I recently bought a 02 F-250 with 5.4 triton and 206,000 miles on it. shortly after buying it I did a oil change and ran some Gumout fuel system cleaner through. Right after doing so, it started smoking grey/blue for 1-3 seconds on startup.


That was 4-5 weeks ago and its still doing it. At first I chalked it up to the fuel system cleaner and figured it was normal and would go away. Well it hasn't.


Did a quick google search and saw that this is a very common problem.


Just wondering what made it start smoking seeing that it didn't when I bought it and if its something I should be concerned about?


Its only on cold starts. Once its up to temp it doesn't do it if I shut it off and restart it.

Thanks

 

You obviously could not know what was in the crankcase when you bought it. Probably doctored up to keep it from smoking. So you drain it and put in the recommended 5W20 or whatever and now it smokes on start. Not surprising in the least. Oil smoke only on cold start is typically worn valve seals and guides. I admit I don't know how the heads/valves are sealed in a Triton but the amount of smoke you're seeing only takes one drop of oil, so I don't think its going to cause you any catalytic converter trouble. Just keep your eye on the oil level until you get a handle on if there's any measurable consumption. It could be a mistake to go up on oil viscosity with this engine but it could depend on the climate where you are.
I think if that's the worst problem you have with 206,000 miles its not too bad.

 

So is there any danger of running with worn valve stem/seals as long as I keep the oil topped off? Anyone know what the labor cost would be to have this fixed? I think it's a bigger job then I would want to tackle.