My truck has 2,900 miles on it and i had my buddy crank it up for me and noticed a very small puff of white smoke when it starts...no rough idle or anything..just that little puff. Is that ok, or should i take it in for the reflash...didnt know if it was a big deal or not...thanks, Jason

 

I've always had a little puff of white smoke when first starting. Just considered it to be normal. It only does it for a second then clears right up

 

My 05 with 7k miles on it does it once and a while. From what I have read not that big of a deal.

Hub

 

Not to alarm anyone, but white smoke on startup, may, repeat, may be a bad sign. Second genners often see it as an indicator of a failing VP44. Doubtful on a third gen but I have seen reports of it as an indicator of a failing injector. It is often a result of unburned fuel. May be a result of low pressure at the injector or an injector sticking.

If the vehicle is new I would keep an eye on my oil level closely and possibly do an oil analysis at the next change. You might also run a fuel additive to see if it cleans up.

I ran into a fellow with what looked like a pretty new Dodge a while back. I asked him how he liked it and he said it had been fine but just recently he had put a new set of injectors in it. It had started to puff a little white smoke on startup. I asked mileage and he said he had 325,000 on it, mostly all with an Edge EZ pressure box. Not bad.

If you have a slightly sticking injector, it may clear itself up, or it could get worse and fill up your crankcase with fuel. Just keep an eye on it and an oil analysis will tell the tale.

 

I used to smoke out the neighborhood when my truck was new. It is the 3rd injection event and extra fuel to heat the CAT on cold starts that's causing the smoke. It is very common on these trucks. If someone claims there's doesn't do it then they aren't looking at their exhaust tip upon startup. Since I put my PAC Brake on and switched from Power Service/MMO to Howe's Meaner Cleaner the smoke is very slight.

I used to have a 1975 Kenworth with a 350 Cummins small cam in it and that thing would smoke white so bad you could tell from miles around when I started it. Boy that old truck hauled a lot of dirt, gravel, and blacktop though. The Cummins got the nickname "rag burner" for those old smokey engines. Kinda fits our new trucks too I think.