Rates from balance test
 

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That's the image of the bill, truck shows the common signs of injector issues. White smoke at idle and acceleration yet a fine rpm-idle, grey/black exhaust when I really push it, good power. From other posts I've seen the rates are fine, but on this scale it seems they are not?

Thoughts/

well it sounds like injectors from the symptoms, but those balance rates sound odd

good rates are +-4 at idle and in park, and +-6 in gear at idle....... not sure what those GM rates are.....

I'm just going to have to replace my injectors....

it could only be just one...... get it retested somewhere else

I will... And fluids are good so idk cracked body? Would a test show that

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By that I mean injector body...coolant fluid level is fine, should I tell the other dealer to look for something specific? A leak or maybe cracked/broken fuel line?

if you have a cracked line you will be making oil(fuel in oil), but a balance rate test will show you exactly which one(or ones) are the culprits

Well it's not doing that from what I could tell? Would that cause white smoke? I'm considering return rates as well as a balance rate at different dealer. how to check for q cracked line?

white smoke is TOO much fuel going into the cylinders and not being properly combusted, you have a cracked injector, get the balance rates checked again and that will tell you exactly where its over fueling

where do you live?

Upstate NY. Ill be giving Merchant and Lincoln Diesel a call tomorrow to see what kinda deals they have going. I won't bother spending that money again at a different dealer - obviously they need or one needs to be replaced but I would rather do them all I suppose at once.

sorry to tell you this but balance rates wont tell you the whole picture. all it tells you is how much fuel the ecm is adding or subtracting to try and keep the idle smooth. yes it can be in indicator of failing injectors but return rates are more important.

if one of the injectors are dumping too much fuel the ecm might increase the fuel in the sister cylinder and pull fuel to the others. this will make it look like more then just the one are bad.

with the LB7 return rates are next to impossible to test with out removing the upper and lower valve covers and then reassembling everything needed to run the engine. while you are in there you might as well just replace them all.

smoking while idling is definitely an indication of injectors going bad. using the GM Tech 2 or EFI Live you can turn off injectors one at a time and see if the smoke stops.

if you continue to run it like this then it will continue to get worse until one of the injectors sticks and burns a hole in the piston or the truck wont start.

try using some injector cleaner in the fuel or use the closed loop injector cleaning mothod. it may fix the problem or help you get by until you get them all replaced.

i would definately try to get it to Merchant if you can, they will tell you exactly what is wrong with it

you really dont need to replace all of the injectors if only one or a few are bad, seems expensive and wasteful..... but then again preventative maintenance goes a long way

I'm going to get it tested somewhere else and ask them to turn one off and pinpoint the foul one or ones and if i can replace 4 now my wallet would love that. Buddy suggested a cp3 problem but I looked that up and doesn't seem to e it

if you have white smoke it is 90% chance of it being injectors

Oh I don't doubt it I just want a 2nd opinion so when I go back to my dealer (that I bought it from circa 20 days ago) and he again tells me they don't need to be changed I can be like "look, two dealers gave the same info". He's a douche bag who told me unless a check engine light is on changing the injectors is not needed and would be "up to me". He said wait until it comes on...

it wont throw a light if the injectors are bad, your service manager is an idiot!

Yep. Well he's the guy I bought it from he doesnt have a garage, thankfully...

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I had it re scanned and it showed They were fine readings gotta be cracked one, going to see if they can pinpoint it

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They told me there is no way to test each one to see what one is affecting it? The rates this time from a different dealer came back more like I've seen around online. So they are fine its just one or multiple ones are cracked I would assume.

Also, I need to replace my power steering hoses and I think pump (?) how hard is that to DIY?

not too sure on the power steering pump, sorry, you could get a subscription to alldata, and it should help you fix most anything

every cylinder should have its own balance rate, so it should show if one is not within spec.....

They are all in spec but the exhaust issue remains so I am assuming a body is cracked? Way to tell would be turning each one off right?

if you turn them all off individually then you can see which one is generating the smoke... as long as it smokes all the time...

This would only work if the injector is not stuck. If it is, it will dump fuel even while off. One way to check is to pull the fcim fuse and remove the glowplugs. Turn the engine over, if any the glowplug holes have fuel coming out then thats the bad one.

Also if any are cracked and adding diesel to the oil then turning them off won't stop the leak. As long as there is fuel pressure then the injector will leak wether it is on or off

Well the object of this is to find the side it is on (hopefully just one side) and I will replace those 4. I don't want to turn it off I just want direction to the side...right now I would love to replace just 4. Whats a good programmer that can check the rates and turn them off to test that?

Also, since I am new to diesels, there are 8 glow plugs?

I am only awair of two that can turn off injectors, tech ll and Efi live. Yes, there are eight glowplugs on the duramax.

Ah ok. Do you have a link that would show where/how to remove the plugs and the process you explained above? Or is it just that simple lol?

Also, where's a good website to get parts like (power steering hose, etc)?

yah, it pretty much is that simple.

unplugging the FCIM fues is much easier then unplugging all of the injectors.

as for parts, GM Parts Direct: Your direct source for Genuine GM Parts or Ebay

Is this a pretty good programmer as well? My friend said Diablo is what he uses.

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Hi ~ I am new to this forum and I don't mean to be a buttinski... I have an 03 LB7... getting fuel in the oil. It is very costly to replace ALL 8 injectors, so I want to find the bad ONE. Or maybe it could be the return line... I don't know. So I think what I need to do is pull everything apart to get down to the injectors... hook everything back up to start the engine to see what and where I am leaking fuel... ??? But will it be something I CAN SEE with the valve covers of.. engine running ? :humm:

you likely have one of two things, cracked injector body or one of the lines are leaking. the return line is under the valve covers so it is highly susceptible to dumping fuel into the engine if one of the seals are leaking.

like you said, take the valve covers off and reconnect the necessary items to run the engine and see where it is leaking

2004LB7 ~ thanks brother.. I am a diesel tech by trade. Cat's, 3126 up to C-15's. Up until now.. I never had to crack a bolt loose in this LB7. The truck is an 03 but has only 110K on the meter. Not a daily driver, just a toy hauler. I am going to tackle it this weekend. I am PRAYING that it's just a crush washer on the return side... FINGER CROSSED !!

yah, one thing that can cause the return line to leak is when it is installed and the valve covers put back on, the high pressure supply line is then torqued down. this may turn the injector a small amount in its hold down bracket and stress the crush washer and cause it to leak later.

what i have done when replacing injectors is to put a little clockwise pressure on them when tightening the injector hold down bolt. this way there wont be any more twist on the return line and seal.

replaced the injectors twice on mine and haven't had an issue yet. i have also put a small amount of locktight on the sealing surfaces too the second time around.