Yes, you can get your truck "reflashed" and it supposedly will help.

However, I have had mine done twice.........once last November in 04 and then again last month.

Today when I cranked it up........same thing. White smoke and rough idle for a minute. Then all was well.

I have decided I am not going to worry about. I am just going to let it warm up a little, as always....and drive on. It doesn't seem to be hurting anything.

If anybody else has any ideas on what is causing it or if it can (or even should) be remedied.............I would love to know what the answer to that question.

 

A knowledgeable service tech told me that the computer in our trucks are adaptive - they "learn" as we drive. Unfornutately, they pick up bad habits that only a reflash seems to fix and therefore, you may need to have your computer reflashed several times to correct a recurring proplem. I've had 18-037-004 done twice now for the white smoke.

 

How cold are you talking about? It was about 7 degrees here in the Chicagoland area this morning and the white smoke, even when plugged in, is normal.

 

Every diesel I've owned, including my tractor/trailers, puffs white smoke on start-up when cold. It's not a big deal. Plugging them in does seem to help, but will not stop it.

The older an engine gets, the more it seems to smoke. You should see what the N-14 Cummins with 1,000,000 miles on the clock pumps out the stacks in the cold.

 

I bet I could give it a run. Last year when it was -20 and not plugged in, I fogged my whole back yard.

 

my fathers 04 does this badly. runs rough for 1-2 minutes and pours white smoke for about 3-5 minutes. a few weeks ago we left our hunting camp and we started the trucks up when it was about 10 degrees. dads smoked for a LONG time. our buddy with another 04 must have some kind of high idle because his idled up a lil bit and never smoked. also we let the trucks run for at least 20 minutes while we loaded up and going down the road with a warm engine my fathers truck still poured whtie smoke whenever he got on the throttle up a hill or something for the first 10 miles or so. he was only loaded with maybe 300-400lbs in the bed so its not that it was a heavy load.

i keep telling him to get it reflashed but he wont listen to me, he swears its normal.

 

Normal....I don't think so. White smoke for around 30 secs maybe normal but not after 30 minutes!

 

A little puff is normal, I think we're talking a huge cloud that fogs the neighborhood here and causes the truck to idle and or run rough.

 

My 03 smokes a bit of white when it's cold. It's done it since I bought it new. I would say start it up, give it 30 seconds to get it's bearings, and take off. These engines are made for running, not idling, so get moving asap when it's cold out.

Andy

 

Yeah I think you are right. People seem to think they need to let diesels idle while stopping for 10 minutes. Or when they are first started. I feel this is rubbish for modern light vehicle diesels. Sure if you are firing up a 5000 hp train locomotive or bull dozer it makes sense. But not on a pickup truck. Your just wasting fuel. Heck the only real reason truckers let their rigs idle is so they have power for heat, air, and the TV in the back!

Start your truck....let it run for 1 minute and start driving it! Of course you don't want to full throttle the thing as soon as you leave the driveway. But it will never warm up idleing! When you pull in to shut it off let it idle for 30 secs or so (depending on duty cycle the engine has just undergone... its in the manual) to let the turbo cool and shut her down!

 

I like all colors of smoke , and wouldn't you know it , mine doesn't smoke.

 

I suppose some body will complain their truck rattles when they start it.They seem to have forgotten something.IT'S A DIESEL!!! get over it.These are the people that my 05 does not sound like a truck anymore.I like it when the whole neighborhood knew I started the beast.

 

My '05 started doing the same when the temp dropped here. I have read on other threads here about the '05 injectors clogging. I used Diesel Kleen in my last tank and it really helped me. No smoke and smooth idle - for now.