I have a 1999 f250 with a 7.3l turbo diesel. I started it and it made a pinging noise extremely loud and blew a lot of white smoke. I checked my levels and my coolant was low. I put more coolant in and it went back to the same low level it was at when i first checked it. I checked my oil dipstick and theres no trace of water. It was raining but it looked like there was fluid coming from under my truck. It had that rainbow look like oil, but it was under the coolant on the drivers side. Im lost on this 1, I dont think its my head gasket because theres no water on the dip stick, I think it may be my water pump. But not sure. Any input or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

fire joe,

Welcome to FTF

With the little information given here is a start. If the engine was cold, white smoke at start up of a diesel is normal and is generally caused by unburned fuel. Once the combustion chambers are warm the white smoke should disappear.

Check to see if you have an external leak in the cooling system, (hoses, water pump etc). You can also pressure test the cooling system.

A little more info would be helpful. Miles on engine/truck, outside temps, engine warm or cold at startup. How fast did the water level drop. Any engine modifications?

The miles on the truck is 201K, outside temp is about 35 degrees and it was still blownin white smoke while at normal operating temp. The anti freeze level drop was unsure of and modifications on the truck is a cold air intake, straight pipe with a bully dog 3 stage.

fire joe,

Still blowing white smoke at normal operating temps is not a good thing, albeit it was cold outside and an idling diesel engine gets cold quickly.

On a warm diesel engine, white smoke can be caused by bad injector(s), worn injection pump, improper injection timing, low cylinder compression or air in the fuel system.

To determine your coolant loss the first thing i would do is look for external coolant leaks and pressure test the cooling system.

You may have multiple problems, a coolant problem and a fuel system problem.

Thanks for your help, any ideas where to start on the fuel system problem?

I don't have the 7.3 manual in front of me but here are a couple of links to some general information to get started. If you have the service manuals the tests are outlined there.
www.intellidog.com/dieselmann/idi.htm
www.intellidog.com/dieselmann/tech.htm
www.intellidog.com/dieselmann/repair.htm

1998-1999.5 7.3 (Warning 39Mb) www.forddoctorsdts.com/publications/ctb1/98 99.5 7.3 DIT Power Stroke Direct Injection.pdf

1999.5 Engine Changes (2Mb) www.forddoctorsdts.com/publications/ctb1/1999.5 DIT Engine Update.pdf

7.3 High pressure pump guide (4Mb) www.forddoctorsdts.com/publications/ctb1/Technician 7_3 HPOP Guide.pdf

One of the ford techs may be along in a little bit with more help.

Also the 7.3's thermostat housing would warp and slowly leak. Just throwin that out there

blackhat620 said:

On a warm diesel engine, white smoke can be caused by bad injector(s), worn injection pump, improper injection timing, low cylinder compression or air in the fuel system.

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Click to expand...

And coolant, or water in the combustion chamber