I just bought an 81 300 SD that has been sitting up a while. The odometer shows 159,000 miles. The car isn't the best cosmetically, but the price was just a little more than scrap price. It runs good and the transmission shifts fine, but it smokes quite a bit. I'm a farmer and I've had quite a bit of experience with naturally aspirated diesel motors, but we've only had one tractor with a turbocharged motor (a 354 Perkins in an 1105 MF) and it smokes a lot because the seals in the turbo are gone. Does anyone have any suggestions about where to start looking? I hope it's not a case of worn out rings or something like that.

 

What does the smoke smell like? If it smells like a jet engine, the injectors might be leaking by, or maybe air in the fuel system. If it smells like sulpher, then it probably is the turbo, or worn rings. Drive it for a while and see how much oil the engine uses. That might give you an indication of what condition the engine is in. How does it start both warm and cold? Also another indication as to what condition the engine is in.