Own a 03 Dodge Ram 2500 HO 5.9L (85kmi) which has begun emitting a considerable (embarrassing) amount of black smoke out the tail pipe. Trucks a daily driver to and from the fire house and never pulls more than a friends 15ft fishing boat once a month. Truck starts, runs and drives normal. Check engine light has NOT activated, though later today I plan on pulling any stored codes with a (generic) Auterra scan tool. I've pulled and visually inspected the valve cover, map sensor, FAC and turbo charger intake hose and found nothing out of the ordinary. For cheap peace of mind, fuel, oil and air filters were all replaced. I've read through my (official) Dodge 2500 shop manual and arrived at either a stuck injector or possibly, sooted turbo charger discharge fins(?) I can admit with some embarrassment/regret, I drove for 1hr on a 50/50 mix of 4gal diesel to 4gal of (filtered) used motor oil when the black smoke began.

 

I'm not a pro diesel head but you might want to try some injecter cleaner, oil change, or fuel filter change.

I know this is basic stuff, but it is where I start.

 

Are you "makin oil" ie is the oil level rising? If so then it sounds like an injector...

 

(M1AM14SPUR) Should have mentioned I added a half can of seafoam to about 4gal of diesel & ran until the tank was nealry empty. Filters were already changed.

(sloth) By "MAKING OIL" you mean is the oil pressure gauge working? Oil pressures good.

 

Making oil is when you oil level actually gets higher on the dipstick. its caused by excess fuel getting into the oil

 

Exactly, if your oil level is rising than there is a very good chance that you have a stuck injector which is dumping excess fuel into your crank case

 

Gotcha! I have been keeping an eye on the oil level to rule out the dreaded possiblity of a damaged piston ring... so far (from what I can tell) oil level has not changed in about 50mi worth of driving.

 

Check your intercooler boots very carefully. A cut boot, small hole or loose clamp can cause extra black smoke.

 

i had this same problem with my 04 and it was 2 injectors that went bad.. might wanna look at them..

 

Gave the intercooler boots and clamps a once over and will go over 'em again for sure since they aren't the easiest to inspect. How much smoke exactly would a breech somewhere in the IC system produce? I'm seeing a fair amount of (black) smoke after a 1 min cold start (ie) if I idled the truck in a typical 2 car garage with the doors/windows shut it would be pretty unbareable in about 3min. At a stop light drivers in the path of my exhaust roll their windows up, and in traffic I've noticed drivers changing lanes to avoid me and the smoke plume... at least until the smokes broken up by the wind at higher road speed. Appreciate the help everyone... keeping my fingers crossed that this smoke issue is something simple.

 

probably not the ic boots then

 

Ya, I'm thinking the same thing. I'm obviously in denial and not looking forward to diagnosing the injectors or the cost of replacing 'em. I mean seriously, $500+ for a single new injector or $250+ for a remanufactured inj with a 12 month warranty... you'd think they'd be partially constructed of precious metal or something designed by NASA. Doyou recall by chance which 2 of the 6 injectors were replaced?

 

injectors 1 and 6. i found some down south from where i live and there were shocking cheap. 325 a piece not bad i thought.

 

Did you install 'em yourself/how complicated was is it? I'm thumbing through the shop manual and it looks intricate/involved... new copper shims and special injector removal tools and all. I replaced injectors on a couple chevy cavaliers 15 years ago and those were a walk in the park campared to what I'm seeing in the 5.9L shop manual.

 

a family friend did mine, all i did was help take them out and only used 2 screw drivers to get them out..