Stupid question for the day...

Are diesels supposed to emit a bit of steam in the mornings from the tailpipe like gassers do??? I've never noticed mine doing this at all before, but the last two mornings I've seen a puff every now and then when I accelerate and/or shift gears right after startup (motor still cold). Temps have been in the low 20's with low humidity. In my defense, I recently put on dual exhaust, so now I can more easily monitor the tailpipe emissions from the driver's side, whereas before it was only the passenger side and I had a turndown installed, so everything went back and down and not out and away. Anyhow, am I just seeing something that has always been there, or am I looking at a possible injector/white smoke (rather than steam) issue?

 

Completely normal.

 

I don't think you're seeing water vapor as much as you're seeing unburnt fuel. If there's water vapor present, it's a fraction of what what comes out of the tailpipe of a gasser.

Oh, and it isn't a stupid question.

 

I guess the unburnt fuel theory is what scares me... Since I've never noticed it before, I'm wondering if I'm beginning to see an injector issue like what seems to be prevelant on the 04.5's (mine is an early '03 with the 305/555)? On the other hand, like I mentioned, maybe it's just that now I have more visibility as to what's going on back there with the duals, and I'm overreacting to something that is, as csxt665 stated, completely normal??

 

I noticed that as my engine broke in, I smoke a little more on a cold morning than when it was new. Mine is a 2nd gen though.

 

Tobyw - when it's really cold outside and I first start up my truck, for a few seconds I have gasser like steam coming out of the pipe. Definitely not white smoke, because it dissipates almost instantly, like steam. You'd know if it was white smoke because you'd see it drifting off and not dissolving as quickly....kinda like a puff of black smoke. For the record though, mine does this steam when it's cold and warming up, only for about 20-30 secs and it clears up. I haven't seen any after that, when driving away. It's hard to watch the tailpipe though since mine is in the factory location.

 

I'm really hoping that's the case, since my stock exhaust also had a turn down so I couldn't see anything coming from it since it was all behind/below the truck... I guess maybe I'm just getting excited over nothing?

 

My truck does the same as LightMan's. 10 to 20 sec. and only when its's
really cold out.

Mine is definitly steam and not white smoke!

 

Yup same thing over here. It's been cold mid 20's at night and a trip up to maine where it's like 0 out, it will do that. Your just heating up the exhaust pipe and any moisture in there is being steamed off (this is from the air getting in the pipe when you shut down). Also if you put your hand behind the pipe when it does this, it'll be wet, if it's white smoke it won't leave your hand wet.

 

yep... same as everyone else has said. mine does it when it is real cold (20*... real cold for arkansas). only does it for 10-15 seconds and then it clears up. completely normal.

oh yeah.. like Commatoze said, it isn't a stupid question. it's only stupid if you don't ask it.


britt

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but if you had an injector issue the white smoke would be prevailant at any temperature the entire trip, right?

Mine smokes for a several MINUTES (as opposed to everyone else saying a 20-30 seconds) each morning, but does eventually go away a few miles down the road.

 

Try plugging the truck in at night and it should get rid of the smoke in the morning.

 

It is normal..what are you worried about. The colder it gets..the more will come out. I have noticed when it gets down to -20's that it will smoke almost constantly...so go on and drive..don't worry about it. It is not a fuel issue if it is fuel..it will not evaporate like steam from the exhaust sysytem.
DJ

 

tobyw nothing to worry about on initial start up, during previous shutdown ther is always a small amount of unburned fuel in the cylinders, on cold mornings its normal to see a small amount of steam and a very small amount of smoke. Most people do not notice. After oil pressure goes up you should see nothing.

 

tobyw I forgot how do you like the firestone bags? Im considering a pair for my 05"