08 F350 6.4 blowing blue smoke after pull

[ablokzyl]

First off this truck has a gutted dpf and cat, and it has a superchips programmer that deletes the regen system. The programmer is turned up to the 2nd out of four levels. Customer has been anal about oil changes and fuel filters. He says that he had a trailer with five large quads on it and 5 people in the truck pulling a long gradual grade at around 75mph. The truck started smoking large plumes of blue smoke. He said he pulled over and it definatly smelled like oil burning. The truck stopped smoking and he made the rest of the trip without any more problems. 5000 miles later, the programmer was on the 3rd level and he was pulling a very steep grade with six people in the truck and no trailer, and the truck started smoking just like it did before. He has a 1000 mile trip pulling a very heavy trailer coming up and he is worried that it mihgt break down. I checked for codes really quick before I left on friday and it was all pass. Just thought I would throw this out there to see if anyone has any ideas.

[Steve Mutter]

I would start by checking the down pipe for oil residue and then checking turbos end play. Maybe even start looking at base engine stuff too.

[Aaron]

Also make sure it's not doing the TSB thing with the intercooler/condensation issue that the updated charge air cooler is supposed to address (but doesn't).

 

And ditch the superchips tuner.

[lmorris]

Does this thing have one of those money grabber air filters, aka K&N or the likes? I have seen ones that don't get cleaned and start to suck oil especially on high load situations. Just a thought.

[ablokzyl]

I havent been able to get it back in the shop recently. I do know that he has a stock air filtration system with a stock filter. He just returned from his trip with a very heavy enclosed trailer and said that it smoked on almost every pull but ran good other than the smoke. Aaron, If not the superchips tuner, which one would you suggest?

[ablokzyl]

And just to be clear this is definatly BLUE smoke

[Matt Saunoras]

I've gotta go with the turbo thought too. Unfortunately sometimes it's literally impossible to tell which one is doing it.

 

keep an eye on the oil level too even though it's not going to regen anymore

[Brad Clayton]

Every 6.4 I have ran across with blue smoke ended up being a bent rod (#2 or #8 esp.) or more than 1 due to sucking in unmetered fuel. It's really hard to catch when they have DPF's on them cause the mask the problem. Since this one has been deleted it might be useful to do a manual compression test just to see where the engine is at and have a look in the bottom cac hose for lots-o-oil.

[Aaron]

Squash the bypass hose from the CCV and see if it does it.

 

www.kemperformance.com

 

Talk to Mike. 25mpg @ 75mph, 13.00, 12.90 ET's, at 8500lbs.

[Bruce Amacker]

25mpg @ 75mph, 13.00, 12.90 ET's, at 8500lbs.

Yea, right.

 

[ablokzyl]

The bypass hose from the CCV?

[Brad Clayton]

[ablokzyl]

Im not trying to sound like a moron....but what is that going to tell me?

[joshbuys]

Blue smoke is oil burning, where's it coming from? if you clamp off the CCV(crank case vent) hose and the smoke goes away, then you know it is being caused by excessive blow by. if the smoke is still there with the CCV hose clamped of, then you are likely looking at a turbo seal issue.

[ablokzyl]

Ok that makes sense to me now!

[Keith Browning]

The only other question is, if you pinch off the CCV hose and drive it, which seal is going to vent the pressure in the crankcase? If you suspect, or want to test to see if you have excessive blow-by, (i.e. excessive crankcase pressure) why not just perform the crankcase pressure test? If it needs a major engine repair, especially under warranty, you are going to need that information.

 

Just saying.

 

Aside from that, knowing what we know about the 6.4L engine, if you have a lot of oil carryover from the CCV it will collect in the charge air cooler. You might want to pull the lower CAC connection apart and see if there is any oil collecting there.

[ablokzyl]

I got ahold of his truck today. Pulled the lower CAC hose and about a teaspoon of oil dripped out. Checked crankcase pressure and got 20 inches of water at 2000 rpm. I think we are going internal.

[ablokzyl]

I have been thinking about this more.....could turbo pressure be getting by the seals in the turbo and then presurising the crankcase? This truck runs so good, the only issue is the smoke. No noise, no misfire just good power and smoke. I did get to drive it today on a long hill. If I was deep in the throttle there would be no smoke at all. If I would put around 1/4 throttle to it is te only time I would get smoke.....I could repeat the smoke like that over and over

[Brad Clayton]

Quote:

If you suspect, or want to test to see if you have excessive blow-by, (i.e. excessive crankcase pressure) why not just perform the crankcase pressure test?

Dude, you gotta consider the source whose idea that was any way, his name rhymes with baron.

[Brad Clayton]

Quote:

This truck runs so good, the only issue is the smoke

I just replaced 4 bent rods and 4 spanked pistons in a 64. The only complaint from the customer was the mil was on.

[lmorris]

Quote:

This truck runs so good, the only issue is the smoke

I just replaced 4 bent rods and 4 spanked pistons in a 64. The only complaint from the customer was the mil was on.

How was the crankshaft on that unit? Any one that we get in that hits the crank we short block. If the cranks can handle being "Spanked" maybe we should go that way too.

 

Have one here with 4 bent rods but #2 has 2 nasty grooves in too.

[ablokzyl]

Pulled the CAC tube off today and did another crankcase pressure test and now I only get 2 inches of water on the gauge. Im headed twards a turbo. Any way you guys can think of to tell which one is at fault?

[Bruce Amacker]

Any way you guys can think of to tell which one is at fault?

 

Aren't they serviced as a pair?

 

[Brad Clayton]

Quote:

How was the crankshaft on that unit? Any one that we get in that hits the crank we short block

Trust me, I tried with everything I had to get a short block, but management wasn't having any part of it. The crank was fine due to only making contact with the aluminum pistons. If the rods had bent in such a fashion that the counter weights were hitting them, then it would have been another story. All-in-all it was a supreme shit show! Friggin' parts everywhere, tons of time involved with cleaning everything, bottle brush honing cylinders (which I hate) and so on and so on.

[Keith Browning]

 

Aren't they serviced as a pair?

 

Nope. They come separately. I have replaced only one of the two more times than the pair together