7.3 white smoke

[KSC350]

i have a 2003 f350 with a 7.3 and it just started blowing white smoke under acceleration..I checked the compressor wheel and the turbo is fine no oil in the fuel bowl and its not missing or blowing white smoke all the time..All gauges and temps are good.. Any ideas??

[Arisley]

Take a whiff of your exhaust, let us know what it smells like.

[KSC350]

Took a quick smell...didnt really notice anything different?

[KSC350]

Any ideas guys?

[powerstrokedan96]

does it run rough? any other symptoms?

[Marty]

Fuel pressure?

[All Stroked OUT]

check fuel pressure guarentee its either clogged injectors fuel line or filter had my 2001 do the samething got a bad batch of fuel had to pull the fuel bowl clean that the lines going to each head and the screen in the ports...

[KSC350]

Okay thanks for the imput guys..Symptons: Runs fine, doesent sound any different and no loss in power. Under hard accell it blows white mixed with black and when its in neutral if i rev it a puff of white comes out with some black. Fuel bowl was clean and so was the filter. I did notice this was only on the higher tuner setting..When i was on stock setting since it doesent blow any black smoke, doesent blow any white either

[golfer]

with the truck running, at full operating temperature...

unscrew the oil fill cap from the passenger side valve cover...if it has a steady haze (oily mist) then you're in not bad shape...

however...if there is a puff, puff, puff. (as if there is moderate pressure behind it)...then I'm afraid that you've probably lost a cylinder (rings, cylinder walls or cracked piston)...

any oil consumption (or "making" oil?)

when compression is gone in a cylinder...the fuel that the injector is injecting into that cylinder can increase the oil level in the crankcase.

take care~

Dave

[99STROKINSMOKIN]

My truck does the exact same thing. It blows some white smoke sometimes just like yours. I cant figure it out but I may replace injectors.

[99STROKINSMOKIN]

Did you figure anything out with your truck KSC350?

[99STROKINSMOKIN]

Anyone know what you do to fix. Mines does same thing.

[99STROKINSMOKIN]

Bump...

[99STROKINSMOKIN]

Anyone know anymore about this white smoke issue. My truck does avery similar thing.

[kainers]

do what was suggested by golfer.

if your exhaust smells sweet its coolant burning eyes is fuel.

[PSDEng]

If you can get access to a good scanner try running contribution and buzz tests. May give some insight to your cylinder situations.

[99STROKINSMOKIN]

There is no blow by out the oil fill cap. I just put in new injectors. If it was the turbo would it be white smoke? Also can the CCV cause white smoke with tons of oil in the intake tube? I havent been able to smell exhaust when the white comes out. Its intermittent. It dont do it all the time. No loss of coolant though.

[KIMMER]

I noticed the same issue on mine sometimes. I opened up the fill cap while running and it kinda looks like it puffs, but when I put my hand over it, I don't feel any pressure. I took video on my phone and will upload it when I get home.

[ju015dd]

any updates???

[99STROKINSMOKIN]

I have yet to figure out my white smoke issue. Truck still does it and im frustrated.

[ju015dd]

is yours a 6 speed too?

[golfer]

Originally Posted by 99STROKINSMOKIN

I have yet to figure out my white smoke issue. Truck still does it and im frustrated.

did you ever run a compression test on the engine?

[99STROKINSMOKIN]

No I dont have any way to run compression test but the truck has tons of power and no blow by so I dont think it is a compression issue. The white smoke is random to. If it was a compression issue wouldnt it smoke white all the time and run rough.

[99STROKINSMOKIN]

I take oil fill cap off and there is no smoke or oil coming out. So that is good right?

[ju015dd]

yes

['99 stroker]

hows your antifreeze level?

[xtreme radial]

I bet it's the turbo! Mine did that for a while before the turbo went out. I bought a $70 rebuild kit and just marked the wheel before i took it apart.

[99STROKINSMOKIN]

The antifreeze and oil levels are both good and I never have to add. If it was the turbo wouldnt I be able to see oil in the exhaust side of turbo and the downpipe cause I dont. Also wouldnt I be losing oil?

[golfer]

how many miles on the injectors?

...and are you just running good pump diesel from a high volume fuel stop(not homemade veggie stuff/old fuel/etc)?

[van2002]

I was having a problem like that when I was in CA. After I left ran some system cleaner in my fuel and the problem went away. Do have a haze coming out of my oil fill cap when the motor is warm, but no pressure on the palm-o-meter.
I know on the Colt, CAT, and Detroit Diesel motors that we have on the ships that is not a big issue with haze coming from the valve covers seals or oil fill points.
Is that a issue on the 7.3?

[99STROKINSMOKIN]

There are only like 1500 miles on injectors and I just use good pump fuel in my truck.

[99STROKINSMOKIN]

Bump...

[ju015dd]

I wish one of us could figure this out lol. I am so tired of my white smoke issue and I bet the traffic behind me is too..lol My injectors buzz good and pass cc test with flying colors, perfect compression on engine........

[golfer]

Originally Posted by 99STROKINSMOKIN

There are only like 1500 miles on injectors and I just use good pump fuel in my truck.

where did you get the fuel injectors from?

[99STROKINSMOKIN]

I know me to its getting old. Mine came from you guys at swamps. I know its not the injectors causing problem though cause it did it before injector swap.

[golfer]

*whew*....(I think)

I would seriously be concerned about the compression of that engine..or fuel pressure...

GP system ok?

[Arisley]

I second a compression test.

[99STROKINSMOKIN]

If it was compression though wouldnt it smoke all the time though and be down on power?

[ju015dd]

Originally Posted by 99STROKINSMOKIN

If it was compression though wouldnt it smoke all the time though and be down on power?

nope, before I got a rebuilt 73 put in mine ran fine for the first 8 months I had it but had lots of blow by and used quit a bit of oil. It only smoked on cold starts at first but slowy started getting worse over time till I said screw it and checked the compression. I had under 290 on number 4 and under 350 on 8 from what I remember. And from what I could tell it ran good and strong still just smoked like a freight train

[99STROKINSMOKIN]

Mine has no blow by and doesnt use any oil at all. It only smokes a little on very cold mornings. I think the white smoke I see just sometimes while driving is something else but maybe not. I only see the white smoke to with the chip turned up. ju015dd your rebuild though still didnt fix your smoke problem thought right?

[ju015dd]

Originally Posted by 99STROKINSMOKIN

Mine has no blow by and doesnt use any oil at all. It only smokes a little on very cold mornings. I think the white smoke I see just sometimes while driving is something else but maybe not. I only see the white smoke to with the chip turned up. ju015dd your rebuild though still didnt fix your smoke problem thought right?

It did fix my low compression blue smoke problem lol, but now I have this darn white -grayish smoke

[99STROKINSMOKIN]

Ya I dont got any blue smoke. I just got the dang white/gray smoke just like you. Maybe one of us will figure something out soon.

[ju015dd]

Originally Posted by 99STROKINSMOKIN

Ya I dont got any blue smoke. I just got the dang white/gray smoke just like you. Maybe one of us will figure something out soon.

hope so, I am gonna try this today,

IF your 7.3 starts blowing white smoke, and stumbling - READ THIS - MAT SENSOR - Ford Powerstroke Diesel Forum

[99STROKINSMOKIN]

Well let us know if it works.

[99STROKINSMOKIN]

Bump.....

[ju015dd]

I think I may have mine narrowed down, or at least I am crossing my fingers. I was getting no codes or oil in my icp but was getting some weird jumping aruond numbers when I was data logging with my ae the other day. With it unplugged truck seems to run better and seems to get rid of my smoke issue and seems to idle a bit better. I know it will let the truck blow black smoke again instead of a black more gray smoke on hard acceleration. I have a new icp coming in the next couple days to confirm.

[deiter5262]

ok, sounds like you got it figured out but I was going to say double check o'rings for white smoke issue



this could be way off topic and not it at all...but when we went to throw my new stage 2's into the truck it was blowing white smoke real bad, brand new o'rings, flow and bench tested injectors by casserly nothing wrong with them...we pulled the injectors out and there was a cracked brand new o'ring

[ju015dd]

will keep that in mind since mine are new as well. Crossing my fingers this is my issue thought. I have been under the valve covers way too many times in the short 1.5 years I have had her.

[deiter5262]

Originally Posted by ju015dd

will keep that in mind since mine are new as well. Crossing my fingers this is my issue thought. I have been under the valve covers way too many times in the short 1.5 years I have had her.

Good luck! I hear you on that one!

[PSDEng]

Make sure when you are re-installing injectors you have new o-rings and have sufficiently lubed them. It's been my experience that o-rings are good for ONE installation.

[99STROKINSMOKIN]

I actually got a new ICP sensor in the spring do you think it could be bad already. The old one was leaking oil and I replaced it and pigtail. I know the new one isnt leaking oil.

[ju015dd]

Originally Posted by 99STROKINSMOKIN

I actually got a new ICP sensor in the spring do you think it could be bad already. The old one was leaking oil and I replaced it and pigtail. I know the new one isnt leaking oil.

Only way to tell is by checking it with an autoenteguity for similar. Or I guess you could unplug in and see if it runs better or worse and drive it to see if smoke goes away.

[ju015dd]

Well no luck for me, still smokes with new icp. Any way to check the wiring on the icp? Truck seems to run the same weather it is plugged in or not. I have noticed when I unplug it that my hanging idle goes away though, and seems to go back to idle faster while in nuetral.

[ju015dd]

Anyone else got a guess or solution? So tired of seeing gray smoke on take off.

[99STROKINSMOKIN]

Hey ju015dd did you ever figure anything out with your truck and the white/gray smoke?

[ju015dd]

nope still have the issue, gonna be rebuilding my turbo soon and cross my fingers

[99STROKINSMOKIN]

Ok keep me updated.

[ju015dd]

Originally Posted by 99STROKINSMOKIN

Ok keep me updated.

lol. will do. I am running out of ideas. Compression is perfect, fuel press perfect, no codes, injectors have only 8k on them, truck runs like a champ, just have this smoke issue. I have the rebuild kit for the turbo so just a matter of getting the time to do it.

[88 gtu]

Subscribed! I'm having this problem too and it's driving me crazy.My van has 216,000 miles and had ####ty injectors so i put some 93,000 mile ones in and it still does it.It seems like it only does it when u take off easy, if i take off hard the turbo winds up and it goes like hell with no smoke.Mine is more white than gray.My mods are Cold Ait Intake,Custom Front Mount Intercooler, School Bus injectors, 3 1/2 inch straight pipe, fuel plugs in the rear drilled out, and i just did the IDM Mod but haven't tried driving it yet.I'll let u know if the IDM Mod changes anything.

[ju015dd]

I'm still smokin, wasn't turbo.... I am lost and want to give up. I just don't understand why my truck smokes like it does.

[99STROKINSMOKIN]

Well that sucks man sorry.

[ju015dd]

Originally Posted by 99STROKINSMOKIN

Well that sucks man sorry.

Hey bud, are you running a ccv mod on your truck?

[88 gtu]

Update.I did the IDM Mod and took it for a ride and drove it for about a 1/2 hour.Dy dad drove it and i was watching out the mirror for the 2nd 1/2 of the time.My van has a broken shift indicator and when he jumped in and put it in gear, he put it in 2nd by mistake and when we took off it was fine but as the rpms got up high before we noticed it was in 2nd gear it atarted to sound like it was missing a little bit and i looked in the mirror and there the smoke was.But the whole time we were in Drive it never did it.Where am i going with this?? My Van never dit it until i did the custom front mount intercooler and the cold air intake.So my thought on this smoke problem is that it may be starving for fuel with the Air mods? I've been everywhere on my truck but the fuel bowl and the in tank pump.Could this be realted to "####" in the fuel bowl? something clogged ? Have u had your fuel bowl apart or have any mods done to it? Hope this helps, I'll continue to track my problem and let u know of any results good or bad.Mabey one of us will figure this out!

[gottagofast]

diesels CAN'T starve for fuel from too much air... there is no such thing as running lean on a diesel

now if you aren't supplying proper fuel pressure to the injectors you could have issues from that

[88 gtu]

Oh ya...It starts easier and has more power too, Enough so u can feel it.It was a significant gain because i had a small Snap-On rollaway and my Yamaha FJ1200 in the back too! Thanks for the input gottagofast.Back to the drawing board

[TARM]

So lets see in ONE thread we now have what 3 no 4 or maybe 5 different people with possibly all completely different reasons for having smoke all with some varying different situations and symptoms. It great to learn form others with similar issue but it makes it very hard to work out issues when there are 3x as many and they are comments and new ones coming in and out. Not coming down on anyone but there are so many different issues going on.


Let see:

KSC350 : Runs fine, doesn't sound any different and no loss in power. Under hard acceleration it blows white mixed with black and when its in neutral if i rev it a puff of white comes out with some black. Fuel bowl was clean and so was the filter. I did notice this was only on the higher tuner setting..When i was on stock setting since it doesn't blow any black smoke, doesn't blow any white either.

He has Stage I injectors and
I do nor see mileage of it or the truck which is a 2003. DP tuner.

Not sure if he has gotten his issues resolved as I thought Golfer might have been belonging him offline as I had originally thought it was his injectors till I realized no that was the next person that had joined.


99STROKINSMOKIN : Said he has SORT of the same issues sometimes. He is the one with injectors from Swamps recently installed 1500 miles on them as of his post. He has zero smoke coming out of his oil fill tube so blow by is not the issue. Dave (Golfer) suggested the issue could also be fuel related. I do not see where if he has actually checked his fuel pressure yet. He also suggested checking the glow plug system. Not sure if that has been done either. He is running a new ICP and pigtail with o ring and it is not leaking. As far as I can see he has not checked to see if he has any codes.


KIMMER : Has the same issue apparently some times I assume this is with white smoke but when he checked for blow by from the oil tube it in his estimation goes puff puff. But his hand does not feel pressure. We are suppose to be getting a video. Not sure what if anything has been tried by him. On to the next......


ju015dd : I feel bad for this guy. Had big time issues white and black blue smoke. Just all the colors and smells He ended up doing a full rebuild. This took care of the blue /black. But he still has white. They are new injectors I think. He has done a ton of work tracking as far as I can tell. Has rebuilt the turbo. Has no blow by issues. Fuel and coolant and oil fluids all are ok. CP is good. No codes. Damn brother I feel for you that frustrating.


88 gtu : He has a 209K mileage Van. Again a white smoke issue . He had bad injectors so he swapped them out for some other injectors that has 93 miles on them from a school bus but no history on them beyond that. He has no smoke when he takes off hard and power was not an issue. He did a IDM mod? When he holds it in gear and take the rpms high it seems to miss and white smokes. It had not done this before. But he had not run up to high rpms like that before. But in drive now if I understand the last two posts he has no issues or smoke now. No idea on if codes were read or what trouble shooting had been done. Not sure if that means his issue is taken care of as he made a comment of going back to the drawing board.


So of the various people that are having some type of white smoke issue how many still are having the issue and do not have the answer to whats causing it?

Could those still having the issues post and list everything they have done so far to figure out what the cause of this white smoke issue.

Just trying to get everyone up to date and on the same page. SO many suggestions had been offered up so many various people with issues and all different setups and etc.. It will help to know what each have or have not tried yet.


I personal wonder of those how many only started having this issue recently as in this fall/winter?

Of the things to check that had been offered up:

• Odor of the white smoke
• Smoke out the oil fill tube
• Compression test
• Fuel pressure at WOT run
• test glow plugs and regulator or module
• check coolant levels or fuel in it
• Pull any codes from the PCM (IMO YOU must do this or you are just guessing)
• ICP
• test injectors buzz contr..etc.. and check their o-rings
• I will add EPBS and tube which may not have any effect at all but seems to be a big issue with all kinds of things and does effect fueling and control of the EBPV

[Arisley]

Yeah, I was getting so confused I just left this thread alone.

[88 gtu]

Tarm,You were correct on most everything.97' E-350, 216,000 Miles, Stock injectors from a bus with 93k, No tuning, no chip, no programmer, stock. Ebay front mount intercooler and pipe, Homemade intake/cone filter setup, SP Diesel-Exhaust Backpressure Sensor Eliminator, 3 1/2 inch straight exhaust, fuel rails in the back of heads drilled out, IDM Mod, EBPV gutted, stock turbo, new Injector O-Rings, New Motorcraft Glow Plugs, Stock untouched fuel system, CCV to atmosphere.It doesn't smoke white anymore since the IDM Mod when it's in Drive, and does not smoke at WOT.It did however smoke white when we took off in 2nd gear and didn't realize it, but that wasn't WOT and it was once it got higher in the rpms(U know like once u notice it's in 2nd and call yourself a dumb ass), right around there.It only happens when the throttle is part to 1/2 way open.As soon as the turbo really starts to sing.....No problems.This truck has seen high rpms before, This isn't it's 1st hot supper.I haven't read any codes in a long time (4 Years), from what i read u have to use a real shop scanner not an auto zone special.Back to the drawing board meaning time to investigate more.

[99STROKINSMOKIN]

ju015dd I do not have the CCV mod done on my truck at this time. I bought the kit from stealth auto but havent got it put on yet. Do you?

Tarm I checked fuel pressure a while ago and it was fine between 62 and 65 at all times. The glow plug system is all newer and works great. I also do not have any codes at all. I only get white smoke sometimes when accelerating when it should normally be black.

[ju015dd]

Yeah I had it on my truck but put it back to stock and getting way less white smoke on take off now.

[99STROKINSMOKIN]

Oh I see that is very interesting. Was yours attached to a canister like stealth's or vented to the gound?

[TARM]

There was some testing done. Granted it was only on one vehicle but the dif between venting to the intake and to atmosphere cut pressure by 50%. Something to think about. Jsut for testing you could turn the hose and let it vent under the hood and see how the smoke is.

One thing I also noticed is people either have new injectors or very old injectors. What do you all think about the possibility that some may have a improper install like a copper washer fell off pushing it in. Very easy to not notice. On the one with used injectors installed and others what about worn o rings. Even new ones can sometimes be damaged during install. Also possibly a bad seating job or maybe tq not tight enough to maybe loosened up.


Also wonder if some had this coincide with the colder weather or maybe winter fuel change over?

[ju015dd]

Originally Posted by TARM

There was some testing done. Granted it was only on one vehicle but the dif between venting to the intake and to atmosphere cut pressure by 50%. Something to think about. Jsut for testing you could turn the hose and let it vent under the hood and see how the smoke is.

One thing I also noticed is people either have new injectors or very old injectors. What do you all think about the possibility that some may have a improper install like a copper washer fell off pushing it in. Very easy to not notice. On the one with used injectors installed and others what about worn o rings. Even new ones can sometimes be damaged during install. Also possibly a bad seating job or maybe tq not tight enough to maybe loosened up.


Also wonder if some had this coincide with the colder weather or maybe winter fuel change over?

I will turn mine and see what I get. Also, I have been meaning to pull my injectors and check them for proper copper gaskets and orings but just don't have the time and want to at the moment. I am hopefully having someone make me a injector break out box soon and will try and isolate if any bad gaskets or orings on any injector(s). If it is something to do with an injector I have the builder to blame........ I don't think I have an oring issue though, wouldn't I be getting oil in my fuel bowl? Fuel bowl is good and clean. And wouldn't missing copper gasket show up by running a contribution test?

[88 gtu]

Mine has done it in the summer too, but not as bad as the winter now that u mention it.New Hampshire weather summer high 95 and tonight it's supposed to be -11

[gottagofast]

oil in the fuel bowl is an obs thing