I am a first time Excursion owner. I bought a 03' 6.0 L Eddie Bauer Edition with 150k on it. Dealer went through it and put new brakes, tires, filters, oil and tranny fluids in it. It has the usual wear items that need to be addressed.

When it is warm out and I start it up in the morning there is no puffing or excessive fuel smell. But the past few mornings with the temps in the low 20's i have noticed a puff on initial start up when cold. Doesn't matter morning or after work. The puff doesn't smell like oil or coolant, just diesel. I am utilizing the block heaters. I have it set on a timer to come on 2 hours before I leave for work.

Any input on this would be greatly appreciated!

 

How long does your diesel dragon puff? I would set your timer for 3-4 hours to get the engine/coolant/oil warmer. You should get some digital gauges that plug into the obd diagnostics port.

 

Welcome wildman.

Congrats on the new to you 6.0l.

I wouldn't worry too much about a puff. You're probably just seeing fuel from incomplete combustion in a cold motor. You can try cycling the key a second time after the wait to start(glowplug) light goes off to see if the additional heat from the GP's helps clear the puff. If you were getting a steady stream of white diesel smoke upon start up, that would be a serious concern.

 

It is just a short puff like a gas engine with bad valve seals/guides. Start up a small puff from the tail pipe, puff disapates and nothing further from it.


Looking at a programmer with all the monitoring features. Not sure which one to get.

 

I am just a little cautious since this is my first diesel. Boy it is fun to drive! The turbo kicks in vroom away I go! lol Plus it has a mass amount of room! The kids do not argue about being crowded.

I tried cycling it a few times and it seemed to make it bigger. Not sure why that is. I have the timer for the block heater set for 3 hrs before I leave for work. Is 3 hours long enough?

Like I said just being cautious on this....I would hate to have a head, injector or other issue I do not know about!

 

Amdriven2liv did a hr by hr post on the temp rise, and he has a good video on the torque app for android phone, for virtual gauges used with a bluetooth obd dongle

 

OK now your scaring me, I had white smoke for at least 30 seconds when I started my X this morning. I thought it was normal in cold weather for them to smoke. It was about 10F today and I did not use the block heater.

 

What does the white smoke mean during a cold start? Black puff then white smoke.