Intermittent white smoke???

[Lparks]

I notice the other day after looking in the rearview mirror that there was a plume of white smoke coming from my exhaust. *** Please note that the "cleaning filter" message never appeared***

The engine never sputtered or missed a beat but there was some white smoke coming from my exhaust for about 20 secs and then went away.

Then today it happened again! A plume of white smoke for just a little while then stopped. No engine sputter at all. In fact, if I hadn't looked in the mirror I would have never known it happened.

Someone told me that it may be a faulty injector. It may be clogged a bit and not letting enough fuel through.

I was told, "just be glad it wasn't black smoke!!!!"

Anyone have any thoughts about whats going on???

Thanks in advance!!!

[wastegate]

My 08 did exactly the same thing earlier this year. It was a defective catalytic converter not generating sufficient heat to ignite exhausted diesel fuel during regen "cleaning exhaust filter" cycle. Mine was doing it during passive regens (message is not continually displayed). You can only tell if your truck is in passive regen by pressing the setup>reset function on your dash to run system check. If in regen, it will be the last message displayed after the messages scroll to how many miles left to empty. My repairs were covered under the powertrain warranty. Here is a link to a video I shot while mine was doing this.

6.4 Blowing White Smoke - YouTube

6.4 Blowing White Smoke - YouTube

[senix]

I'd agree that is was a regen event.

Loose any coolant? If no coolant loss then that is what I would say it was.

You can purchase some Diesel Kleen with fuel injector cleaner. I run some once in awhile.

Just make sure it is for the ULSD diesels.

[aquaman350]

I'll belch a smoke screen regardless of how light I'm on the throttle very predictably about a minute into regen while things are trying to heat up and then I come to a long stop light. The moment I start moving, it'll belch smoke for about a minute and then clear up.

I also belched smoke like wastegate when regen started as soon as I crested a long 5-6% grade. It was 30F-something outside and regen was pouring fuel out on an ice cold CAT/DPF because my foot was off the pedal most of the 20 mile downhill run before I could pull over and terminate the regen. I showed a video to my dealer and they said it was normal. No codes = no problem. LOL

I just came back to San Jose from LA on I-5 . I got a regen just as I reached the bottom at Tejon coming down the I-5 Grapevine when regen decided to start. My EGR11 , EGR12 and EGR13 were in the low 200F from coasting all the way downhill. Then it tried to heat things back up going downhill towards Bakersfield even though they were cooking at 700F climbing the grade on the other side from LA. Fortunately no smoke, but it took a while longer to heat up since there was hardly any load on the engine. You'd think it would take advantage of the high heat going uphill.

[niclmbrt]

I am currently suffering from the same scenario with my 09 F-250. Researched a little. I was pointed toward googling Ford TSB 11-2-2. It describes exactly what we are seeing. Have date with Mechanic this week. Good luck.


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[FordCustomerService]

Originally Posted by Lparks

I notice the other day after looking in the rearview mirror that there was a plume of white smoke coming from my exhaust. *** Please note that the "cleaning filter" message never appeared***

The engine never sputtered or missed a beat but there was some white smoke coming from my exhaust for about 20 secs and then went away.

Then today it happened again! A plume of white smoke for just a little while then stopped. No engine sputter at all. In fact, if I hadn't looked in the mirror I would have never known it happened.

Someone told me that it may be a faulty injector. It may be clogged a bit and not letting enough fuel through.

I was told, "just be glad it wasn't black smoke!!!!"

Anyone have any thoughts about whats going on???

Thanks in advance!!!

Hi Lparks,

Swinging by your dealership for diagnosis is a good first step. They'll be in the best position to assess the situation and provide you with a course of action. Feel free to reach out to me via PM if you have any additional questions or concerns.

Originally Posted by wastegate

My 08 did exactly the same thing earlier this year. It was a defective catalytic converter not generating sufficient heat to ignite exhausted diesel fuel during regen "cleaning exhaust filter" cycle. Mine was doing it during passive regens (message is not continually displayed). You can only tell if your truck is in passive regen by pressing the setup>reset function on your dash to run system check. If in regen, it will be the last message displayed after the messages scroll to how many miles left to empty. My repairs were covered under the powertrain warranty. Here is a link to a video I shot while mine was doing this.

6.4 Blowing White Smoke - YouTube

Originally Posted by senix

I'd agree that is was a regen event.

Loose any coolant? If no coolant loss then that is what I would say it was.

You can purchase some Diesel Kleen with fuel injector cleaner. I run some once in awhile.

Just make sure it is for the ULSD diesels.

Originally Posted by aquaman350

I'll belch a smoke screen regardless of how light I'm on the throttle very predictably about a minute into regen while things are trying to heat up and then I come to a long stop light. The moment I start moving, it'll belch smoke for about a minute and then clear up.

I also belched smoke like wastegate when regen started as soon as I crested a long 5-6% grade. It was 30F-something outside and regen was pouring fuel out on an ice cold CAT/DPF because my foot was off the pedal most of the 20 mile downhill run before I could pull over and terminate the regen. I showed a video to my dealer and they said it was normal. No codes = no problem. LOL

I just came back to San Jose from LA on I-5 . I got a regen just as I reached the bottom at Tejon coming down the I-5 Grapevine when regen decided to start. My EGR11 , EGR12 and EGR13 were in the low 200F from coasting all the way downhill. Then it tried to heat things back up going downhill towards Bakersfield even though they were cooking at 700F climbing the grade on the other side from LA. Fortunately no smoke, but it took a while longer to heat up since there was hardly any load on the engine. You'd think it would take advantage of the high heat going uphill.

Originally Posted by niclmbrt

I am currently suffering from the same scenario with my 09 F-250. Researched a little. I was pointed toward googling Ford TSB 11-2-2. It describes exactly what we are seeing. Have date with Mechanic this week. Good luck.


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Thanks for all of the great information, gang. You guys are the best!

Have an awesome day,
Crystal