PODs Smoking at Idle

[sparks57]

I have been hearing a lot about how nasty the PODs are in terms of smoke. Especially how they leave a foul smell in the cab.



Is there anything you can do about the smoke smell in the cab? I wanted some PODs, but now I'm thinking twice. Personally, I don't like the thought of breathing smoke in my cab.



I couldn't care less about the smoke outside , but I don't want smoke inside.



I am leaning closer and closer towards the EDMs.



So what's the scoop?

 

[BushWakr - RIP]

Hey CB,



I don't know what smell they may be talking about but the POD's are no different than any other injector when it comes to smell.

If the wind is right, and/or the heater is on and drawing in outside air that is blown forward by wind they all smell a bit.

I do not have "in cab" stink/smell on mine.

There is nothing significantly different about them as far as I am concerned.

Any of you guys have a contrary experience... . other than wind directed smoke intake into the cab... . ?????



Bob.

 

[JLEONARD]

Hey CB... .

Try closing the window!!!!



Sorry..... I couldn't resist saying that, and I enjoyed it very much I might add!!!!



Jay Leonard ,aka east coast Jay

 

[Greenleaf]

Smoke? What smoke?

I don't have smoke billowing into the cab as I set in town patiently waiting the light to allow me to resume my travels. I have done it with the windows down. I have been there with the windows up/heater motor on. I have done it with a fox I have done it in a box.

Really, I don't see the smoke entering the cab, save for the very brief instant when the wind may happen to carry a bit of exhaust my way. And should this occur, you won't find me exiting stage left,getting the heck outta Dodge. It simply does not bother me. And another thing, my wife, who is sensitive toward fumes, has yet to complain. I do see the exhaust now that I have the POD's, but in my opinion, they don't make enough to be of any concern.



I did inquire about the EDM's here at my local pump shop. They talk them up and recommended to stay away from the POD idea. Said the POD injectors smoke badly and cause the engine to idle poorly. I have yet to witness either. This is why I did not opt to go with the EDM [no smoke]. And the secondary reason was cost. Much higher!!!



By the way, my pump is turned up to the point that much more will result in run-a-way. Perhaps my air intake system helps to minimize the smoke.



Check out a truck that has the POD's then you can judge for yourself. To each his own, I say.



This is all IMO, of coarse. You have to be the final authority as to the amount of smoke you are comfortable with.



Scott

 

[sparks57]

I am going to wait until F1 diesel is done working on the first gen EDMs. I bet Don can get just as much power as the PODs but with less smoke and better MPGs.



We'll see...

 

[jbolt]

I'm sorry to say my POD experience has been different. With stock pump settings, at idle in neutral I would always have a noticeable haze from the tail pipe. Cold or warm it did not matter. If I did not put the transmission in neutral at a stop light there was always smoke drifting by. Bad enough during the summer people next to me would roll up their windows. During the winter I had to shut off the heater at stop lights or it would draw diesel fumes into the cab. My wife who is very tolerant to such things did not like to drive with me for this reason. I did not like it either.



Under moderate acceleration I was always concerned about being pulled over or turned in by the enviro crowd. Heavy acceleration could cause an accident. Turning up the pump was not an option.



The responses to this thread make me wonder what is different about my engine to be so much smokier.



Jay (aka west coast Jay )

 

[CDegner]

Another alternative

Don't forget that the DDIII+ are still available. I was somewhat suprised to find this out but Old Smokey filled me in on this. Everyone I know that is running these (Bob B and HDM48) absolutely swear by them.



I don't have them (wish I did) so just throwing another alternative out there.



Carl

 

[sparks57]

What are DDIII+ and what kind of power do they have?

 

[dpuckett]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but they are made by Diesel Dynamics (hence the DD) and add about 65hp; in other words, they are a little hotter than the PODs. The tips are extrude honed, i believe. I almost bought a set a few years ago for a truck I had then, but spent the money on something else.

 

["Mad Max"]

Some POD intel

I plugged in a set of POD's while up at PDR and when combined with the turbo upgrades I don't care what happens behind me!! Okay, okay, I'm not really a big smoke fan, but power equals smoke, and BIG power equals BIG smoke. But, my rig now makes this 'fog' from the exhaust when at idle - disipates/evaporates (?) very quickly, but no real sooty smoke at idle. Looks neat enough, but I'm qurious what the 'fog' really is?



What is the actual by-product of a diesel engine? As I understand it's CO2 and soot. So, is this fog a CO2 cloud, and if so is it running lean? Under hard pulling my egt's have gone up about 100* from before, at around 25 psi. Truck is hauling the mail, but I'd like to reduce the egt's a bit. I think I need a bit more fuel - thoughts?



I occasionally smell fuel/exhaust as well, but only at idle. Sometimes I get a wiff of oil from the breather. I just chalk it up to a big power engine with a lot of miles, though I don't think the miles have anything to do with it. Under hard power I get a nice dark cloud, but under light power I get a nice fog. What do you think y'all?



- Sambo

 

[JLEONARD]

Bad enough during the summer people next to me would roll up their windows.

Now that alone is reason enough to go with PODs!



EC Jay

 

[Greenleaf]

Sambo, to reduce the egt you will need to reduce fuel, or increase air flow in one of many ways . But you probably already knew that. We use water injection on the pulling tractors. Mount one of them 1100 gal tanks in the bed... ...



It sounds as though you have your truck dialed in pretty well.



The answer to your question is best answered by reading the article in our magazine. It was in issue???41??? Something to do with emissions. There was another included in the Exhaust Note article in the same issue I think, but what is and what I think are not always one and the same



Scott [aka Greenleaf of the Great Lakes ]

 

[farmerzo]

my experience with PODs

I've been running PODs in a nonintercooled for about a year now. Heavy pump settings, turbo and intake upgrades. Smokes at idle, pours black when taking off, leaves the side of my trailer black after a haul and idles rough. Overall I like the power and the ability to **** off tailgaiters. alonzo

 

[nascar mark]

My findings from the past.



I was even able to make stock inj's smoke all the time with aggressive settings (31 psi) and stock H1C turbo. The PDR HX35 turbo cleaned the smoke right up at this point but I like the power and couldn't stand to drive around with less than push you back in the seat power.

Installing the POD's made for smoke of coarse at these settings, but the power/smoke trade off is worth it for me.



Because of the lack of middle performance inj's for now (we are working on finding a cheap alternative), for those of you that don't like smoke and don't mind lower than max power, I would suggest the following.



You can make POD's run fairly clean (not a whole lot of smoke over stock injectors ) if you tweak your pump differently from what everyone is doing.



With POD's injectors try adjusting the star wheel (turn up until flush with top of the threaded bore) and smoke screw out until flush (under cap) which means turning them counter clockwise all the way up, so as to lower, low boost fuel.

For cruising and full throttle low smoke settings, turn your concentric fuel pin to the leanest setting (to the least aggressive position of the pin)

This will reduce the smoke drastically.



Also consider a turbo and air intake upgrade to almost eliminate all smoke and at the same time improve your performance and fuel mileage.



Remember with POD's, if you for what ever reason go through a second childhood, you can tweak the pump the other way and

 

[jbolt]

Mark,



The settings you suggested were exactly what I was using and I still had too much smoke. This makes me think something else is going on but on the other hand the EDMs cleared all that up.



Don't anyone get me wrong. I do like the power the PODs give and I sure didn't want to spend the extra dollars for new injectors but the issues I described earlier were not acceptable.



Jay

 

[62MaxWedge]

Personally, after installing the PODs, the smoke is not bad, almost not able to be seen at times at idle. I do notice if jumping on the throttle (to torque off the 5. 0 Mustangs) a heavy smoke belch then clears right up. The smoke doesn't bother me.



The power increase is worth it.



Enjoy.

 

[nascar mark]

Jay,



Your post farther up the page says "stock pump setting" which you say was to smokey. Stock pump settings doesn't mean much as I have seen alot of pump settings of customers trucks and they are all over the place. By this I mean starwheel, smoke screw, power screw and fuel pin settings from virgin pumps.

My post above shows how to adjust from so called "stock" or for that matter "tweaked" pump settings to minimize smoke and not pay through the nose for custom inj's and core charge.



Mark