smokes bad in cold weather

White smoke? Are you having to add coolant regularly??

 

to get the engine temp up i would try replacing the thermostats notice where was a s at the end of thermostat. those 60 series need them changed on a regular basis. smoke at start up could be a number of things, but getting the operating temp up to normal might clear that up too. plus you should have a warmer winter inside the cab to. lots of luck with this problem

 

Just the same, changing thermostats is not likely to get smoke to stop. Something is getting into the combustion that is producing that smoke... most likely coolant, not just a little water vapor from condensation. I'd think someone with 14-years of experience would know the difference. The question remains... is your coolant disappearing?

 

Don't worry about smoke until it gets to operating temp. Driving a cold truck isn't the best for it change the stats ASAP. Shouldn't cost much less than 500

 

Unless you see obvious signs of an external leak, it sounds to me like the coolant is getting into your oil. A cheap way to be sure is to get an oil sample done... one of the table top cheap ones like at Speedco will probably show coolant in there. Here's the deal... coolant strips the zinc out of your oil, and that's what protects your bearings. If you do have coolant in your oil, you must get this taken care of or it will trash your engine. You can add some Lucas in there to keep going until you get to a shop near home... someplace with more reasonable rates, but this has to be taken care of. If it's an EGR engine, chances are it's something like the EGR cooler, or injector cups. You'll need to drain the oil and replace it as well.

 

Try looking at the oil on your oil stick and look on the bottom of your oil filler cap also for signs of like a whitish sludge (for cars -i assume it should be the same on a big truck).
If so you could need head gasket or an intake gasket (I have to assume they (intakes) are water cooled on big trucks also) - if you also have a head gasket leak from the cylinder into the water (anti freeze) jacket it may show itself in the radiator by taking off the radiator cap (cool) and looking for rapid abnormal movement in the antifreeze- with a possibility of a lot of soot in your over flow jug.
In any case if it is leaking antifreeze internally you need to get it fixed ASAP --cause like iron pony said it will destroy your bearings . Disclaimer: i dont know what other systems in a big truck may be attached that could possibly mix anti freeze into the oil -- That info would be better from someone that knows diesel engines as i have no info on them except in basic operation.

 

Thermostats and oil sample.

 

if it has a egr cooler cooler could be bad whats the year of this 60 series