Still White Smoke?

[patshea098]

alright, a month or so ago my truck began blowing some white smoke out the exhaust only upon letting off the acclerator, or under light acceleration. Then the truck wouldnt start a few days later, took it to the dealership finally and they found it was low 2 quarts of oil, filled her up checked her out and said there was no leaks. truck is running now.
But there is STILL the same white smoke problem? if they looked at it and all and got her running wouldnt they of figured out what is causing this white smoke? what do i do or what is going on?

i know most will say its the dealership but this is a really reliable well known dealership that does alot more than just ford stuff.

 

[CHPMustang]

Myself I would get an oil sample on your next oil change and send it to Blackstone labs for an analysis. The analysis will show if you're getting any Diesel fuel,coolant,etc into your motor oil, the analysis will may also indicate motor oil entering the fuel stream via the injectors which then would indicate bad injector o-rings.

Defective Turbocharger seals may also introduce oil into the intake.

Last but not least head gaskets could be suspect.

Hope this little info might get you started somewhere on resolving the white smoke there Pat.

Bill

 

[patshea098]

im not extremely mechaniclly inclined, so is there anything i can do to check these myself easily? i just dont have alot of cash to just be throwing around to figure out whats wrong with it and fix ya know? im just wondering why the dealership would not of noticed this problem and said something.

 

[iracemine]

Having a blackstone test done is the farthest thing from throwing money around. Its like a blood test for your truck. Its a good place to start.

 

[patshea098]

does that test cost anything? also how long would it take? cause im afraid of harming my engine, does it sound like if i drive around a little still that i could really damage my engine or does it seem minor at this point?

lastly is there anything i can do myself at this time to check some things? i have all basic tools and what not?

How hard is it to pull my glow plugs to drain the cylinders and see if there is any oil or coolant leaking in there?

 

[BJS]

blackstone test is around 25 Tests / Price List You're looking at around a month from the time you order the test vials to return of information.

glow plugs are relatively easy to pull the hardest part is getting everything out of the way, though the passenger's side valve cover it is helpful to be a double jointed contortionist midget with extendable arms to reach all of the bolts it is not required. you'll need a rather small tube to try to suck anything out of the cylinder. however if you have volumes enough that they are easily removed from the cylinder then you likely have some bent connecting rods.

Pull your downpipe off the turbo and look for any signs of water or oil in the downpipe and any accumulation in the bottom of the exhaust turbine housing. Pull the intake off of the turbo look for any oil here as well, you are likely to find a light coating of oil from the
crank case vent.

You can check the coolant reservoir for any oil spotting on top as well as checking the oil for a milky appearance. Given that you were 2 quarts low I would be chasing oil leaking into the cylinders somewhere, likely injector o-rings. has your truck seemed harder to start lately?

Have you noticed any change in your mileage?

Who changed your oil last and are you sure it was at the proper level when they finished and not 2 quarts low then?

 

[patshea098]

yes american service staiton changed my oil last, i do alot of business with them and they have never failed me and always been real great service to me so i doubt they didnt properly change my oil.

yes it has seemed harder to start lately!

so if i find that my coolant has oil spotting, or oil in any of the areas you said, what does that mean?

also i was told that they found no leaks? but i have seen a leak underneath my truck what is going on?!

 

[iracemine]

So I assume this is a 7.3 and has close to 200K miles? If so its most likely O rings and worn injectors. Easy job? no. Expensive? if you do all 8 (you should), but if you go do a buzz test and a contribution test it might show which one is dyeing. But till you get that blackstone test your trowing darts at symptoms.

 

[patshea098]

no im only at 103k!!

 

[BJS]

if your coolant has oil spotting then you have 3 possible problems 1) head gaskets or 2) injector cups 3) oil cooler

I asked about delayed harder starting because when the high pressure oil system has a leak and the oil gets out it is replaced with air and air will compress much more than oil making it harder for the HPOP to develop minimum pressure for the ICP to allow the injectors to fire. This is why it is so hard to start a truck after pulling the injectors.

High pressure hydraulic seals in industrial use fail far before 10 or 11 years, this is what your injector o-rings are. Ford/International have changed the o-ring design several times over the years to what it is now as a series of single large o-rings, while the original injectors in my truck had a series of stacked split ring type seals in each groove.

Given the symptoms you've described I'd be pulling the injectors and replacing the o-rings on them. Depending on how long you plan to keep the truck and your ability to deal with down time I'd also consider sending them to an injector shop to have them "gone through" as there are also internal o-rings and age is not their friend either; you'll find old threads about doing it yourself but the reputable vendors have discontinued offering kits for DIY.