2003 2500 Cummins White Smoke/Stumble

[DeckplateDiesel]

Hi all,


I would really appreciate some help with this issue I'm having. I am working on a 2003 Dodge 2500 with a 5.9 Cummins. 229,000 miles. Initial complaint was a really rough idle and lots of white smoke. I did a cutout test. All 6 cylinders fluctuated at idle when I cut them out individually. I bumped the idle up to 1,000 RPM's and did a cutout. #4 injector did not change when it was cut out at 1,000 RPM's.


To start things off, I did a head gasket test. OK. Checked for blow-by with the oil fill cap removed. OK. Changed fuel filter. Found bacteria in filter (Minnesota Truck with Bio Diesel). Added bacteria treatment and fuel injector cleaner.


So I diagnosed the problem as a faulty injector #4. I removed and replaced all 6 injectors. Issue seems to have gotten better, but still smokes white and has a surge at 40-50 MPH. It feels likes its missing. Seems to have good power still. Accelerates great, but still smokes excessively.


Background on the truck, truck was bought with previously installed edge tuner. I have tried running the truck with and without the tuner hooked up and the issues seems to stay the same. Truck has been sitting and seen minimal run time for 6 months.


Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

[sag2]

White smoke all the time or only when cold? White smoke is un-burned fuel so the first thing I would verify now that you have new injectors is compression.
If only cold, check grid heater function.

 

[DeckplateDiesel]

White smoke all the time or only when cold? White smoke is un-burned fuel so the first thing I would verify now that you have new injectors is compression.
If only cold, check grid heater function.

Thank you for your speedy response! It is all the time, but worse when cold. It does get better as it warms up, but at certain RPM ranges stumbles. Do you have a recommended compression testing tool? I see there is a Mityvac tool Part #MVA5601 that appears to be for this engine and is used in place of the injector. Any other tool recommendations. Thank you very much!

 

[sag2]

The only way to check compression on the Cummins is to remove the injector and use the adapter. For a one time use the Harbor Freight diesel kit should work just fine. It should have the 5.9/6.7 adapter in the kit.
We have all Snap-On stuff at the college. Nice quality but way too expensive for household use.

 

[cerberusiam]

First question before even going any further, what exactly what did you use for injectors?

Is this an auto or manual truck? With the stumble always in a specific range it begs checking the APPS on a 17 year old truck. Have you checked in different gears to see if the problem moves around in different gears and could correlate to pedal position?

The first thing I would do is completely drain the tank and fill with fresh fuel way over dosed with diesel additive with high detergent effect. It may take a couple tanks to completely clean the fuel system from the CP-3 to the injectors.

 

[DeckplateDiesel]

The only way to check compression on the Cummins is to remove the injector and use the adapter. For a one time use the Harbor Freight diesel kit should work just fine. It should have the 5.9/6.7 adapter in the kit.
We have all Snap-On stuff at the college. Nice quality but way too expensive for household use.

Thank you again for the response! I will get that tool and run the compression test!

I found the intake grid heater to have no power. The relays are only receiving 3.5 volts from the ECM. Is that normal voltage to switch those relays. I have 12 volts from battery, but not passing through relay.

Thank you again!

 

[DeckplateDiesel]

First question before even going any further, what exactly what did you use for injectors?

Is this an auto or manual truck? With the stumble always in a specific range it begs checking the APPS on a 17 year old truck. Have you checked in different gears to see if the problem moves around in different gears and could correlate to pedal position?

The first thing I would do is completely drain the tank and fill with fresh fuel way over dosed with diesel additive with high detergent effect. It may take a couple tanks to completely clean the fuel system from the CP-3 to the injectors.

Thank you for the input. I used "Standard" injectors Part #FJ932. It's an automatic transmission. I will test run per advised and see where it stumbles most.

I will also drain the fuel system as mentioned. Do you think bad fuel would cause that white smoke effect?

Do you have any diesel additives you personally reccomend?

 

[cerberusiam]

I do not know what that injector is but if it is not a new Bosch production injector I would highly suspect a bad injector again. At the price point of those injectors and no more info they give I suspect reman injectors. I have had no good luck with remans form anyone even Bosch. Check the top of the solenoid for white numbers stamped into the plastic of the solenoid. If they are new they will have a 255 in one of the 4 sets of numbers stamped in to the plastic. If there is nothing there they are someones remans.

Yes bad fuel can and will cause white smoke and misfires, especially with suspect injectors. Whether it is the fuel or the problems it creates in the CP-3 and metering is hard to tell but definitely any fuel left should drained and the tank washed with a biocide if you suspect infestation.

I use Power Service all the time, Cummins recommended. I also use MMO has a cleaning additive when needed, 2SO as a lube. Since cleanliness is suspect I would dump 2 quarts of MMO, a quart of Power Service, and a quart of 2SO in a full tank and drive it. With a load on of possible to get the EGT temps up. Either remove the Edge or make sure you have EGT gauge as the Edges' run hot on exhaust temps.