Had a fuel moment.

[-Matt-]

Hello all.

Had a bit of a fuel issue on Friday (4th Feb);
For some reason I decided to give the Bongo a little run and went to work in it. When it was time to come home, I clambered in, turned the key and it made a very stuttered attempt to start (usually it turns over immediately) whilst the revs were bouncing up and down either side of the 1K mark, approximately 10 seconds later it started throwing huge thick plumes of white smoke out of the exhaust, which I saw in the mirror and went to have a look, upon seeing how much smoke there was I shut the engine off and had a mild panic (only had it a month).
I checked some things over, including the oil for some reason, which seemed normal if not a little low, started again but this time fired up straight away, straight to steady idle at about 900rpm and no smoke whatsoever.
So I set off home and maybe half a mile I realise I have no acceleration and then it cuts out and I coast to the side of the road.
Now, I know the gauge is low, and I know there is no warning light, AND I know I have a leak on the pump, but it's not a heavy flow at all. It started up again straight away only to cut out again shortly after. Next run is longer and I think it's running ok, it seems to behave itself in S but put into D causes a cut out.
In the end I decide to stop where it's ended up, phone my other half and arrange some more diesel.
Had to give it a jump after all the starting but it runs as it did before and out of the villages moved pretty well, no stalling or coughing.
So, ok I ran out of fuel like an idiot, but what was with the white smoke? Random crap dredged up from the tank? Something more sinister? I always thought white smoke was indictive of head gasket but the coolant looks the same and there's nothing untoward under the oil cap.
How worried should I be that it's all gone wrong and I may have bought a lemon?

Thanks
Matt

[Hazzobongo]

I'd say it was trying to run on the water in the diesel filter if it had nowt in the tank, I never let a diesel get below the quarter tank mark especially if they're as old as these are as theres always condensation in the tank itself which has built up for 25 years and these fuel filters are designed to let you know when your filter has a proportion in there. My old hilux had a tap on the bottom so you could drain out the water from it but I don't think these have the tap just the sensor.

If I'm wrong someone will be along to point out the mistake but thats my theory on what you were trying to run the bongo on, and yes white smoke especially in the colder weather is indicative of a bust head or gasket.

[-Matt-]

Well, now I am scared.
Guess I should start reading up on how to check gaskets and such before something gets properly damaged and it all becomes an expensive mistake

[Hazzobongo]

You cant really check gaskets or heads cracking without pressure tests and with the cracked head I had on the surf the only symptom of it was the level of coolant in the radiator would drop about a centimeter every 20 miles or so, the damn thing never lost power or had cross contamination, the cause of that was towing a load far too heavy for the truck with other contributing factors which I could have remedied had other forum members on that site mentioned that a supposedly non serviceable viscous fan did indeed need servicing every couple of years with fresh oil or it would fail to cool the rad it was designed for.

I don't reckon you've much to worry about, your case of blowing steam wasn't related to blown gaskets or heads, you simply sucked water into the engine with the last dregs of your fuel, all we can really do with these vans is regularly check the coolant levels and look for leaks from the hoses/radiator and have the thermostat replaced every few years.