Mike Perez

My 1999 dodge 5.9 diesel 2500 4x4 Ram truck stock.


Crank case breather tube emits white smoke, its the one in front of engine left side. I guess the only one on the truck. it wont pass the visual inspection. what would be the fix for that?

Thanks,

Mike

KATOOM

Problem number 1.....you live in the Orange County area. Thats not meant to be funny or a dig on where you live either but just stating the facts that southern CA people are of the mind set that anything other than a hybrid or electric car is the main cause of what we now call "climate change".

So no matter where you go you're going to be the butt of someones aggression as they nitpick the heck out of your nasty smoking smelly big diesel truck.

That said, I've never heard of anyone failed because of "white smoke" out the blowby vent. Did you confirm this color smoke and is it still doing this?

Lastly, I would HIGHLY suggest you relocate that hose by extending it down under the engine to an area more away from the radiator otherwise the oily vapors will eventually cause airflow problems and result in a hotter running engine.

Other than that, if the truck isnt pumping out some "gross polluting" white smoke then my advice is to seek a less liberally minded smog shop. Maybe check with your local diesel performance shops and ask them where's the best place to go.

SIXSLUG

Yeah, the above is good advice. I took a 3/4" gas pipe nipple of 2" length and a 4 foot piece of 3/4" fuel hose. Pull the puke bottle off and shove the nipple in the end of the hoses halfway and join, then crank a zip tie down around each threaded area and route the hose back around the end of your trans....congrats, you now will feel the addiction to continue "bomb"ing your truck.

Better Off Modified Baby

Gordon Anderson

my 1999 , is a 49 state truck ,

it also fails any and all visual ,because it only has a Road draft tube ...lol

then i take it to a state Ref. , who runs the engine #'s , , and declares it never came with more then a " Road draft tube " , from DAY 1
then HE ok's my new tag. on the visual...
BTW- there is only a visual inspection.. to deal with.
i once had a smog license ,
so i asked the REF. if he could rivet a tag to the core support , detailing that it has to be a smog exempt truck , with zero smog devices ,.,
he said NO way that i had to have a test that fails , then i have to make a appointment with the State REF. , every time the smog cert comes up..?

i use a pass or don't pay place ,so i get my money back ,
then i go seethe Ref , he only charges me $10.00 to pass it...lol

but mine does dot punk anything out the tube....?*&^%$

Mike Perez

Yes, I know CA is not friendly to smog and even more to my loud truck! The smog inspection guys I go to is cool. This time I went to two places , they both passed me on the visual inspection, but OBDII could not communicate with the computer. They did not know why, they gave me paper work to see State Smog Referee.

The Referee told me they were testing me as a CA truck when it is classified a Federal Vehicle, so it does not need OBDII Requirement. But the Referee inspecter tagged me for the wite smoke out of breather. ( I did make a puke bottle for it out of ABS pipe. A long hose away from engine would have been better, he probably would not have seen it).

I now need to show reciept repair for my smog guy, maybe a valve adjustment, since i have never had it adjusted and show up with a cold truck, because the white smoke only happens once it warm.

Mike

Gordon Anderson

The Referee told me they were testing me as a, " CA truck "

when it is classified a Federal Vehicle..?

if it's a federal truck, ie a 49 state truck it has no smog system.. they cant do that.!!

white smoke is not just blow by , " are you confusing white smoke with blue smoke? White would indicate steam coming out the breather .... a water issue. Does the breather cap have white goo inside it?
could be a blown head gasket ..?

Mike Perez

G Anderson, I checked the oil cap and no goo. when he circled the area on the paper work, he circled around both blue and white. I dont see Blue and its not white like a vehicle you see with a blown head gasket, the smoke/vapor is gone within 4" of breather tube. The truck has 200,000 miles on it. He said no smoke can go into the air.

the truck has always been like this.

Mike

Mike

Gordon Anderson

Mike , does it bletch it all the time..?
or is it only for a few min..,to a hour after start up..?

white smoke that disperse , 4" off the tube
imo- has to be condensation ,. , from something like a small crack in the head.
does the Radiator stay full, 100% of the time.?

Blue smoke could be valve guide seals ,. ..
or rings / & scored cylinders from getting over heated.

Mike Perez

I would not call it belching, but it seems to be coming out after its warmed up. Its not visible coming out from under the truck. Only see it if your looking at end of breather tube.

I tried the Tea Kettle test with the oil cap "thats when you put the cap upside down on the opening and the pressure blows it off or bounces up and down" it did not have blow-by.

It has never been over heated but i would say the coolant sometimes gets a little low, but its not a constant re-fill. I guess it could have a crack, but no white coming from exhaust.

Thanks for info and ideas, I will probably take it to a diesel mechanic and have him do compression test and see whats up. I do all my own maintenance, maybe I will have a true diesel mechanic check it out.

Mike

KATOOM

You guys simply need to visit some more northern smog shops. Its not all peaches and cream up here either as we have our fair share of stupid, but its nothing like the stories I hear from the southern CA folks.

Gordon Anderson

id do a PSI cheek to the cooling system first ,
it sounds like a crack inside the head , that lets a small amount of coolant into one of the intake ports.. runners.

it has to be steam if it dissipates.. ,
if it is not making a puddle of oil on the ground (*) when you park it.
vie , the blow-by tube / road draft tube.

BTW- i fixed my smog check , dilemma,..:
i moved to a unincorporated area
of San Diego county , were smog checks are not required..lol

KATOOM

There's nothing wrong with the engine. If there was coolant entering the combustion chamber then any white smoke would exit the exhaust way before working its way past the rings and out the crankcase vent. And.....the oil would be milky from contamination as well. If the oil and coolant looks normal then its very unlikely that there's any problems.

But all that said, the 24 valve engines between '98.5 and 2002 have ZERO emissions components and these engines vent their crankcase atmospherically too. It doesn't get any more environmentally UN-friendly.

The crankcase venting can pump out more blowby when the engine is warm too, but generally the most common cause of excessive blowby venting is a vacuum leak. This is because the vacuum pump exits any air entering the pump directly into the crankcase, which comes out the vent hose as excessive blowby. So if you think there is excessive blowby then cap off the vacuum pump main line and see if the blowby volume reduces. If it does then start chasing vacuum lines for a leak. The rubber vacuum line fittings can become porous over time and leak too.

Again.....I really think you guys are just being subject to some really uneducated and misunderstood smog techs and some power mongering referees.

If anyone is interested, I can provide a document list of whats required for these diesel trucks, directly from the CARB linked to the Bureau of Automotive Repair.

Danderson

My California '98.5 24v only had a breather. No cat,just a resonator and a muffler.
I'm fortunate to have a smog guy with an older machine that doesn't automatically transmit the results to the DMV. He pre-tests every diesel coming in. If it passes,he runs it through the latest machine.
Governor Brown just signed some more garbage legislation in order to save the world from itself. What a mess,especially down here.

1320Fastback

Holding on to my '92 with a closed fist.

KATOOM

Just to get an understanding of what you're up against.....

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/05/bu...d-provoke.html