Hello Everyone-

Yesterday afternoon I jumped in my truck (2005 F250 Powerstroke) to go get the kids....started it up and drove off and white smoke was pouring out of the exhaust....no performance problems (other than the smoke) and when the truck was "warmed up" (all of the gauges to their middle "working levels") the smoke stopped.

I started it this morning and let it warm up before driving and no smoke. Jumped in at lunch and didn't let it warm and got smoke.

Now, I wouldn't be so distraught and upset about this if I hadn't done the following since April 20, 2010:

Replaced FICM
Replaced Turbo
Replaced # 2 Fuel Injector
Replaced EGR Valve
Replaced Exhaust Back Pressure Tube
Also Replaced Inner Axle seals and brakes and had the transmission serviced.

After spending ~$6500 in the past 6 months this new thing just makes me sick. Any clues as to where I should start?

The truck has 154,000 miles on it.

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the help!

CG

 

Smell it.. What does it SMELL like?

What kind of fuel do you use?

 

Okay, I'll try to smell it, but its hard while I'm driving! : ) It doesn't do it at the idle. What kind of smells should be trying to distinguish from? Like antifreeze smell versus burnt smell? Something like that? (I hate to let the cat out of the bag, but I'm a gal and everything I know about diesel engines I learned here...so let me know what I should be looking out for!)

I use #2 diesel that I buy at the local Dino Pump...It had a quarter of a tank of gas when it started smoking yesterday...I filled up last night. I buy my gas at the same place every time unless I am out of town and can't.

 

Sort it out.

Possibilities (without getting exotic)

A) antifreeze

B) diesel oil (unburnt fuel)

C) motor oil

When you see it, PULL OVER and give it the smell test.

AFAIK, there is no known issue with gender and knowing how to do basic science.

Be forewarned I have a reputation on here as a cheapskate, and I would have gagged at your repair items / bills.

 

I can almost ask the next question...

DO you ever give it an Italian tuneup?

 

Thanks....as soon as I can get out of the office today I will give it a smell test and report back. Maybe I will be able to slip out and check in a bit.

 

Italian Tune up? I'm afraid to ask.....??

 

Do not do the Italian tuneup before you verify it is NOT coolant or engine oil smell.

If it is just unburnt diesel, follow link below to do the tune up.

Repeat once a month after that.

 

Do not do the Italian tuneup before you verify it is NOT coolant or engine oil smell.

If it is just unburnt diesel, follow link below to do the tune up.

Repeat once a month after that.

 

Okay, got a question...I hate to sound stupid...but here I go. I know what coolant smells like...it will be sweet smelling...will I know the difference between unburnt fuel and motor oil? I mean will the unburnt fuel pretty well smell like it does coming out of the pump. Hate to sound stupid...but I want to do the "smell test" right!

 

Yup, you MUST do the smell test.

Coolant is sweet, very white smoke that almost look like a cloud.

Oil is white, but not thick white, and you will know because it looks, tastes and smells oily. Like motor oil.

Diesel white is like the stuff at the pump.. if you boiled it.

Oil and diesel can be close, but you can tell them apart if you are careful.

Motor oil is thicker.. heavier smelling, while diesel is a lighter distillate.

If it is engine coolant, then you got a pretty big serious problem somewhere and any of the tricks I recommend can result in a huge disaster.

If it is engine oil... I am also going to be very worried.

But if it is just unburnt diesel... the problem is probably substitutable to a very simple fix.

Please describe your driving style as accurately as possible for us.

Plus your typical driving cycles in any given 3 month period... i.e. long trips, mostly highway... speeds.. loads.. etc.

 

Okay...here we go, my driving style/cycle:

I drive about 60 miles a day roundtrip commute....highway most of it, about 5-7 miles gravel and in town driving. In the past 30 days I've hauled an empty stock trailer, 1 very small load of hay (12 square bales) and couple hundred pounds of feed week. That's pretty typical driving for me. I drive this as my primary vehicle, the "grocery getter" if you will! I've had the truck about a year and have driven it on a few longer trips 200-500 miles..maybe 6-10 times..tops. I always let me truck run for 10 minutes before driving off in the morning. I don't ram and jam on the vehicle, I can have a bit of a heavy foot sometimes...think I was probably driving 70 on the flats today.

Don't worry...I won't be doing any tuneups myself. You said if it was antifreeze or engine oil it was probably a serious problem. Should I park the truck until it's fixed? I don't want to tear it up. : (

On a side note, I ran out about 5 minutes ago to do the smell test and no smoke....I "tromped" it a couple of times and still no smoke...I smelled the tailpipe when I got back (I looked like an idiot in my suit and heels sniffing a truck tailpipe, BTW) and I did not smell antifreeze...but I couldn't really tell if there was another smell besides the regular ole exhaust smell.

 

If you see no further signs of smoke, chances are it was diesel.

To be certain, get a Q tip, go to the tailpipe and swab it.

Then smell it.

MAKE SURE IT DOES NOT SMELL OF COOLANT.

If it does not.

I have isolated your problem to this:

You are not driving the vehicle as intended by the designers.

Diesels are engineered to deliver something like 50 to 80% of their rated power, all day, all nite, all year.

Gassers are engineered to deliver maybe 10% of the rated... on average.

What is most likely to be a problem is things have gotten gummed up, sticky, caked with carbon etc. because you did not run it hard enough.

Nowhere do I hear you "floor" and by that I mean literally pedal to the metal it.

In order for a diesel to run good, it must be floored regularly and held at full throttle for a time to blow out the carbon, exercise the pumps and injectors and clear any crud.

Commercial truck drivers using the 6.0 on heavily loaded trucks report far fewer problems because of that.

Do it after you warm it up thoroughly.

Go to an isolated highway and repeatedly run it at max throttle at redline.

That is the essence of an Italian tuneup --- do it yourself.

Procedure in link below in my signature.

Repeat once a month --- or in regular driving, at least once a week, do a few jackrabbit starts and hold it at high rpm / max throttle.

e.g. getting on the highway is a good chance to do that.

Good luck.

 

IF it is a severe coolant leak from a blown head gasket, it would have happened.. unless you have already run out of coolant and the engine computer commanded it to shut down.

If it is a EGR cooler leak... it might be possible.. but unlikely.

Assuming you have the most recent Ford flash, a big (out of spec) difference in Engine oil temperature and Engine coolant temperature would have lit up the Wrench light, telling you to take it in for service.

So by my read, you are in the clear.

Do the Italian tuneups.

 

On the subject of Italian tuneups...

I just went around the corner to get groceries...

Warmed up my 6.0 thoroughly before I left...

Drag raced all the way (2 miles) and back (2 more miles).

Ahhh that felt good!

Now I know why I bought this toy...