slight smoke at idle?

[iamdave0887]

i noticed it after pulling into the fuel station. its very very faint but its there. i can almost see through it and i do have to look for it if not under really bright lights. no loss of coolant, no exhaust pressure in the coolant(i released the normal pressure from the 45 minutes drive home from work and started it back up and the hose wasn't stiff at all). i'm wondering if at 167,xxx miles if the injectors are starting to fail. they are well overdue. truck runs like it always has and doesn't sound any different. slight white smoke upon startup but no clouds or chugging. it starts up and runs on all 8 all the time. i've got no idea if the injectors are original or not. any thoughts?


EDIT: if i bring the RPM up even a little bit(1070 high idle switch on) the smokes gone.

 

[DEERE3594]

I dont know but my dually dose it also, I notice it at night under lights...

 

[ghitch75]

neither of mine show any smoke at idle...

 

[jbsaxman]

i noticed it after pulling into the fuel station. its very very faint but its there. i can almost see through it and i do have to look for it if not under really bright lights. no loss of coolant, no exhaust pressure in the coolant(i released the normal pressure from the 45 minutes drive home from work and started it back up and the hose wasn't stiff at all). i'm wondering if at 167,xxx miles if the injectors are starting to fail. they are well overdue. truck runs like it always has and doesn't sound any different. slight white smoke upon startup but no clouds or chugging. it starts up and runs on all 8 all the time. i've got no idea if the injectors are original or not. any thoughts?


EDIT: if i bring the RPM up even a little bit(1070 high idle switch on) the smokes gone.

Dave,

I have noticed teh same thing with my truck. I have attributed it to a bad cylinder, but I have been thinking of building a pop-tester for my injectors, or taking them to someone to have the tested.

 

[iamdave0887]

Dave,

I have noticed teh same thing with my truck. I have attributed it to a bad cylinder, but I have been thinking of building a pop-tester for my injectors, or taking them to someone to have the tested.

did/does yours idle fine? it seems that mine does it all all 8 cylinders as if you look under bright lights(gas station lights for example) you can see puff-puff-puff-puff-puff with each cylinder firing. i checked for blowby and saw almost none, maybe a few wisps. if i burnt through a piston i'd think there'd be at least some blowby or a misfire, correct?

 

[Ratman]

Timing?

 

[jbsaxman]

did/does yours idle fine? it seems that mine does it all all 8 cylinders as if you look under bright lights(gas station lights for example) you can see puff-puff-puff-puff-puff with each cylinder firing. i checked for blowby and saw almost none, maybe a few wisps. if i burnt through a piston i'd think there'd be at least some blowby or a misfire, correct?

Yeah, it idles fine. But I see the same puff-puff-puff that you are talking about.
My piston isn't burned through, but it's burnt down to the compression ring. I have pictures on the other site, but I can bring them over it you want to see.

I definitely have some blowby and some leaky seals as a result. I need a new tuna can, I'm certain of it. Just don't have the coin for it right now.

 

[iamdave0887]

i'd say timing should be good. TD attempted to set the timing on my truck but his scanner wasn't showing the TDC offset for some reason, but the timing was changed as it runs better than it used to with the old timing. i can't say exactly where the timing is but i'd say its close to -1.50 or so. as for a burnt or nearly burnt piston wouldn't that cause blowby? i checked yesterday with the engine hot and i saw barely anything under the bright fuel station lights.

this is starting to bug me. i've been looking at heath's non-ho injectors as the one in the truck now could very well be the originals.

the thing i'm worried about it breaking something major from a possible bad injector or whatever is causing this faint smoke. it doesn't seem to be normal either as only deere3594's truck seems to do the same thing and others like ghitch's trucks don't do it. i'm wondering if driving it anymore is going to trash something beyond the point of repair, and i don't have a spare motor so if this one goes to the point of no return that may be all she wrote. could worn out injectors cause this faint smoke? maybe not closing fully due to age(167,xxx and 13-14 years on them if they are stock).

Deere3594, how old and now many miles are on your injectors? just for reference.

 

[beaglehauler]

mine are original 1993,[injectors]got 400,000 + and it only smokes a little on the first start up of the day,and misses a little until its warmed up

 

[Matt Bachand]

I have read many threads over the years about mystery smoke that is only visable under certain lighting conditions, most people say someone following them see's it. Sever Humidity and or dampness can make it more visable too now that you are looking for it.

I wouldn't worry about it if that is your only symptom. You're over-analysing.

 

[beaglehauler]

I have read many threads over the years about mystery smoke that is only visable under certain lighting conditions, most people say someone following them see's it. Sever Humidity and or dampness can make it more visable too now that you are looking for it.

I wouldn't worry about it if that is your only symptom. You're over-analysing.

my thoughts exactly

 

[iamdave0887]

spoke to ian at heath. he says it sounds like injectors starting to go. i ordered a set of heath non-HO genuine stanadyne injectors and should have them within a week. time to do duraterm glows as well.