1998 E300TD smoking and “ticking” at idle
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From: California, USA
1998 E300TD
1998 E300TD smoking and “ticking” at idle
Hello everyone! I have a 1998 E300TD with about 160k miles that I’ve have had for about two years now. I really like the car and it has given me very little trouble while I’ve had it. Before Thanksgiving, I was changing the oil and noticed a fuel leak coming from one of the clear plastic lines by the injector pump. To make a long story short, I replaced all the fuel lines, o rings, fuel shut off valve, fuel thermostat and the in tank strainer all for the sake of getting rid of the little bubbles in the clear plastic lines while the motor was running after fixing the actual leak. No more leaks, but now the motor smokes at idle which it never did before as well as making a “ticking” sound that was not present before either. The motor runs totally fine otherwise. The only thing I can think of is the small amount of air in the lines at idle is making the fuel mixture lean?? I have limited experience with diesels and their fueling. I’ve exhausted any parts that need replacing from the tank all the way to the injection pump. Please see the linked video for the sound. You can hear the “tick” come and go as the RPMs change. Thank you for any insight you all have on this issue!
Last edited by chuck47; Jan 12, 2018 at 01:43 AM.
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From: V E G A S
1922 Ford Model T / no OBD
Sounds are hard to present over the net and the engine on the video sounds like ... older diesel.
Can't imagine how fixing old fuel lines could affect idle, but did you check for codes?
Could be that during the job dirt enter injector and that is what is happening. The easiest starting test would be checking each cylinder with infra-red thermometer to make sure all of them work the same.
Other than that I would try diesel purge. At this mileage it is recommended anyway.
You did change fuel filter, didn't you?
Can't imagine how fixing old fuel lines could affect idle, but did you check for codes?
Could be that during the job dirt enter injector and that is what is happening. The easiest starting test would be checking each cylinder with infra-red thermometer to make sure all of them work the same.
Other than that I would try diesel purge. At this mileage it is recommended anyway.
You did change fuel filter, didn't you?
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From: California, USA
1998 E300TD
Thanks for the reply! Yeah, I know its hard to hear in the video without being there in person. No codes are present during a code scan. I did forget to mention in my initial post that the noise and smoke doesn't really appear until after its warmed up for 1-2 minutes. I'll have to try the infrared thermometer this weekend as I was thinking dirt in an injector could be an issue too. I have indeed replaced the fuel filter and ran the Liquid Moly Diesel Purge (which seemed to help for the day I purged it, then next morning, same issue again....)
I drove it to work this morning and listening to the noise, I can hear the same "tick" or "click" through the exhaust as well. What does cleaning the injectors entail? Or is that more of a shop thing to do? I've read online to crack each injector line, one at a time to isolate any injector "nailing" issues. I'll try this later today.
Thanks again!
I drove it to work this morning and listening to the noise, I can hear the same "tick" or "click" through the exhaust as well. What does cleaning the injectors entail? Or is that more of a shop thing to do? I've read online to crack each injector line, one at a time to isolate any injector "nailing" issues. I'll try this later today.
Thanks again!
Last edited by chuck47; Jan 12, 2018 at 11:39 AM.
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From: V E G A S
1922 Ford Model T / no OBD
You choose not to give your location, while injectors rebuild in America is hard to do as parts are not available.
Mechanical injectors wear out tips and the spray becomes squirt. Tips cost pennies, but only part MB USA sell is whole injector.
Still if you find local diesel shop, they might help you.
Other way to test injectors is crank the high pressure fuel line open at each injector and listen how much that change the engine idle. With no change - you have non-working injector.
Mechanical injectors wear out tips and the spray becomes squirt. Tips cost pennies, but only part MB USA sell is whole injector.
Still if you find local diesel shop, they might help you.
Other way to test injectors is crank the high pressure fuel line open at each injector and listen how much that change the engine idle. With no change - you have non-working injector.
Last edited by kajtek1; Jan 12, 2018 at 11:38 AM.
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From: California, USA
1998 E300TD
Sorry for the late update, so I cracked open each injector line, one at a time to see what would happen. So as expected, the motor would wobble with each line. No change in the audible "tick" though. Until I got to cylinder 5, the motor coughed and didn't idle normally for a few seconds AFTER reconnecting the line. All the others made the motor run fine upon reconnecting. The ticking noise never went away with any of the injector deactivations. This morning, on the way to work, the CEL came on and the car sputtered a few times up a hill, so I'll need to check to see whats going on now.... I'm very lost at this point.
