LLY: 2 much smoke

[Moose0011]

I need some help. I got my first duramax the other day. It is a 2004.5 3500. I got if from my brother who has 2 of them and he bought it to use at work for 2 weeks then didn't need it anymore. I have been flipping through other posts and I can't find anything that I thought describes my problem perfectly. I have had 2 mechanics look at it and one I didn't like his answer very much and the other one is a family member and he is stumped. The truck doesn't smoke at all at idle. If I rev it up in park it will puff just a little but not really anything. If I am accelerating in drive it will leave a black haze until I get it to the speed I want. If I am going under 60 I can keep it to the haze if I go over 60 I look like I have a Thick black cloud behind me. I notice the smoke hits around 1700 RPM's right when the turbo starts to spin. I don't hear any leaks but at the same time the turbo doesn't seem to be that load either. I have hooked it up to a computer and No codes other than P0463 fuel lever sensor which my fuel guage does turn off and on going down the highway on bumps, P0670 glow plug module, p0700 transmission control system fault. the turbo showed 14psi which I under stand is 0 and we never drove with it plugged in just gave it some throttle in park and it went to 15.2. all the numbers looked great. according to the mechanics. One mechanic said they wouldn't worry about it and the other one my family member who owns the same exact truck basically says that it isn't right it doesn't have enough power and the turbo doesn't seem loud enough. But see's nothing on the computer saying anything is wrong. I am trying not to question him. I am not a mechanic but I am smart enough to know something isn't right. I don't have the funds to do just start replacing stuff until I fix it. So I need help. My Cummins which was a 12V had more power and didn't smoke near as much as this. I hope that last sentence fires some people up to help me . I plan on doing further testing but I honestly don't know where to look and I am a durmax noob. Break out the red Crayons and draw me some pictures please.

 

[whitetrash21]

Pressure test your CAC setup. Block both sides, one with a test guage and put 25psi in it. Let it sit for a few hours and see if it bleeds down. That'll tell you if you have any boost leaks.

 

[Moose0011]

I apologize. I need a red crayon.. What is CAC setup?

 

[akdmaxx]

Charge air cooler. If you have a boost leak some where between the inlet of the turbo and the engine intake it can black smoke.

 

[Moose0011]

OK, I don't think I have the capabilities to do that. If there was a leak wouldn't I hear a whistle? Or hear air escaping?

 

[NRA223]

An easy check that doesn't require any tools is to check the driver side intercooler pipe where the power steering lines pass by. They can rub a hole in the pipe over time.

 

[Moose0011]

Ok thank you NRA233 I will go check.

 

[Moose0011]

Ok my pipe is aluminum and I don't see any holes or feel any. I don't know if factory ones are aluminum and I think this has had aftermarket stuff put on it and taken off. I think it has a brand new airfilter box and pipe and y pipe but I don't know for certain. Just the plastic is a more shiny black than the rest of it. like someone put some of the factory stuff back on it to sell it. well it worked

 

[Moose0011]

Ok sprayed soapy water on the Air hose from intercooler to intake and had the wife hold her foot on the break and give it fuel up to 2000 rpm. tons of black smoke and no bubbles...

 

[DAVe3283]

You can make a pressure test adapter for the whole intercooler (CAC) setup with a PVC pipe cap and a air compressor fitting. Remove the boost tube from the turbo outlet and clamp the cap in place, add air with your air compressor. Since the motor is off, and nothing is moving, you can really check over everything to hear/see leaks.

I personally don't like to go above 15-20 PSI when looking for leaks, as the higher you go the more likely you are to launch the cap and hurt something/someone.

If it is the 2004.5, it should be a LLY, which has the variable geometry turbo. That should throw a code if it isn't making the right boost, unless the tuning has been modified. It really sounds like you will need to find someone with a scan tool to check over the truck. There are a number of things that can be causing the smoke, but without a scan tool, it is hard to narrow it down.

 

[Moose0011]

Thank you I hadn't thought of doing that with pvc. as far as the scan tool. My cousins is a snap on that said cost over 9000. all the numbers and graphs he said looked fine. he was scratching his head. I asked him if he thought someone had left a tune on it and he said it was possible but it should have way more power if that was the case. I dunno that is why I am asking. I was wondering if someone did have aftermarket stuff on and then took the stuff off and left the tune on would I loose power over stock.

also I went and checked my maf and it looks brand new, my air filter litterally looks brand new. Hmmmm

 

[TheBac]

Did he check the turbo vane position sensor and make sure the vanes are cycling and moving?

 

[Moose0011]

No he did not. It didn't throw a code. Would it throw a code if that didn't work. I actually was wondering about that. The turbo you can hear it wind up but it just doesn't seem like it is as loud as it should be. And when it starts winding is when the smoke starts.

 

[mechman3]

I just had this problem in my 04.5 LLY. It drove me nuts. I changed air filter and after a few seconds of hard accelleration no more black smoke. I couldnt believe it. My advice is check/clean/replace air filter. Even though your filter looks new cant hurt to blow some air thru it backwrds

 

[DAVe3283]

Have your friend pull the calibration IDs from the ECU, and hopefully we can match it with a stock LLY file. And for sure have him check/watch the vanes. With the stock tunes, a stuck vane should throw a code, but with custom tuning, who knows. Some people disable most/all of the diagnostics in their tunes when they don't know how to get rid of the check engine light the right way. The key here is finding out if the ECU is stock or tuned.

Never hurts to clean the air filter and MAF. It can't hurt to throw a new fuel filter on as well. If the filter is dirty, and rail pressure is falling off, that can make it smoke and be slow. And again, with a tune, it might not throw a code.

 

[c20elephant]

If you clean the MAF sensor be sure and use a product clearly marked for MAF sensor cleaning. I clean mine about every six months, also, what type of air filter is being used currently.?

 

[Moose0011]

Mechman3 I will give that a try. I won't bother blowing it out. I will just put a new one. Dave3283 I don't know if he can pull calibration IDs he told me it wouldn't hurt to take it to the dealership and have them just put a stock tune on it again or see if there was on on there. to start there.
C20elephant it is just a paper rectangular paper OEM looking filter. LOL sorry I don't know the brand off hand. If you are asking if it looks like an aftermarket one no. I didn't spray anything on the MAF sensor. I unscrewed it and took it out and it looked new. Like there was no dust on it. I know it has been on there for a year. Like i said my brother had it and drove it 2 weeks and put 1200 miles on it and I have put 600 on it.

I have another friend coming over tomorrow and he is going to plug his meter into the OBDII and then I cm going to drive around and see if it will show me if I am getting any boost.

Thank you guys for all the suggestions I really appreciate it.

 

[Robby05]

Where are you located?

 

[Moose0011]

Robby05 - I am located in Kansas City.

Ok so I just went and put a new air filter on it and cleaned the MAF sensor. I took it for drive in the dark. I got on it a few times just to clean it out. The first few times I got the darkest blackest coal smoke. Which I figured I would get. Also I noticed I did have more power but not a ton. I also noticed the turbo whine a little bit more.. However I had my windows down and no noise other than the engine. I noticed when the turbo would spool up it would kind of go quite if that makes any sense. Maybe it is supposed to do that i don't know. also I put it in neutral and floored it and the RPM's would only go to 3400 and it would kind of sputter there but not to bad. I don't know where the rev limit is supposed to be.

I am planning on trying to put a new fuel filter on it this weekend to see if that helps. I am trying to give you all the information that I can think of. Please ask or let me know if you can come up or think with anything else.

Thank you all

 

[whitetrash21]

Limiter is 3200 under power. If you can find someone to do a live scan, watch your commanded/actual fuel pressures along with boost. Logging hose 2 should give a good idea which side of the fuel/air equation may be fu**ing up. Just pray it ain't electrical