White Smoke

[Nero]

Hi There Lads! Just bought a New boat recently. Lots of work carried out inc: Engine overhaul. Tons of receipts and photos of the work especially of the engine being stripped Bench tested and re-built. I was told by the previous owner that the engine dosent burn any oil and I believe him. He also told me at startup the engine gives off a lot of white smoke until it warms up which takes 10/15 minutes then the smoke disapears. It is a Ford 6 cylinder with turbo. I have started and run the thing but 10/15 minutes is a long time in a Marina with mountains of white smoke belching out and all other boat owners watching.. There seems to be a diesel smell and lots of oil residue on the water .....The previous told me he got the pump re-calibrated by Lansing Marine again Receipt but it made no difference.....Any bright sparks among yourselves out there can help I would definately appreciate........Nero

[jwalker]

Hi Nero, do you know of boatdiesel.com? It may be worth a rake around there.

[Leroy]

Nero,

Mine does exactly the same, its a 250hp Ford Sabre with less than 50 hrs since rebuild, I have had the injectors overhauled pump checked etc..
It doesnt use any oil but when it is cold the amount of smoke is unbelievable, it really turns heads!
As soon as you load it up though the smoke clears, from what I understand the white smoke is the diesel that has not completley burnt due to the bores being cold and also a low compression ratio.
I also get a bit of a sheen on the water.
If the smoke clears when it warms up under load and the pressures and temperatures are right then I dont think there is much wrong with it.
Lancing do make a de-smoke kit which makes the engine idle on 3 cylinders when in neutral but speaking with the guys at Mermaid they didnt like the idea so I didnt go down that road.
I just try not to fire it up when my neighbours are on their boats.

[Searider]

Due to the low compression ratio to allow plenty of boost they will smoke when cold.

Don't start up until you're ready to cast off.

Start up, untie and go!

Once you're in gear the little bit of load should reduce the smoke and also assist in warming up.

Heard a tale of an Owner of an old Fairey Spearfish who used to cast off before starting his engines they were so smoky!

[codprawn]

A lot of older diesels do this - that's why I like petrol.............

[Nero]

Thanks Lads! Much appreciated! I am going to have a Marine diesel chap look at it on Wednesday just to make sure that the pump timing is accurate. He has told me over the phone that he didnt hold out much hope as to a fix. He like your selves says that that type of engine is proned to smoke when cold....... Anyone got any other sugestions please post a thread. You all have Solomons Wisdom..... Nero

[jwalker]

Would keeping the heater plugs running for a wee while after starting not help burn the cold diesel?

[Pete7]

If its white smoke there is no fix, don't worry about it. Duncan is right it's quite bad on start up but quickly goes when you open her up. Old Spice also did it, and it's more noticeable during the winter months with cool air temperatures. Why? well I think the white smoke is caused by the exhaust gases causing steam in the cold wet exhausts were the raw water cooling mixes with the hot exhaust gas. This is added to by grey smoke which Fords also seem to suffer with, but quickly clear once the engine is hot and under load. Good news is that the engine is purely mechanical and simple to work on or fix.

Jeff, the heater plugs is a single plug on the inlet manifold rather than one per cylinder and on Old Spice was disconnected. Never needed it even with ice on the deck. What is does like when its really cold is the engine cover open and the sun to shine on the engine for 10 minutes. Allows the cold air around the engine to warm up and away she goes.

Pete

[captnjack]

White smoke is typically steam or water vapor. Black or dark gray would be unburnt diesel. I don't know your particluar engine but cold with no load on it I really doubt its unburnt fuel.

[mike-stgt]

Hi there, white smoke from a diesel engine is a sign of low compression.
The unburned diesel gets out as white steam. Elder tubos have a low mechanical compression to be steady on turbo power.
The solution will be to adjust the cold start a little more lean.
In the diesel pump , there is a thermostat for the warm up phase to give a higher and stable idle. But in marine engines for leisure use, the is no need for
cold start with -20 degrees.

Greetings from Germany
Mike

[Matt]

On JF's motors, the reduction in knocking when the motor's cold is very noticeable with the plugs on.

Originally Posted by jwalker

Would keeping the heater plugs running for a wee while after starting not help burn the cold diesel?

[captnjack]

Just get it warm faster by putting a load on it. I'm not very up to date on modern marine diesels, my last diesel was a Ford built in 1972. Didn't have any provisions to make the cold start richer/leaner.

[Nero]

Hi Lads! Many thanks for your imput in my White Smoke scenario, in truth ye all have the Wisdom of Solomon. Leroy seems to have the same problem as myself and I know how he feels. I can see us in the future going around our Marina's calling Unclean as the Lepers of old had to do, and being scorned upon by the Haines/Broom owners. I found an interesting article by a guy from Seaboard Marine. Maybe it might be of use, or a topic for discussion for some esp: Leroy. Go to Google. Type in Diesel Engine White Smoke. Ignore the first five or six pages and I think it is on either seven or eight. You will see the reference to Marine Diesel/ White Smoke. As I said in my first thread a Marine specialist is coming tomorrow Wednesday to look at mine, so I shall let you Dons of Knowledge know what he thinks is the problem........Nero