'05 - Lots of white smoke on cold start, who else?

[tschwab]

2005 that has had the tsb for fuel economy improvement, overhead recalibration & to stop white smoke on cold start up. The truck always puts out a puff of white smoke on cold start, but now that the weather has gotten colder, it really puts it out, also idles very rough for the first 10-15 seconds and then all well. I have cycled the grid heaters 2x to see if this would help and it has on the rough idle with a cold start. Suggestions, solutions? Is it time to go see the dealer? Do they have a fix for this (white smoke and rough idle on cold start?

 

[cerberusiam]

White smoke on initial cold start is normal. Cummins says white smoke for up to a minute is normal operation.



Turn on the high idle and it should smooth right out and quit smoking.

 

[RaymondSmith]

I was at the dealer the other day for service. They were out rearranging their lot and fired up about a dozen 06 diesels. That all blew white smoke for several minutes. It was about 32 degrees out. Based on what I saw, I would think that the white smoke in cold weather has to be normal.

 

[WyattEarp]

the white smoke is normal, its a little thicker than from a gasser but is normal, the rough idle? have you changed your fuel filter lately that will cause rough idle at first start up. . i could be wrong but with my '00 thats the consensus say if i go through alot of fuel and possibly had gotten ahold of some not so good fuel.

I can even tell by the throttle response if the fuel filter needs changing before the regular time to do it. Just some thoughts and ideas you might want to check out.

 

[BHolm]

Personally I would take it in and have them run an injector test. My 2005 did that and had a bad one. It only had 5k miles on it when it failed and I never had another problem after replacement. It won't cost you anything other than a day without the truck, and in the end you will know one way or the other.



I think some white smoke is normal. Problem is, are you seeing condensation which is more of a thin white smoke, or unburned fuel that stinks and is thick. My '06 started fine this moring, -10F, one cycle of the key, Amsoil 5w-30. Cranked and fired no problem, one or two little chugs and normal running with a fair amount of white condensation smoke.

 

[OT-OF-HERE!!]

White smoke on startup

The question is,... when you let it sit for a few day (over the weekend) and then start it up is there a lot more white smoke? And once it's warmed up if you have it in gear and just let it pull itself along is there a rough idle speed (missing sound). I went through this a year and a bit ago. 7 bad injectors before they got it fixed. No problemo since the replacement of the injectors. I have ZERO,... NO White smoke. White smoke is not normal for these trucks,... white smoke is telling you you have a problem. Some may have it to a different degree than others, but it is not normal.

 

[Van Blom]

I had the same problem.

What fixed mine was adding one bottle of Power Service Diesel Clean,

One bottle of Red Line diesel injector cleaner, and

12 ounces of Marvel Mystrey oil.

In about 3/4 of a tank of fuel,

And drove it like I stole it until the smoke went away. I had been "light pedaling" for a long time and the smoke had gotten pretty bad but ,for me, this fixed it

 

[mpwalker]

White Smoke

There is a TSB out on this, I took mine to a dealer last spring and they ran the software on the truck, and now the white smoke is little or non on start up plus it updated the trip computer so it now is within 1 mile of actual fuel milage and before the update it was over 2 miles off. It is a warrant item so no charge and all is fine since then.

 

[WyattEarp]

not sure about the new 3rd gen trucks but on my '00 at 15 to 0 degrees outside mine smokes while its warming up its light white haze and mine has no injector problem, it gets a steady dose of powerservice and has from day one.

 

[tschwab]

The question is,... when you let it sit for a few day (over the weekend) and then start it up is there a lot more white smoke? And once it's warmed up if you have it in gear and just let it pull itself along is there a rough idle speed (missing sound). I went through this a year and a bit ago. 7 bad injectors before they got it fixed. No problemo since the replacement of the injectors. I have ZERO,... NO White smoke. White smoke is not normal for these trucks,... white smoke is telling you you have a problem. Some may have it to a different degree than others, but it is not normal.

You have nailed the symptoms. Yes I have had the "FLASH", yes the fuel filter is clean & new, yes, I run Stanadyne PF in every tank. The truck has less than 5k miles, this IS NOT normal, the truck DID NOT do this when brand new. I'm call the dealer today to set-up an appointment for the injector test.

 

[OT-OF-HERE!!]

White smoke

You have nailed the symptoms. Yes I have had the "FLASH", yes the fuel filter is clean & new, yes, I run Stanadyne PF in every tank. The truck has less than 5k miles, this IS NOT normal, the truck DID NOT do this when brand new. I'm call the dealer today to set-up an appointment for the injector test.

Like I said!!! Evidently though the NO White smoke is a 3rd gen issue as others point out differently for the 2nd gen. I too use Stanadyne and Power Service on an every tank or everyother tank, should I forget,... and that along with the replacement injectors yields NO smoke. It's in the teens here and windchill well below that and still NO smoke so I know differently than some say with their 3rd gen trucks. It's just that some have it to different degrees and it doesn't get better. That's the way mine started also and then progressively got worse and to be sure it will be a battle with the dealer and STAR to get fixed. However, it was worth it. Good luck.