Blue smoke at 1st startup of the day

[bflood]

I have a 93 Dodge D350 Duelly w/ 104,000mi. At 1st startup the engine runs rough and pushes lots of blue smoke (real mosquito killer!). Smoke stops 100 feet up the road if I develope some boost and everything becomes normal with great power and smooth running. Won't happen again unless I shut down for a couple hours and restart. Certainly happens at it's worst every morning.



I suspect an oil seal problem in the turbo shaft assy. Maybe the boost pressure reseals the O-ring (or whatever) and thats why it stops? Has anyone knowledge on this?



Would appreciate you comments,

Bruce

-- email address removed --

 

[Nordby]

When did this start occuring?



It almost sounds like your KSB soelenoid is not operating correctly, or one of the temp sensors on your manifold is not working. Check those out first,



jon

 

[bflood]

I bought this truck used almost a year ago and this conditioned already existed. I believe it is oil smoke (not fuel). Thanks, I'll check your suggestions.

Bruce

 

[Lil' Dog]

NOT oil

Don't worry. Oil in a diesel engine burns white, not blue. Well really it is oil, diesel oil not being burned when its cold. If you had a turbo or other oil leak it would be white while idling or at a light. Blue at startup is normal. Try it at -30, now thats smoke!!!



If the KSB and grid heaters are working, get the timing checked. I know mine is out from the large amounts of smoke at cold idle first start of the day.



J-eh

 

[Case500D]

That smoke will discourage the mosquitos from biting you during the winter One hint I picked up from the 2nd generation guys is to check all of the wire conections to the grid heaters and make sure they are clean and tight. Also, try cycling the grid heaters twice in the morning to see if that gets rid of the smoke. If it does, then you may only have one heater working or a temperature sensor giving inaccurate readings. Don't worry this should be a relatively painless fix. 104,000 is just getting broke in. Good luck!

 

[bflood]

Sure appreciate all the help! Sounds like you're pointing me in the right direction.



Sure appreciate all the help!

//s// "No Skeeter" Bruce

 

[Power Wagon]

The two most likely culprits are: Timing retarded OR bad injectors. I suppose both could be... but what's the probability?



A truck was brought in to where I used to work, with this very complaint:



A dealer put in a set of Mopar Remans (really, Cummins ReBad) and immediately, the truck began doing as yours. It would smoke blue, and if you tried to speed it up, it would miss and belch massive clouds of smoke. We moved up the timing to no help. Finally, I yanked the injectors, tested them (found nothing) but then put in a set of PW injectors and VIOLA!!!! no smoke.



We have experienced this twice now, and both times the injectors were "rebuilts" from an OEM. One was bought from Chrysler, one from Cummins. Both are pretty much the same junk.



Retarded timing will also manifest itself with low power and probably not very good economy.



Both dirty your oil, wash the rings, and waste fuel.

 

[CToney]

Smoke

I had just read on another post a quick and easy way to get an approximation on where your timing is at. Take your forefinger and place it between the intake manifold and the aneroid. A man's finger the wide way is about stock and the narrow way is about where it should be 1. 35-1. 40mmm or so. I checked this out on my truck and it seems to work. I don't know what mine is set at as DSG flow timed the engine. What does 1. 40mm convert to degrees. Just installed new speakers pioneer 120w 5X7, cd player kenwood 45x4, and Autometer 2888 tach. Fuel tank tool box combo on the way and still looking for a deal on wheels.



CR Toney

 

[Jet Tech]

I had exactly the same problem. My problem seemed to be worse at temperatures just above where the intake heaters would come into play. I found the connector at the KSP solenoid to be corroded. I removed the bolt on spade connector assembly and installed a high quality ring terminal. Problem was cured instantly.



I recently installed a dash mounted test light to see exactly when my KSB solenoid operated. I was surprised to see that at temperatures below 55 degrees outside air temp that the timing was always advanced (KSB powered) except after a short period of shutdown where engine temperature bled into the intake air temp sensor. After about 5 minutes of run time the intake air was enough to cool the sensor (below 90 degrees). Keep in mind this truck is intercooled.



You can actually here the KSB advancing the timing if driving after a short shut down during cool outside airtemps. There is a distinct change in exhaust pitch when this happens.

 

[JFitzgerald]

I have noticed mine smoking at cold startup sometimes. This is my first winter with the Cummins. Cycling the "wait to start" light twice helps. Seems worse when it's a bit cold, but not cold enough to run the intake heaters. Just today when I left for lunch, the heater did not cycle, and it started rough and smoked.



The manual says to hold the throttle down while cranking until it fires off. This doesn't seem to me to make any difference. Is there any value to doing it?

 

[bflood]

Problem solved

I want to thank everyone for their interest and suggestions. I have learned a lot and my smoking problem is now solved!



Seems the jumper wire to the KSB solenoid was disconnected. It was hidden were it attached to the fuel solenoid. The fix was certainly easy and cheap but learning what to look for took help from you folks and more manual studying.



When I reconnected the TSB . . . presto . . . smoke GONE! Oo. Oo.



I'll run it for a while while I contemplate checking the timing.





THANKS TO ALL!

Bruce