Yesterday, I was pulling a small trailer for a half hour on the highway. When I got home, I could smell an oily/exhaust kind of smell that was not typical while it was idling when I was unhooking the trailer. The smell was very strong. At first, I couldn't figure out where it was coming from until I got to the crank vent tube....a high volume stream of smokey/steamy air was coming out.

So, I cannot imagine what else this could be other than blow by at the rings. I just find it odd that it would come on like this all of a sudden. One moment it is fine, the next it is huffing hard out the tube. When I pull the oil cap off, the smoke from the tube dies down to virtually nothing - as I suspected.

So, is there something I'm missing? Could something let go in the head to cause this? I was thinking maybe a valve issue but the truck runs great. There are no ticks or unusual noises. Boost is normal and it has tons of power like always.

I find it hard to believe the rings would let go all of a sudden like that and not be related to some other catastrophic damage. There is only 108K on this thing. I'm really hoping it could be something in the top end because rebuilding a complete CTD around here is an expensive job. I would almost go so far as to say I might be losing faith in these engines....I just went through the 53 block issue in my last Dodge and to rebuild another engine in the next truck with only 108K on it is unthinkable at this point.

So, what say DTR?

 

Check the oil level. You could have an injector dumping fuel into the oil.

Also, I was wondering if the truck has been used for a lot of cold start/short run cycles in cooler weather lately?

That can result in a surprising amount of water condensation in the block, which would probably steam off once the engine was run with a load long enough to drive the moisture off.

Is the engine running fine otherwise?

 

Hmm this has me worried about my truck also which is a 2006.

Was dropping the little one off at the babysitter this morning and when I got out and went to get him out of the back I thought I smelled a oily/burnt smell. The trip from home to the babysitter is a 14 mile interstate ride at 70mph. Think I might go out at lunch today and drive around a bit and then see what I can find.

My truck has 35,890 miles so hopefully things don't start going bad with it now!!

 

The truck runs great....like normal. No smoke out the pipes or unusual egt readings.

The oil level did seem a little high. Shouldn't I be able to detect the scent of fuel in the oil? I will have another look at the oil, though. In your opinion, how much higher does the level have to be before it starts huffing a lot of smoke out the vent tube?

And no, I live in the sticks so there are not any short runs to anywhere...lol. It hasn't been cold here for at least a month and the truck gets fully warmed up everywhere it goes. Anyway, the smoke is my concern....not so much the steam.

 

Update:

Fuel in oil....oil level is 2.5" high on the dipstick and wreaks of fuel.

I am embarrassed to even mention how much stock sticks cost here so I'm looking into how I go about getting a set of F1's.

 

You should be able to smell the fuel in the oil if its there, and blow by is a tell tell sign of a burnt or cracked ring but you would be burning alot of oil. Has your truck sat for a few days or more without cranking recently? If so you might have condensation in your intercooler that could cause the issue. I would get the intercooler checked out either way.

 

I was looking the other day and came upon injectorwhse, just looking to see if I could have got cheaper injector than the ones I bought(paid 1800 for all six and that price included labor on my 06') they have 06' injectors(oem rebuilds 1 year warranty) for 299.00 think the 03' should be alittle cheaper.

 

It is the oily smoke out of the tube that had me concerned - not steam caused by condenstation. Trust me, steam does not wreak like this. The oil level is very high and wreaks of fuel.

 

Have you pulled the valve cover to check for any leaks?
You may not need injectors, it could be a connector tube leaking.

 

What he said. I had just changed my oil a few days before my #3 injector failed open, I thought it was just residual new oil smell then I noticed on a clear/sunny day that the vehicles behind me were using their wipers.

 

Nope, this just happened out of nowhere last night and I have had very little time to investigate the problem. I assume I would have to run the engine with the cover off in order to detect a connector tube leak?

If I had to replace tubes, it is an aweful good excuse to do sticks at the same time, though.

 

Will a sticky injector throw a code?

 

I had no codes.

My only symptom was oil smell. Until I noticed the cars behind me using their wipers, then I realized what was going on.

At least you caught it early, you won't have to steam clean the underside of the truck and wash it a few times to get all the oil off of the Paint/Bumper/etc.

 

Why bother? Just to get rid of the 'redneck purfume' smell?

 

If you had that much fuel in the oil... be careful! How much driving did you do like that? It is possible the bearings are now shot... turbos are especially sensitive to this-- a lot of harm could have been done. You could have gotten lucky too... but you might want to check further.