Help. 4D56 head swap, will not run.

[4D55RANGER]

Hello everyone. Got my 4D56 head installed and everything buttoned back up. Truck will turn over and try to start, but will not start and run. Produces medium levels of smoke from the exhaust. Smells like diesel, but not a heavy unburnt fuel smell. Is it possible that I got the timing belt off one tooth on the injection pump? I'll be the first person to say that I'm not a huge fan of timing belts and this is my first time digging in to an engine for a head job. Only performed one or two timing belt jobs ever, and never on a diesel.
Here is a link to a video of the truck trying to start.
https://youtu.be/_igBfyJ8-hY
Thanks in advance for any help.

[frankwrench]

Your timing belt hypothesis seems plausible. Not sure though. The belt and the gears should be notched where they should align. If you have a Service Manual for a D50 that has more details on timing belt alignment

[4D55RANGER]

I aligned the gears to the timing marks. I did not see any divets or marks on the belt itself. I tried marking the belt before I took it off, but I could not get anything to stay on the belt. Barred over the engine with a socket on the crank pulley before starting and heard no clashing of the valves and pistons. I will be pulling the timing cover off tomorrow to check the timing marks. Does anyone know which way to turn the injection pump gear to advance or retard the injection pump timing? I am going to retard the injection pump one tooth due to the smoke I am seeing during cranking and see if that is the issue. Thanks in advance.

[BradMph]

We have some manuals that you may download if you have none, just a FYI. Never have enough documentation when it comes to vehicle repairing.

Here is a link http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php/29-Manuals-and-Other-Source-Info

[frankwrench]

If you can wait until later tonight on the west coast, I'll take a couple pictures of the relevant portions of the Service Manual

[4D55RANGER]

That would be amazing. The truck ran perfect before I replaced the head, so I know there is a pretty short list of things that I have touched and possibly messed up.

[skullzaflare]

If you are smelling a unburnt diesel out the exhaust, and you get a whitish gray smoke poof while cranking, then the glow plugs arnt warming up. My d56 did this before i finally got it to fire jumping the glow plugs

[frankwrench]

18477

18478

18479

18480

18481


What skullzaflare said is also a good thing to check out, make sure the glow plugs are working too

[4D55RANGER]

Thank you for the manual pictures. Pulled the timing cover off last night. I'm still in shock. Crank was one tooth off of the cam and injection pump. The cam and pump were in time with each other, but we're one tooth behind the crank. Very surprised that it did not make valve contact the best I can tell. Tonight I am going to redo the timing belt procedure, and see what happens. Thanks for all the help.

[Uncle Spence]

Just a thought... when I was timing mine I had a difficult time getting the injection pump gear to stay put as is it kind of spring loaded right where you need it to stay and it will go either way if it's not held in place.
This was a trick I learned... Don't tighten the tensioner pulley until everything is in the proper mark. If you keep it loose you can put a socket on the nut that tightens the gear to the injection pump and it will turn/slip under the belt but the belt itself won't move. That way you can align everything and then turn it until it is dead on in the proper slot in the belt. I hope that makes sense. Makes it easier to do it by yourself.
Something else to consider is to remove the glow plugs and loosen the fuel lines. Turn over the motor for like 30 seconds to work some oil into the head and to make sure fuel is flowing from the fuel lines. It will spin real fast without the compression. Then put everything back together. There could just be some air bubbles and it's not all cleared out yet. Prime your fuel filter first too.
Good luck! Let us know your results.

[skullzaflare]

One way to tell if you hit the valves, you will break the rocker arms

[4D55RANGER]

One tooth forward and she is running well. Having some issues bleeding the cooling system of air. Might be a clogged radiator, not 100% sure yet. Is there a reliable source for the copper crush washers for the injectors? Having some leaks after reinstalling, figured they were one time use. Thanks in advance, Cade.

[Clouse]

Mike Warme has those copper washers for sale. Or at least he did a year ago when I bought some.

[frankwrench]

4D55Ranger, if you find those crush washers anywhere, let me know, I'm on the hunt for some now too.