We need some help with this one guys. My buddy has an '02 24 valve that has some demons. It bellows out white smoke even after it has warmed up and at about 2k rpm it will chug and completely fog the cars behind him. It only happens at 2k rpm when shifting from 2nd to 3rd and 3rd to 4th. It has been into the dealer and they have replaced everything short of buying him a new truck (new short block, 3 injection pumps, 2 lift pumps, 2 new sets of injectors, engine ecm, and various engine sensors). It doesn't seem like there is anything left to replace short of the head. Does anybody have any more ideas? It has been to 2 different dealers and we have been dealing with this for about 8 months!!!

 

Also worth mentioning is that this all started happening after the dealer performed the in-tank update for the lift pump. As mentioned above, they have even replaced the in-tank lift pump again.

 

What is his fuel and boost pressures when its acting up? Codes?

 

It's not throwing any codes. He doesn't have a boost guage, but he does have a low fuel pressure light installed. We checked the light for proper operation, and it is working. The light never comes on, telling me that the fuel pressure doesn't drop below 3-5 psi. We've checked axial play on the turbo, and it seems fine. This truck only has 50k mi. on it.

 

does this do this with the fueling box turned off? whats the story on the injectors. are they oem replaced? and the head has never been taken off and valves looked at. hows the the oil level is it growing or is it burning oil. I would think that you would have codes. you know how to do the 3 key cycle to pull codes right. do you have a boost gauge. is the turbo sounding normal? have the truck dropped drastically in mpg. do you have a EGT gauge? sorry for the questions just trying to get everything covered.

 

in my past experience with gasoline engines, white smoke would indicate antifreeze in the combustion chamber......on a diesel it could also mean a fuel problem

 

Ya, going in the same direction - "bellowing out white smoke" often indicates a blown head gasket, which can also interfere with fuel ignition and become most evident approaching torque peak somewhere around 2000 rpm.

 

Are you aware that codes can be set without turning on the CEL?
Cycle the key three times ending in on , and get back to us.
I bet it has code 0216 and 1688, 1689.
This all looks like VP-44 is bad. Maybe the dealer isn't getting good rebuilds on the pump.

 

wouldnt that fall under the "lemon" law??? i think thats what it is, theres only so many times you can take a truck in to the shop before they have to give you a new one and i think its like 6 times within so many miles on the engine.

 

He doesn't have a "chip" or programmer, it is stock. He doesn't have an EGT gauge. The injectors are OEM replaced by Dodge dealer. As far as the head and head gasket, I would think that the dealer would have checked the head and replaced the head gasket when they put the new short block in it. Also, as far as the codes, wouldn't the check engine light come on if there were stored fault codes? I think the next thing we are going to do is hook up a boost and fuel pressure gauge and see what we get.

 

Yeah, my buddy has a lot more patience than me. If it was my truck, it would be parked on the service manager's desk right about now!!! He drives a company vehicle for work, so he has left this truck there at the dealer for like a month so that they could make sure and get it fixed. But, when he goes to pick it up after they say it's done, he gets half a block away and it's fogging again. Don't they test drive after a repair??

 

yeah they would give me a new truck or i would have them tied up in court over it.. and that happend to me with paul miller ford, took a f250 in 3 times for the same problem it was over heating "company Truck" and they said it was fixed all the times well last time i got it out of the shop i was on my way to deliver tires temp guage maxed out and i never let out of it till i melted the pistons to the block, haha i got a new motor out of it under warentee for free.

towed it up there and they had it 2 weeks and i called to get a progress report and they said they were chargein the batteries that it wouldnt start i laughed and told them to pull the heads off sure enugh she was melted haha

 

There can be codes and no CEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It is so simple to retrieve them by yourself, now do it and get back to us if you want help.

 

Will double check that there are no codes and get back to you. Thanks

 

OK, he has codes p1693 and p0500.