White smoke on accel

[Mekanik]

Hey guys, I'm sorry I haven't posted on a while. I have been very busy.

 

I'm working on a 2007 F250 that is equipped with a Banks tuner. The customer's concern is that it blows white smoke out the tailpipe on accel. The engine ran really good when it came in and the only DTC it had been for the EGR throttle plate. I blew the DTC off because it isn't even equipped with a EGR throttle plate. Anyway, I performed the coolant loss tsb. The ECT/ EOT split was 17 degrees difference, and the cooling system pressure was 15psi (with the cap venting at 14psi). I bench tested the EGR cooler OVERNIGHT in the sink, with no bubbles.

 

I tried to get head gasket approval and they told me to lift the back of the truck two feet, open EGR valve wide open, 2000 RPM for five minutes. They messaged me that head gaskets will not cause white smoke(I think I have seen white smoke from head gaskets on a chipped 6.0l).

 

I did the oil cooler kit and re-assembled the truck. Then I re-checked the coolant pressure and performed the wacked-out test that they wanted me to do. Then I pulled the EGR valve out to inspect for coolant as instructed-No coolant.

 

The next day I have authorization for head gaskets... I tear the engine apart and find three of four cylinders on the right side leaking very badly. I clean and perform the head warpage check per workshop manual and re-assemble the engine. It still smokes on accel from a stop.

 

Now here is where it gets a little weird. The second time I had this thing apart, I noticed that the exhaust turbo outlet was soaked with oil( The very first thing I did to this truck was disconnect the downpipe and inspect for oil from a leaking turbo, and it was dry. I figured with the truck on such a huge decline for five minutes, the oil drain was pointing up and the oil was probably getting backed-up, thus causing it to leak out of the center section seal. After a long hard road test and the truck still smoking, I disconnected the downpipe and found that it was dry. I had a turbo doing this before, but there was a nice trail of oil on the inside of the downpipe.

 

I re-checked the ECT/ EOT split-5 degrees. I re-checked the cooling system pressure- 5psi.

 

I feel like the problem is not in the cooling system and it only smokes when you take off from a stop or if you are driving really slowly and accel a little bit. It will also do it if you give it a slight brake torque. I disconnected the Banks tuner with no difference. I'm taking a few days off and the guy took the truck to drive for the weekend.

 

Any ideas? I really think I drove it long enough to burn off all the coolant and oil from the exhaust, and the truck runs great.

[DwayneGorniak]

I find that if I lay the turbo's on the work bench with the exhaust turbine facing downward I almost always get oil leaking past the seal. This is normal.

 

You can drill a 1/8" hole in the bottom of the muffler at the back side to see if there is still coolant in the muffler. I have had many of these that have taken a shit load of bag driving to get all the coolant out of the exhaust.

 

The other possibility is that the blown head gaskets have taken out the new EGR cooler which is rare but not impossible. Have you re-pressure tested the system and applied the Radkit plus to it since? Just some thoughts.

[GregH]

Since you can make it smoke by brake torquing it, how about doing it in the stall or in the parking lot? Have someone else behind the wheel and you stand by the tailpipe and verify that it is coolant - and not unburned fuel...

[Keith Browning]

Breathe deep!

[GregKneupper]

I have replaced quite a few turbochargers for this concern. The ones that I replaced did not have excessive oil in the exhaust or intake side. But if you looked behind the turbine wheel you could see where there was oil burnt and caked behind the wheel. Replacement of the turbochargers has fixed everyone so far.

[Steve Mutter]

I will take a page out of Bruce's book,run some cetane booster to see if it is bad fuel,have you checked crankcase pressure?

[Mekanik]

Dwayne,

I understand what you're saying about laying the turbo on the side. I didn't have the turbo apart the first time I had the engine apart. I didn't see the oil in the turbo until the back of the vehicle was raised two feet in the air, with the engine running at 2000RPM for five minutes. I figured that was because the turbo drain was pointing up and causing the oil to back up.

Isn't there a hole in the back of the muffler that the coolant or oil could drip out from?

 

Greg H,

I'm not totally sure what to make of the smoke. At first I thought it was oil, but a co=worker said it was steam.

 

Keith,

<Cough-cough>

 

Greg K,

I was kind of thinking it was a turbo. I had it apart and cleaned it. There was oil behind the turbine wheel, but I thought that was from having the back of the truck up so high. Maybe it was leaking all along and raising the back end just made it worse. I didn't want to put a part on the truck that it didn't need.

 

Mutter,

I actually ran the truck out of fuel when I was road testing it (35 miles to empty, my ass!). So the truck has good fuel in it. I didn't do a crankcase pressure test. It runs like a raped ape.

[Mekanik]

The truck came back in. Coolant level was full and the oil level was down 1 quart. There wasn't any oil in the downpipe, but when I remover the turbo, I looked really closely at the turbine wheel and could see some oil behind it. It was more evident with the turbo dis-assembled. I put a new center-section on it and it is fixed.