Strange smoking problem

Discussion in 'Heavy Duty Diesel Truck Mechanics Forum' started by jeffman164, Aug 27, 2017.

  1. jeffman164

    jeffman164 Medium Load Member

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    Own a 1999 Detroit , 12.7 . On start up , truck sometimes smokes A LOT . What I mean by A LOT is " Cheech and Chong " A LOT . Literally smokes out the parking lot . Maybee you have seen me , pointed your finger at me, shook your head and laughed at me . Don't blame you . LOL. But only sometimes and only during first start up of the day . Truck seem like it is misfiring while smoking . If I rev it up a tad , smokes less but still smokes somewhat and misfiring is lessened . Also , for about a week , I would start it and everything was fine ( no smoking at all ) , I would release parking brakes and truck would smoke and misfire . Apply parking brakes and smoking and misfire would go away . Release and smoke and misfire would go away . That little phenomenon has since stopped ( just figured that I should spell outt all of what has happened ) . Now , it just smokes and misfires upon initial startup when it wants to .
    Plugged in at authorized Detroit Diesel ( WW Williams - Saginaw,Mi ) location while warm and also next morning during initial startup . Ecm checks out ok . Injectors are not throwing codes , turbo spins freely , injector harness is 2 years old and everything seems ok there on visual inspection . Stumped to say the least . WW Williams says probably an injector but can not isolate . They are being upfront and suggesting not to do a 6 pack - drive and see if one gets worse and then just replace that one . If it is an injector , wouldn't it throw a code ? No codes are showing up since February when I had a coolant leak . This problem has been happening for about a year now . Nobody can figure it out . Most embarrassing when I first start up in the morning . Any suggestions ??
     
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  3. Heavyd

    Heavyd Road Train Member

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    The ECM can only detect electrical faults in that engine, not a mechanical misfire. If the engine starts fine, and this goes away once warm, I would also say it is an injector. If the engine is a bit stubborn to start or takes a bit longer cranking time to fire, the check valve at the back of the head may be allowing fuel to leak out of head.
    As for injector testing, they should be able cut out injectors one by one even just after start up when cold to see which one makes the smoking stop to pin point the bad injector.
     
  4. jeffman164

    jeffman164 Medium Load Member

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    Initial start up - smoked some but not a lot . They did cut out each injector ( I was present ) and no change to smoking at all .
     
  5. lilillill

    lilillill Sarcasm... it's not just for breakfast

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    Fire the engine up cold and immediately jump out with an infrared thermometer, run around to the exhaust manifold and check the temp on each cylinder. The coldest one is going to be your culprit.
     
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  6. lilillill

    lilillill Sarcasm... it's not just for breakfast

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    Another way is to run it with the exhaust manifold off. It will be very apparent which cylinder/s is smoking.
     
  7. Kenworth 4life

    Kenworth 4life Medium Load Member

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    A good temp gun will be needed
     
  8. lilillill

    lilillill Sarcasm... it's not just for breakfast

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    The best temp gun is your hand.... but you have to be quick.
     
  9. jeffman164

    jeffman164 Medium Load Member

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    My old gun died . Will have to buy a new one . Thank you .
     
  10. Bigmike1977d16

    Bigmike1977d16 Bobtail Member

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    What color is the smoke?
    I would be leaning towards valve seals or tiny crack in the head depends on smoke color.

    My S60's typically smoked cuz of turbo seal leaks after long periods of idling. one was because of valve seals. Blue smoke is oil, black is fuel, white is coolant.
    Also had one that had a bad head gasket where on startup would get tons of white grey smoke then it went away when warmed up. had a small crack in the head on #5 i changed out that cylinder all 6 injectors for the fun of it (they were old but not related to the problem)re did the head and gasket. problem went away. there was a build up of white crusty stuff on the head and piston (burnt coolant)
     
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  11. GrapeApe

    GrapeApe Road Train Member

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    Running with the exhaust manifold is the best way. Many times, injectors fail by not seating, so even cutting the injector doesn't stop the fuel trickling out of it. You can usually find a bad one by running a cut-out test and comparing the #'s. You should run 3 tests and average the #'s. I also like to run it at idle and 1000 rpm. Any time I have injectors out, I pull a vacuum on the injector tip. A good injector will hold vacuum. I made up a short hose to a hand vacuum pump If the gauge creeps down, the tip is leaking.

    Also check the cam really good, a lode going flat can also make smoke, which usually clears up when warm. You'd usually feel a miss though.

    The parking brake thing isn't uncommon. There are parameters that allow 1/2 engine mode with the parking brakes set. If this is enabled, it can smoke less with the brakes set, since it's only running on 3 cylinders.
     
    SAR, lilillill, MACK E-6 and 2 others Thank this.
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