
U didn't answer the part # question.. inquiring minds wanna know.. lol
Did u compare/order by, the #'s on the tips or by the tractor mdl. ?


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

I told you I was a DUMMY. I ordered by tractor model. There is an underlying reason. I have to undergo surgery on both eyes before the end of the year before deductible runs out. I will be out of action 2-3 months. Trained Jerry on how to get both tractors started and how to push snow forwards and reverse and not tear up driveways in case we get snow before I heal up. Hate to take short cuts, but sometimes circumstances dictate actions. So far, everything looks good with tractors. Got all required maintenance done before surgery and snowfall. Got Jerry 75- 80 hours of grader blade experience with both tractors. Hope he can handle the snow removal this year.


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

One additional note. I did check and get the injector model number for the year, tractor, and motor. There was only 1 injector part number listed. I ordered the aftermarket nozzle that was matched to that model injector. Since I did not pull the injectors and get the nozzle numbers off them, I did order by tractor and not part number, but I thought it was reasonable after the initial research.


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