LLY: Need some help with white smoke

[Big Angry]

Hey guys,
Saturday morning, my buddy's 04 C4500 Rollback started puffing white smoke and running with a miss on the way to work. Initial thoughts were injector perhaps, as we finally got a p0302, cylinder #2 misfire. I checked the balance rates with his predator and my laptop, and in D, with the brake on, injectors were all around -6, except #2 was 15. Figured it was an injector, so he got one today as he depends on this truck for his repair business. Replaced the injector, and it is running the same, same code, lots of white smoke, same miss.
He told me today that about 20,000 miles ago, (truck has about 65k total) he had the head gasket on the drivers side replaced by GM under warranty. His fear is now that the block is warped, and it's never seated right since the repair, and wont' seat right until it's decked. Would a head gasket blow bad enough to do this? Any thoughts? I won't be back that way until Thursday night, but he's looking at getting another engine, so he can run the truck until his gets to the machine shop, and then keep it for a spare.
He has a predator on it for about 50k miles, mostly on 85 or 65hp settings.

I appreciate any advice.

 

[Kat]

Go to Harbor Freight and pick up a compression tester and do a compression test

 

[LarryJewell]

Good luck with it

 

[KEVINL]

-6 is a bad balence rate -15 is downright terrible What are the balance rates now -15 would probabaly indicate a huge compression loss

 

[Big Angry]

Am I to conclude that you guys think it's worse than a head gasket?
Would a head gasket/warped block issue trigger a cylinder misfire code and cause the balance rates to be so far out?

 

[jmoore]

Also check out the compression gas tester that pulls gases out of the radiator threw some blue fluid if it turns yellow compression gas is getting in the coolant hope this helps.

 

[Big Angry]

just for the record, #2 was +15, not negative 15.

 

[KEVINL]

My balance rates looked okay with my bad head gasket

So did the compression test

 

[LarryJewell]

I wouldnt want to speculate, I agree with Kat, get the compression test done

 

[Big Angry]

So, if he is down on compression, is it possible the block is warped? Or is the other possibility a cracked piston or something to that effect?
Speculation won't scare or offend me. :hug:

 

[Kat]

So, if he is down on compression, is it possible the block is warped? Or is the other possibility a cracked piston or something to that effect?
Speculation won't scare or offend me. :hug:

If he is down on compression then most likely a cracked/hole in piston.

 

[Big Angry]

If he is down on compression then most likely a cracked/hole in piston.

That is what I was thinking about, that it was more than a head gasket/warping issue (although I guess niether are very good).

 

[LarryJewell]

has he been hammering it a lot, or just normal driving in the mid level's of the predator.

 

[Kat]

has he been hammering it a lot, or just normal driving in the mid level's of the predator.

Unfortunately Pat has seen busted pistons just with a Predator years ago

 

[Big Angry]

has he been hammering it a lot, or just normal driving in the mid level's of the predator.

Ok, it's been hammered on since it was new. Everything he owns is. It's a crewcab with a 19' rollback on it, it's heavy (about 13000lbs) and it's been rode hard and put away wet. Never "abused", but used, hard.
My biggest concern (personally) was that he put the pyro probe about 2-3' downstream of the turbo, and it never really got hot. I had (still do) a strong feeling that he was NOT getting an accurate reading of how hot things were really getting when he was on it, or towing heavy (Western PA has a lot of hills).
So, I'm afraid that he's had exposed it to higher EGT's than perhaps he's realized. I know that heat kills pistons.

 

[LarryJewell]

Unfortunately Pat has seen busted pistons just with a Predator years ago

It would be helpful if we could come up with a common denominator as to what is the main cause of failures and why some are lasting much longer than others. :bdh:

 

[TrentNell]

I doubt its a head gasket , if it were leaking by enough to throw the balance rates off that much it would explode hoses and such in the cooling system you would think . best of luck , for your freinds sake i hope i'm wrong and his compression test is perfect . unless a head leak hydroed a cylinder and bent a rod . like i said who knows untill a compression test is done

 

[sweetdiesel]

Cylinder misfire useally means a bad piston IMO is it run ruff? How is the crankcase vent? What about when you take the cap off the oil fill,is there pressure

Is oil down/up Coolant down/up? can you clear the code or does it just come back?

 

[Big Angry]

Thanks guys. I'm not a mechanic, but I doubted the head gasket as being the issue all along, at least not the main issue.
He's pretty much accepted the fact he needs a motor. We're looking right now, have a line on one, but shipping and transferring funds are going to take a few days and I think he was expecting one to pop up like tomorrow.
So, he's going to look for a new one to run for now, and then he'll get around to figuring out what is up with this one.

 

[MaxPowerLB7]

Bad head gasket=wet glow plugs
Cracked piston=lots of blow by
Stuck injector=Just white smoke

This is my opinion based on experience.