Intermittent smoke

[Lil evil]

06 cummins... bought used.. had it 45 days, never smoked. Til other day.. 144k miles.. new injectors at 130k bosch brand (have reciept from shop) started to run stanadyne (lube formula) since april1st.. (day i bought it) starts, and idles fine.. power seems good. Great mpg 16.4 in town. Stock except for AFE intake and 5" exhaust and cummins exhaust brake.. hauled camper last weekend(8K) .. went great.. started to puff black at start up after that.. i used exhsust brake alot that weekend.. now "sometimes" it puffs white at cold start, then goes away..always has a little black at cold start.. almost no blow by when cold, and even less when warm.. coolant level is full, never changed.. keeping an eye on oil level to see if its burning it thru engine or leaking at turbo..also warching to make sure it dont rise from leaky injector.. cleaned air filter twice since i bought it just to be sure..
Im thinking..sticky injector, needs new fuel filter (which i ordered a 5 micron to change it out), scored piston wall or bad ring, valves out of adjustment, valve guide seal, leaking turbo??
I didnt run it hard pulling camper, so im sure my EGT's were good..
Am i on the right track? Im a diesel newbie..thx for reading, any info/advise is appreciated
Previous owner ran synthetic oil in it..not sure what brand, will do that with new fuel filter when i get it..will prob go with Rotella
Last edited by Lil evil; Today at 10:03 AM.
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Old Today, 09:59 AM
Lil evil
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[Lil evil]

The last 2 cold starts only emitted a puf of black..barely could see it

 

[DonFitzwater]

I'd probably start with retightening all the injector quill tubes.

 

[Lil evil]

K..thx will try that

 

[Missouri Mule]

When you turn the key to start are you pressing down( a little/ a lot) on the go pedal?



This will cause a puff of black smoke.


Black smoke hot unburned fuel, white smoke cold unburned fuel. If you were some where it was cold you definitely will blow some white smoke at start up. Which brings up the question are your grid heaters working?

 

[Missouri Mule]

When you turn the key to start are you pressing down( a little/ a lot) on the go pedal?



This will cause a puff of black smoke.


Black smoke hot unburned fuel, white smoke cold unburned fuel. If you were some where it was cold you definitely will blow some white smoke at start up. Which brings up the question are your grid heaters working?

 

[Lil evil]

Not pushing pedal at all.. grid heater works..but the smoke is minimal

 

[cerberusiam]

new injectors at 130k bosch brand

I suspect you got NEW to your truck reman injectors.
On a stock tune and stock injectors with ambient temperature above freezing there should be NO white smoke at start up, NO black smoke at startup, cold or hot or warm.
The only smoke you should see is thin water vapor when ambient is below freezing, otherwise, you have injector issues.

 

[rashwor]

I am with cerberusiam. Every time I have had smoke at startup, it has been a injector issue. I had a problem of blue smoke at start up a couple of years ago. Managed to find the one bad injector and replace it which bought me almost two years of borrowed time. Last August, I developed blue smoke at start up along with a rough idle which both cleared up with a little go pedal applied (354,000 miles). This time, we could not figure out which injector was the issue and I did not have time for the truck to be down so we could hunt so I went with a complete new set. It was time to do the full set at 354,000 miles. I got all the good out of the original set. They are new stock bosch injectors; not remans.

 

[ConnorHarper]

Even with a straight pipe? When I had the stock exhaust I had no smoke at start up now with the 5 inch straight I few seconds of white puff. It only happens when I start my truck for the first time in the morning. I'm assuming this is just cold fuel?

 

[cerberusiam]

Even more so with a straight pipe as the you now lost the CAT and muffler that will cover up fuel issues. If the temps are over freezing and you see white smoke you have injector issues with event timing or leakage, black smoke is over fueling as it starts then the ECU adjusts. Stock tuning equals no smoke at all when things are in good shape.

 

[rashwor]

Correct. I am straight piped and have been since about 50k miles. Smoke at startup for me has only happened when I have had injector issues.

Also, a broke push rod will do the same thing and exhibit the same symptoms: smoke at start up and a rough idle.

I have the NV5600 manual trans and the stick will shake excessively when I have a rough idle.

 

[TCDiesel]

Generally White/gray smoke points to injectors, But NOT always, Also haze should NOT be confused with smoke, Generally Maxing the rail Pressure at Idle will increase the Smoke, after that its easy procedure to find which Injector is the problem, Here's a video of Injector hung open by debris after install. https://youtu.be/C3NYFJGGA1M