white smoke at cold start up

[MHorne]

The temperatures have been dropping here where i live so everytime i start the truck its about 20 something degrees. Only in the morning i believe it blows out quite a bit of white smoke for the first couple of seconds. After that it seems to be fine. Is this normal on diesels for it to blow out the white smoke on cold cold mornings? What is the white smoke? Is it oil burning or something?

 

[dslmacdown]

That perfectly normal in the cold. The white smoke is unburned fuel out the tailpipe. The cylinders are really cold and can't burn all the fuel inside. If the smoke clears when the engine is warmed up then there is nothing wrong.



Chris

 

[MHorne]

Well thats good to hear. I thought it was normal but just had to make sure. Thanks Chris.

 

[J Shocik]

What yr. is your truck? Your issue could be normal, then again, you could have a problem with your grid heaters not working, like me. The symptoms are the same. When you first start your truck, watch the alternator gauge, it should "dance", that being it should go between discharge to charge, discharge to charge. This is the grid heaters cycling to heat the intake air, which is normal. With overnight temps in the 20's, you should have a "dancing" alt. needle.

 

[johncameron]

Does it look like my truck :--)