Rough Idle with white smoke???

custom8726

custom8726

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I noticed last week my truck idling a little erattic not real bad just maybe a 100 or 200 hundred rpm surge that you could feel and hear. It went away then came back ETC.. ETC.. Then on saturday I pulled it locally and it bounced off the rev limiter 3 times fast then lost all its power down to an idle and then powered back up:confused: No codes ever. I then pulled again in the 8.5 class and left it in drive no rev limiter and it pulled hard and I ended up getting 3rd over all:D I drove it home no surges or anything irregular. Then today I turned the PPE down from LVL 9 to LVL-3 because I had to tow a mini excavator (14k) about 30 miles. It ran and idled all day just fine untill I went to leave the shop when it started making a strange exhaust note that would go back and forth like something with the turbo was changing it?:confused: At the same time it was puffing white smoke. I then drove it home 7 miles and let it Idle for 10 min, It Idled fine and did not smoke a bit.
After reading all these cracked piston and shortened rod threads I am a little nervous something is wrong but its comes and goes with no codes and nothing abnormal with the gauges. Any ideas? It could be something simple I guess but if its more then that I do not want to keep running it and doing further damage. Thanks in advance!!
 
Jared Duramax

Jared Duramax

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what year is your truck? if it is an LB7 coded motor when was the last time your injectors were replaced? and i would do a compression test on all the cylinders to see if you possibly have a cracked piston. also do you have any blow by in the crankcase? also what about your upper radiator hose check it in the morning to see if it is hard.

Report back and hopefully we can help you :hug:
 
custom8726

custom8726

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Josh2002cc said:
Does it look like this? I think we may have the same issues.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czeHVmnS9Vw
Click to expand...

It only puffed some white smoke at idle and then cleared right up after I gave it a little rev. In that video it looked like yours was pouring white smoke out the exhaust. All so when my truck cut out it was not nearly as dramatic as that, no smoke, no noise, just lost power untill it hit idle then it was fine again:confused:
 
custom8726

custom8726

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Jared Duramax said:
what year is your truck? if it is an LB7 coded motor when was the last time your injectors were replaced? and i would do a compression test on all the cylinders to see if you possibly have a cracked piston. also do you have any blow by in the crankcase? also what about your upper radiator hose check it in the morning to see if it is hard.

Report back and hopefully we can help you :hug:
Click to expand...

LLY, no blow by in the crank case. I did not check the radiator hose but would'nt that be head or head gasket related? It seems like its something with the fuel,turbo, or pistons. But I am just guessing as I only no what I read about this motor and have never been in one first hand yet. Its weird how the exhaust note changed when it started puffing but it has always changed tones when it was there idleing but never with smoke or an erratic idle.
 
Jared Duramax

Jared Duramax

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rough idle could be from a cracked head and if you had a cracked head your cooling system would be pressurized thats why i asked about the Rad hose.
I am going through this partially right now it smokes for a while then cleans up. i thought it was a head gasket, then went to injector cups, then to cracked head but now i think it may be a combination of them all. who knows. cooling systems are very difficult to diagnose. I would probably start with a Pressure test and see if you are having any pressure loss
 
paint94979

paint94979

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Could still be injector problems couldnt it Josh? A cracked injector maybe? Check the balance rates.
 
Josh2002cc

Josh2002cc

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I have one injector showing upper 8's and another around 6. Also, truck only runs 8k psi of rail. Doesn't matter much, motor is on the stand now.
 
custom8726

custom8726

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mplteddy said:
When checking the balance rates, be sure to check them in park an drive. And allow it to sit in drive a bit for them all to stabalize.

Sounds to me like an injector issue.
Click to expand...

I hope your right. I got home late tonight and did not get a chance to check my balance rates, Maybe tomorrow. It will sit untill I can figure out the problem though.:(
 
custom8726

custom8726

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Balance rates are as follows

IN PARK ////// IN DRIVE


ING-1, 6.5-6.7 8.3

ING-2, 6.5-6.7 8.0

ING-3, 6.7-6.9 8.1

ING-4, 6.0 7.4

ING-5, 6.2-6.4 7.9

ING-6, 6.0 7.5

ING-7, 6.6 8.1

ING-8, 5.8-6.0 7.2-7.4

DESIRED- 4350

ACTUAL- 4200-4300

Thats what I got from my PPE, now what does it mean? On another note the truck ran and towed fine all day today with no smoke and idled fine.:confused:
 
Last edited:
custom8726

custom8726

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No one? 124 views? Are the inj rates ok? Should I still do a compression test? Could it just have been a fluke thing from running a big tune for months strait and then switching to a tow tune?
 
custom8726

custom8726

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How do I find out for sure? Will it do more damage if I keep running it? I thought the LB7's were the bad injector plagued group of engines.
 
custom8726

custom8726

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slowlmm said:
if those are shoing +6 plus thts getting up there and if thers ones tht are 8 thts bad
Click to expand...

I know its hard to read the list but it would not let me seperate the 2 rows. The first 1-8 injector readings are at idle in park, The #'s to the right are the same injector in drive. There are several above 8:confused: Whatever that means.
 
slowlmm

slowlmm

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custom8726 said:
I know its hard to read the list but it would not let me seperate the 2 rows. The first 1-8 injector readings are at idle in park, The #'s to the right are the same injector in drive. There are several above 8:confused: Whatever that means.
Click to expand...

8 is bad
 
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