Ok I'll try to keep this short. I have a stock 5.9 with 255k miles and I doubt lifters were done before I owned it. I've had the truck for the last 50k miles. So I noticed awhile ago that on start up I would get a little smoke but would clear up in a minute or so when cold. A couple of week ago went to drive it and on start up it cranked a bit longer and kind of sounded like a gas engine out of time before it started, and sounded like its missing a bit and some engine vibration and lots of smoke. Smells like unburnt fuel. I ran some cleaner through it and it seems a bit better. I test drove it down the road and the power seems normal under load not smoking much but at idle still a slight miss and a small amount of vibration. I have no codes. I haven't been driving because of all the potential issues with a bad piston etc. I did take out the oil filler cap and it bounces around at idle but the blow by doesn't blow it off it the cover. Seems like alot of blow by but its the first time I looked at that. Is there a test to determine when its too much? I've read a ton of information and it sounds like I need injectors but that's a big cost and wanted to make sure I'm not missing other issues.

 

Good videos on testing our CTDs on Youtube. It is a series of 4 videos. Well worth the time IMHO. Check your oil level and make sure it isn't 'gaining' oil. That would be caused by a bad injector pouring fuel in the cylinder, washing down the side and into the sump. Diluted oil doesn't do well for lubricating the engine. I used F1 to test and rebuild my '03s sticks. I was happy.

 

Thanks! I will check out the videos. I did check my oil and not gaining oil/ fuel. I do burn some oil do you know what is normal for the miles I have?

 

When I sold my '03 at ~298k miles, there wasn't any noticeable loss of oil between changes.
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