Seeing as my truck does not smoke except rarely, I would like to find out if I have a performance problem. The truck was at the Ford dealer a while back to diagnose a CEL, and it ended up being a faulty EOT sensor. The dealer informed me that that was the code the truck had. They did not mention anything else. They did say that the tech initially cleared the codes and drove the truck to get the codes to re-appear and the only one was the EOT sensor. I would imagine that if there was a performance problem, they would have been quick to mention it in order to get money. A service writer's pay is commission after all. There was no mention of anything else.

Here on the forums I have discovered that it is unusual to not have the truck smoke at all. It will sometimes (at least I notice it sometimes) smoke under hard acceleration from a stop, but even then it is very light. If I leave it in Park and rev the engine up above 3K, no smoke. The truck has no drivability issues. No CEL after the EOT was replaced, new air filter, new fuel filter, fresh oil change. Truck does not burn oil to any amount (if it did it would be a half quart or less during an oil cycle). It starts quickly and runs and idles smoothly.

What should the 0-60 time be for a stock 7.3? I would like to see if my truck lacks the power it should have. Any other indicators of performance issues? No I don't have gauges, but I have no boost leaks, and the turbo spools as it should and appears brand new.

 

Sounds to me you have a great truck. No chip or speed mods and not much smoke sounds like you have a sound truck. Lots of guys would love to have that. Do you tow? Dose it preform well. If so don't fix what ain't broke. Chet

 

0-60mph I would have to guess at mine but probably around 10 seconds. When you say no smoke, are you referring to Black smoke? Mine will only if lugging the motor under 1500rpm and quickly stab the throttle without letting it downshift, it will puff just a slight amount of black, now under full throttle acceleration from a dead stop it will be more of a haze of brownish/greyish very light smoke/haze. I agree sounds like your truck is fine.

 

I figure it probably is, but I always like to know. The most I have towed with this truck is a flat-bed car trailer with vehicle (~4K lbs) and it acted just very slightly slower than unloaded, or maybe it acted the same as unloaded and it was in my mind. Otherwise, I have not noticed any issues. As far as the color of smoke, it is hard to tell, as I can only see the smoke it does make under acceleration at night in the car's headlights in my mirrors. I cannot see it in the day time. I don't really care for it to smoke, but I want it to be "normal" and do what it is supposed to do.

 

During my emission test on a chassis dyno, I get 1-2% opacity when they load it up - very little smoke. The only time I can get a hint of some is full throttle at nighttime with car headlights behind me - then I can see some haze. I think your truck is behaving as designed.

 

From your description I would say your engine is running as designed. You shouldn't really see much smoke. Maybe a puff if you stomp on it but it shouldn't be pouring out...

I think I data logged my wife's truck a while back and 0-60 was in the mid 10 second range...That was just mashing the pedal from a standing start. No power braking or pre-spooling of the turbo. Just mash and go...

 

I will do the 0-60 on the way to work today. Good to know that no smoke is normal. As SteveH said, the smoke I notice is more of a 'haze' in the car headlights behind me. Thanks for the replies!

 

Also, I just started using the Super Tech 2-cycle oil in my fuel for the lubricity. Will this cause any additional smoke than what I am currently experiencing?

 

With a completely stock truck you should get a little smoke on hard acceleration. As mentioned "haze" may be a better term for it, but if you stand at the tail pipe when someone floors it, you should see some smoke right at the tip before it disappears into the atmosphere.

If you arent noticing any performance issues, then I wouldnt be worried. You may have a small fuel obstruction if you are seeing NO smoke what so ever, but otherwise I wouldnt be worried. These trucks are good at telling you when something is wrong. Just listen to her and she will tell you what she needs.

My truck even tells me when its time for new oil. She runs different. Dont really know how to describe it but when I dump new oil in her she says thank you.

 

Mine normally just has the haze too. Sometimes a little more haze when its cold. Uses a little oil in cold weather but not unreasonable. The rest of the time, it uses no oil. When its due for an oil change the fuel mileage goes from 470 miles to a tank to around 400. I cannot complain.

 

FWIW, it sounds to me also like your truck is acting normally. Before tuning, my truck would only smoke a very small amount when the oil needed to be changed. Even now, with tuning, I have to lug it to get it to smoke any noticeable amount. Black smoke is unburnt fuel, which is a waste. Ford didn't design our trucks to waste fuel with stock tuning. As indicated by your signature, you are proud of your lack of performance mods, you should be proud of your well-running truck, too.

 

I formerly used SuperTech 2-cycle oil and switched to Stanadyne Lubricity formula because it was cheaper and nominally as 'good'. I don't recall seeing any more smoke from the SuperTech - I'm sure if you dumped a gallon in per fill-up, you'd see some smoke, but most people use 1 pint or a quart per tank.

 

Oh yes, I am proud of a well-running vehicle. I have had good luck with all my vehicles and even though I bought this one cheap and with high miles, it is still a good one.

 

Sounds like a winner to me,