Well took my truck for an overnight stay at the dealer yesterday. Recently it has been smoking and running rough at start-up. They hooked it up to the diagonsitc equipment and gauged it. Also retrieved duty cycle info. After all data was retrieved they called STAR Cummins tech line. According to STAR the truck is simply not being worked hard enough. 25% of time is idle time which is not good. Basically I am supposed to work the truck harder and idle less. I was a bit skeptical at first. But the more I think about it they may be right. They also said that the injectors may be gumming up from low speed operation. I am to use injector cleaner to wash out the injectors.

So thats that. Driving home....at a red light....I checked the hour meter. Truck has 536 hours on it and 17811 miles. So that works out to an average speed of only 33.2 miles per hour! This is more proof their story may be correct. What gets me is I drive 80% on the interstate! Oh well....

So I got some fuel conditioner for rinsing the injectors. And I am going to pull my trailer soon again. Dealer recommended this. Maybe 8500 lbs will make it work a little. Apparently none of my other driving does.

 

Put something on there that makes it smoke, and you'll stay on it a lot more.

 

Hook up a trailer or load the bed and go for a good run [in the hills if possible] for at least 4 hours.

After the fuel conditioner [depending on which one it is] its not a bad idea to put a new fuel filter in too.

Scotty

Edit: I see you already said you are hooking up the trailer.

 

Ok, I have heard the Dealer/STAR tounge lashing about IDLE TIME too high. Actually your average 32.2 miles per hour is about or above average if I remember right. There was a thread some time ago about average miles per running hour on another site. The idle time from what I have researched is any time the engine is running under 1000rpm. Try to drive in any city traffic and find out how much of the time is spent under 1000rpm. This is just STAR first line defense propaganda, make the owner feel like he is the blame for any issue. If the truck is not engineered to drive in city traffic environment then it should be stated as such on the window sticker and you should have to sign a waiver if you live in a city and plan to drive there. Otherwise use common sense on a diesel. I have solved my potential injector clogging/carboning up issues with PS/MMO additives and about 300hp worth of timing, duration and fuel pressure that I excercise every chance I get. Sorry about the rant

 

There is a reason why you're supposed to drive it like you stole it!

MikeyB

 

Yeah I feel that way too. However I do really poke around in the truck most of time. I am always trying to max out my mileage. So I am going to pour the conditioner in and pull my trailer....and see what the results are. I can tell ya one thing if there is a truck that is babied, its mine...especially the throttle. So if puttin' around can cause issue then mines gonna have it! Don't worry though, now I gotta good excuse to throw the coal to it!!!

 

PapaPerk,

I was very skeptical about additives needed in any new engine. But enough people with years of diesel experience convinced me to try it. I am a convert, I BELIEVE. I have not missed adding 160z of 3parts Power Service Diesel Kleen and 1part of Marvel Mystery Oil to every fillup for the last 20,000 miles. The $2.25 or so it costs is nothing compared to a tank of diesel and the benefits that I know it provides. Truck runs smoother and quiter with it, along with the other benefits. OK, that is enough rants for tonight .

 

I haven't put an injector in a truck that is worked hard yet.

 

I bought some Howes fuel treatment month ago and noticed it strangely smelled like MMO!

 

i agree. that will solve your problem. getting a box will make your foot heavier and then fix your problem

 

Run a full bottle, 32 oz. of Power service, and do another tank of it if you have to. After that run 16 oz. of PS with 12 oz. of MMO. Your motor and pump will love you for it and, it will smooth out your motor. I installed the ROKKTEC crank sensor and that too smoothed the engine out even more at idle.

BTW, when I'm parked, I automaticaly put it in netural and set the high idle. I'd love to see them say I idle to long.

 

Wish I had the high idle feature.... have a manual. But I like my manual better!

 

Do you all think that some of the white smoke at start up could be due to atmospheric conditions???? I posted this question on the other white smoke/rough idle post and haven't gotten a responce yet. My truck is getting greeeeeaaaaattttt mileage now, so I can't see how it could be injector problems. My last 2 tanks have gotten me 18.7 and 19.5 respectively. This is a combination of about 50% towing and 50% empty suburban type driving. This white smoke/ rough idle for me started about 5-6,000 miles ago and I have just over 24,000miles on her now.

 

I do think the white smoke @ start-up is somewhat atmospheric influenced. Mine seems to smoke worse when it is either dry and hot ( 25-30 degrees C) or extremely cold (-25 to -35 degrees C). A little puff in the morning does not bother me too much.

I run my truck pretty hard and tow with it often. It's quiet, gets fine mileage and has loads of pulling power. I'm not going to complain until one of the above 3 starts to go south. I personally avoid the dealer unless I think it's absolutely necessary.

 

I notice more white smoke on start up if it is real humid out in the morning when I start her up!!! But like I said in my previous post, my truck is getting very good mileage. Which would lead me to believe that the injectors can't "bad"!!!! Why do the injectors leak??? Small piece of whatever that didn't get filtered out through our wonderful filtering system on these trucks???? Or is it just wear from the diesel not having enough lubricity to lube all the fuel system parts properly???