Too much fuel?

[4x4Dreamer]

I've been noticing at times that my truck will smell really strongly of fuel, I checked for leaks and don't see any, and I'm not seeing a reflection of a leak in my mileage. Is it possible I just need to turn the pump down or have the timing to far advanced? It's bad enough that I stink of diesel when I get home. I can see some fumes coming out the exhaust at night in other cars headlights, but I don't blow smoke. Also, if I get on it for an on ramp or something, I get a hot smell from the exhaust, but I don't know if that's normal.

Whatcha guys think?

[Brianlar]

Are you runnin with the rear split window open? What is the average trip length one way? With the hood up, and the engine idleing, can you see any vapors emitted by the engine, that would be inducted by the cold air cab intake, the grille between the hood, and the windshield? If the exhaust is white at all, that's raw fuel going out the pipes. Is the exhaust complete? Or is it cut off below the truck?

[4x4Dreamer]

I tend to run with the back window up because it stinks too much if I don't.
My average trip is 40 miles one way.
When I'm stopped at night, I can see smoke in front of the right headlight...but I can't find a leak, but it does sound like an exhaust leak, something on my list. the previous owner cut the intake about a foot back from the grill (DEAR GOD WHY????) but I'm planning on fixing that with with some PVC.
The exhaust is whole, not cut.
I know I need a new filter, I attributed that to the little bit of white smoke I'm getting. I'm doing that this weekend. I'm also doing an oil change and making sure all the fuel lines and injectors are still tight.
Unless anyone can think of why I should not, I was going to turn the fuel down 1/4th turn and see how it ran.

[G. Gearloose]

Injector return lines or throttle shaft seal, I suspect.

[4x4Dreamer]

The pump and injectors are all new, so it better not be anything to do with the pump. I had one overflow blow it's cap off (closest to firewall on passenger side) so I replaced that. I'm going to check all the overflows and tighten the injectors this weekend. But I think I'm running to much fuel. A 1/4 turn should tell me whether that's the case or not, right? As it is now, I only have to use 1/2 throttle to get some good speed and then it starts blowing smoke. Seems like I should have to use more pedal to get those results, but I may be wrong.

[TimK]

I don't think your getting too much fuel. Injecting too much fuel into the engine would cause excessive black smoke out the exhaust pipes and high combustion temperatures. This is a result of not enough air being available to complete combustion.

If you are smelling fuel it's either a leak or the fuel being injected and not being completely consumed. In this case it's not from the lack of air but from the lack of heat in the combustion cycle. This would appear as white or light grey smoke out the tail pipes. I suggest looking at the injector return lines, fuel lines and so on look for weeping connection before messing with the injection pump. On my MB I had a return line on an injector that was a little weepy and it was just enough fuel getting on the head to make it wet but not drip or pool and every time I got out of the car I had a strong smell of raw diesel fuel coming from the engine bay.

TimK

[4x4Dreamer]

That's good advice, I'll check that out. I think i may go ahead and make my intake go back out the grill and see if that helps too. The smoke I am blowing is very light colored, not black unless I REALLY get into it. And I'm seeing white smoke in front of the headlight on the passenger side. That's why I agree with the drip theory. Unless I have a bad exhaust leak up there.

[Peter J. Bierman]

I'll agree on the return lines, I had them leaking once in a wile, hard to see or to replace in my case.
Leaking injector line are a possibillity too,
A drop of fuel in the valley or on the heads will cause a bad fuel smell.
Turning down the pump will not help in this mattter, besides, you can NEVER have too much fuel, just not enough air to burn it :D

Peter

[4x4Dreamer]

I put a hose clamp on the cap that goes over the end of the fuel return system, no more issues with stink. I put a new air and fuel filters. Did an oil change and checked the belts. I ran out of Rotella 15-40 so I put in 4 quarts of 30Wt rotella on top of 3 qts of 15-40. Is this going to be an issue? It seems to be pretty happy. I'm in FL so we don't have to worry about cold starts or anything.