ECSelner

Been a watcher for a while but this will be my first actual post.

Been driving my truck since September when i bought it at 71k miles. Currently reads 86k. Been noticing some noise while cruising at any rpms for the past 2 months (maybe less) that just sounds like, well best I can describe it is choppy air, almost the sound you get if you blow a fan with an air hose. It is either not noticeable or goes away once the truck is accelerated and can hear the whistle of the turbo.

Also noticed at the same time was that along with the small puff of smoke at startup it will lightly smoke for a while and visibly smoke during acceleration (even very light acceleration) even when completely warmed up with outside air being 70-80 deg, and any type of hard acceleration (over 50% pedal) makes me feel like i'm driving a 12v. Also have noticed higher EGT temps for normal driving (which i attributed to warmer ambient temps but know i don't know), about 50-100 higher.

In January I put in on the computer and had the injectors checked just before I changed my clutch out to be sure that there wasn't something with that and they all checked out great so I thought nothing of it. DMF changed to a SMF got rid of the vibration and did a valve adjustment just after but i might pull the valve cover off again to make sure there isn't something obvious (once i get the time). Truck has never had a programmer, tows only about once a month up to to 10000 lb trailer. feel like a slight loss of pickup when getting on it, and a slight smell of exhaust when standing in front of the truck but I can't find any leaks unless it is the EGT but even that doesn't show typical signs of leaks. Oil level will gradually lower between oil changes... maybe half a quart but I can tell what i'm loosing is out the vent from looking underneath. All fuel filters were changed at the end of April (in an attempt to figure it out) and made sure all the clamps were tight from the turbo to the intake and on the injector lines. Mileage has not changed. Feel free to ask any more questions.

I'm just not sure where to start on this problem... any ideas? it isn't loud and not really that annoying to listen to as it just normally fades into the road noise, just a change that i can't explain... to be concerned or not to be?

Andy505

Ever get this figured out? Maybe someone will chime in with a suggestion.

ECSelner

Well even more fun this weekend. after finding a nice sized screw in my front right tire and having to have it sit for 2 days it decided it would have a rough time starting (i blamed that on the fuel filter change i just did, figured there might have been still a bit of air in the line after filling the canister that the pump had to push out) but then once it started a big puff of white smoke out the exhaust ran for 10 second then stalled. Then it was even longer crank to get it to fire the second time with another large plume of white smoke out the rear that cleared after about 30 secs or so. It's not showing any codes, running a bit off though. Hesitates from stop and seems to have a general lack of power. Not thrilled about taking it to the dealership but looks like it might go that direction soon. Getting married in 10 days and this is just adding more stress to the pile... anybody have any thoughts, suggestions, questions?

Roperteacher

Sounds pretty classic for injector issues but the noise you describe has me stumped. But the smoke, hard start issue seems like injectors to me.

rockcrawler304

I agree on the injectors problems causing the smoke and hard starts.

As far as the noise I'm at a loss. Not sure what that could be.

ECSelner

Yeah, i'm starting to lean more towards injectors... pity they would happen now. The noise either has lessened or I've grown accustomed to it, I haven't had any luck tracing it to anything but it is still there. Thanks for the opinions guys. I'll probably take it in after my wedding and post the results.

FMB

Have you checked the boots going to/from the intercooler, and the intercooler itself? Sounds like a bit of a loss of boost causing your smoke and low power issues, and your "choppy air" may just be your truck "passing gas (boost air)" out of a leaky/broken boot.
Back to morning brew. . .

ECSelner

Well just got it back from the dealership and they found nothing mechanically wrong. They did however find that the computer had an older program in it. They reflashed (saying that the revision was fuel delivery related anyway) and so far in the little that i have driven it (20 miles or so) the EGTs are lower, the HPFR shows more steady pressure and my Fuel pressure is pretty much locked in at 9psi... still waiting on getting that boost one run up to the engine. I was hitting 1000* on a normal acceleration with no A/C on so the lower EGTs have made it only go over 800 when starting off up a hill. the Fuel rail had been loving the 20K+ section of my guage, seeing 23k without a load and looking like a cable driven speedometer, but now while cruising about 55 settles down to around 18k and without the jumping around that it did before and so that leads to a more constant reading from the fuel pressure guage. So far so good but only time will tell.

Thanks for everyone's help

PS. i did go through and make sure all the boots on the intercooler loop were tight when it first started acting up but if i have a bad component what is the way to test?

no_6_oh_no

That ain't a good sign for the injectors.

Extended running at 20k psi and above is a BAD thing. Thats is just strange a stock program would do that though. Makes one think there was glitch in the original ECU programming.

ECSelner

Yeah with as drastic of a change as what happened, something was telling something else something horribly wrong. Drivability has increased, i wonder if my mileage will work itself back up again, lost 1mpg in this whole fit that my truck threw. Great thing is that they only charged me for 1 shop hour and when i got my truck back i checked the hours and it was running 1h35min and drove 6 miles so that i'll count to just being lucky.

Andy505

Is it still dumping out smoke on command like it was earlier? I remember my 2006 I had, the closer I got to 3k rpms at full throttle the closer to 23k psi it got. Sounds like it probably had the same problem yours did.

ECSelner

Surprisingly it isn't anymore, not at all like that time you were with me, that and a lot of the acceleration smoke has gone away, only a slight haze now. There must have been some glitch with the program in the computer. Oil analysis in about a month, that might shed some more light on what was going on.

ECSelner

Quick update: Took it in again yesterday to a different place that i trust more than a dealer... the fleet maintenance shop for JET Transport. They checked it out and again said all injectors were contributing equally and well within spec but that with the symptoms (intermitted misses and white smoke on start up) that i might have one that is sticking ever so slightly and recommended some good doses of good chemical cleaner and if it persists or becomes worse they will need to do a bench test to determine the culprit better. Oil analysis in the coming weeks. Will be interested to see fuel dilution...

Still trying to find time to pull the valve cover and recheck the valves and check for an exhaust leak around the manifold, still have a strong exhaust smell on the drivers side of the truck.

Sometimes i look back and think, "why didn't i take that job as a test cell engineer for cummins?" Then I remember that designing things to chop other things into tiny bits is way fun.

ECSelner

Update:
It is a bad day when you finally get the right information to make a diagnosis that makes you sick to the stomach.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfxCcD0y528

The truck kept getting worse, losing more and more power as time went on (i have to start in first sometimes because the truck wants to stall and bucks so bad). Kept chasing after injector issue but to no avail until just from a passing thought after reading a thread totally unrelated to engine trouble (was thinking about a one-piece drive shaft) someone mentioned blow-by and all the bells went off in my head. Did the easy test last night (remove the valve cover oil fill cap and see what comes out) and sure enough it is like a tea kettle puffing away and smells like rich exhaust. So today I'll be doing some calling trying to see if the dealer will honor the 5 year/100,000 mile warranty on an 2006/90000 mile truck. being it is my birthday makes it so much more fun.

On the bright side, I get to go see what the gender of my baby is today

JRAPTOR04

****, hopefully it was bought late 2006 or you might be out of the warranty time frame. Happy birthday. Good luck with the gender test.