Exhaust Smoke

[Parshal]

I have close to 14k miles on my '03 (since early October) about 4k of which are towing a light 2500 lbs. pop-up camper. I picked up a larger travel trailer the other night (I'd guess about 4k lbs. ). I definitely knew this one was back there. On the Interstate, I passed a big-rig and when I was past the rig I noticed quite a bit of smoke from the exhaust (it was dark out so I'm unsure of the color). It has never done this before. My guess was that with 14k miles of Interstate travel with little or no load I must have "junk" on the cylinder walls that was burning off under heavy acceleration and a heavier load (than usual, that is). It never did smoke again like that and I tried to make it do it.



Does this sound right?

 

[Elk]

I do not know about my 03 yet but, with the 97 and the other I have had when lights from behind shine in the exhuast area I can see smoke under heavy exceleration.

 

[Boldt's Wagon]

If you have not had your foot in the throttle for a while, a diesel will accumulate soot particles in the muffler and tail pipe. Then when you finally do a full throttle pass, the high exhaust temperature and exhaust gas flow will clean out the accumulated soot. The soot accumulation is particularly bad in the cold winter months.



I have a 86 chevy van with 6. 2 that will put you smokers to shame if I have let it accumulate soot for 3 months. I have learned to de-soot the thing every couple of days.

 

[sag2]

Have not pulled with mine yet, but noticed the same thing a couple of times when passing, in the headlights in the mirror. Still getting 18 MPG so can't be too much going on.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Headlights emit a more narrow spectrum of light than found in normal daylight and will tend to light up burning oil (such as that found in diesel) more readily. Almost anyone driving a diesel will find their truck smokes if the exhaust is lit only by headlights. Anyone who has ever had a gasser that burns oil can attest to seeing it smoking in their rear view mirror when sitting in traffic at night but not during the day.

 

[$BANKS$rupted]

My truck lays down a good amount of smoke even in day light. Try taking off fast when your the first at a red light (in day light) and look back at the trail you leave.

 

[Parshal]

Originally posted by $BANKS$rupted

My truck lays down a good amount of smoke even in day light. Try taking off fast when your the first at a red light (in day light) and look back at the trail you leave.

See, that's the thing, I don't. My truck never emits any smoke whatsoever.

 

[$BANKS$rupted]

Originally posted by Parshal

See, that's the thing, I don't. My truck never emits any smoke whatsoever.

Thats the thing you dont what?

Your truck never emits any smoke whatsoever? I thought thats why you started this thread, because you saw smoke coming out your truck..... I'm confused... ...

 

[MMeier]

And all along I thought something was wrong with my '03 because it does not smoke like my old '93 &'97 trucks did!(Can you say "blackout"?)Hoping to fix this minor inconvenience soon! :--)

 

[Fred Swanson]

Put an EZ on it, then you'll see a little smoke in the daylight, especially if you're on it hard.