When I first start my truck it blows out a puff of smoke. It only does every now and again. Maybe 2 or 3 times a week. It has been to the dealer and they claim they reflashed the PCM. Supposedly there was a recall on this issue. It didn't work. It still does it. I think a little oil is dripping down one of the valves and into the combustion chamber. Leaking valve seal. Does this sound right? I do plan on taking it back to another dealer because I haven't heard anything good about the one I originally took it to. The color is of the smoke is mostly white with just a hint of blue color. I may be wrong on that though. My wife swears I'm color blind. Thanks for any input. By the way there are only 11,550 miles on it.

 

Could be the valve stem seals for sure. It could be fuel as well, easiest way to tell what the fluid is that is coming out of the exhaust is to have someone start it and put a paper towel over the exhaust pipe.

 

Thanks. I'll try that in the morning. I guess I'll be able to smell if it's fuel?

 

Well, I haven't seen smoke for a couple of days so I'm just gonna take it back to the dealer. Hopefully it will get repaired properly this time.

 

If you havent seen the smoke in a few days why are you taking it back to the dealer? you make no sense. If they reflashed the ecm it was probably an injector issue. excess fuel was probably being sprayed into the combustion chamber and you see the excess fuel burn up in the exaust after it sits dormant. dont bother them unless you continue to experience the symptom you described. that will only waste the techs time and get you no where. check your oil often.

 

Excuse me? I have seen smoke twice since I got it back. Sorry if what I said confused you. It needs to be fixed that's why it's going back. Whatever the problem is it needs repair done. I guess your a tech and you tend to get pissed off at people who bring in vehicles and ***** about them having a problem? Well I get pissed off when techs don't fix my vehicle. Do you know how much of a pain in the a$$ it is to take it back? Here's a qoute from my original post:

"Supposedly there was a recall on this issue. It didn't work. It still does it."

By the way, it did this morning when I started it to go to the dealership.

"dont bother them unless you continue to experience the symptom you described. that will only waste the techs time and get you no where. check your oil often."
Don't bother them? What do they get paid for? I always check my oil. Especially if it blows smoke. Some of us weren't born yesterday.

Thanks for all your helpful input.

 

easy there scooter...


i can see his point... they cannot fix whats broke...

thats why he said what he did

 

Sorry ToyoTech. This is what I meant to say.
"Well, I haven't seen smoke for a couple of days [but] I'm just gonna take it back to the dealer. Hopefully it will get repaired properly this time."

However I did see smoke after the dealer supposedly fixed it. I've owned a couple of vehicles with warranties and let me tell you the dealers don't want to touch it if it has a warranty. I've had some real tough times with dealerships. One time I actually had to show the tech where an oil leak was. HE acted like it wasn't there. What he told me was that my car was a "hotrod" and that it was always prone to have a rear main seal leak. They didn't want to fix it until I raised hell. I paid $$ for the warranty because the car was used and I knew it could possibly need something down the road. The car was '96 Mustang GT. Not a hotrod in my book. More like a hotdog. Once again sorry for blowing up on you ToyoTech. I took my frustration out here which was wrong. I'm the real .

 

seriously tho... i wouldnt worry about it too much...


Ever noticed what color the smoke is? Also, does it seem to happen when its been sitting for a long time (like sittin for more than 36 hours)? My dads lex does it after it sits for about a week

 

The color is of the smoke is mostly white with just a hint of blue color. I may be wrong on that though. My wife swears I'm color blind. By the way there are only 11,550 miles on it. It usually sits for 12 to 15 hours and doesn't do it everytime. I drive it everyday and since it got back from the dealer it has only done it twice in about 2 weeks. Oh well, it's at the dealer right now so hopefully they'll figure it out soon. I just hope they don't have to go into the engine.

 

Well the dealer just called and said the smoke is coming from carbon buildup in the Magnaflow muffler that's on it. I have never seen or heard of this before. Why would it only do it some times and not all the time? I've had the muffler on there for about 3 or 4 months and it just started doing it here lately. Oh well guess I'll just have to deal with it. I am glad there was nothing wrong with it. Has anyone else experienced this?

 

Get a Borla Muffler!

I've never heard of that happening in a muffler though. They might be just trying to shove the issue off onto your aftermarket equipment, or that might actually be the issue. Just in my time I've never heard of a muffler building up carbon like that.

 

Well they checked the plugs, cylinder pressure, and did an injector flow test. Ticket says "Called Ford Tech, cause likely to be in aftermarket exhaust holding carbon." I'm still concerned about the smoke. This is the first Mabnaflow muffler I've owned. Maybe I need to give them a call .

 

that is strange... mine doesnt do that.... but i dont have magnaflow

 

That diagnosis does make sense. Have you ever removed a converter or muffler after its been on a veh for a while. You will notice a white powdery residue almost always. Dont freak out on me i just want to give a semi-professional opinion. I may not be a 15 yr master tech, but i do have an Associates Degree and ASE certification......this type of stuff is fresh on my mind everyday. If you knew what it was like on my side of the wall you wouldnt be so quick to be a heel. Dont raise hell at the dealership, or make a scene, you will look ignorant and will get no help. Oh and i guarentee that the tech that had to look at your truck didnt get paid. Warranty pays about 1/3 of what "customer pay" jobs pay, and comebacks dont pay anything. No hard feelings. Not bitter.

 

my uncles 98 f250 does that and has done it for years... i confronted him about it a couple years ago and he told me that it was carbon buildup, and nothing to worry about. well i guess he was right cuz really hasnt gotten worse, and the engine is just as powerful as the day it left the factory. and believe me... an f250 on 35in BFGs will go through some muck!

 

Cool.

 

I just noticed this on my 04 3.0L with 4500 miles. I just put on a split rear magnaflow system, so I guess it could have something to do with it. I never noticed it before with the stock system.

I started up the truck the next day after getting the exhaust work done. The truck had set about 15 hours in the garage (overnight). It was a large amount of blue smoke (it curled over the top of the tailgate, so I could see it from the driver seat).

This morning I had the wife start up the truck while I watched the pipes. I did get a small puff of blue/grey smoke from both pipes just a few seconds after startup. However, it was nowhere near the amount from the day before.

I will keep checking, and if I continually see it, I will report it to the dealer and see what they say (if they blame the exhaust).

I don't think it was doing it before I got the exhaust on, or I think I would have noticed it in the confines of the garage. But stranger things have happened. My wife swears I am blind most of the time.

 

I have stock exhaust and have the same exact problem your having mine is a 04 tremor with 10500 miles on it

 

They are just blaming it on anything aftermarket they could find because they don't wanna fix it under warranty because they don't make any money. Both the heads cracked around the valve seats on my motor at 17,000 miles and the dikheads denied my warranty and told me my KN drop in filter caused it. They also refused to fix my truck at 30,000 miles when it blew a ****** rod through the oil pan. Their reasoning: I didn't have them fix it the first time... Dealers can suck my ***. Every one of em' ... ToyoTech too...

 

hey, we had an 02 edge 3.0l and it blew black smoke on start up too with no mods..ford said nothing that it was normal but i ddint think so eitehr..never resolved the problem with them but it still blew smoke couple times a week and it onle had 35 000 kms on it..so we traded it in on a level 2..

 

*** you *** wad, you don't know how I drive my truck... Your still an *** certified moron.

 

Where's is that "good advise" that was given? Do you have some good advise?

 

whyare all the techs freakin out..i was a tech once too and i know damn well what goes on behind closed doors and they always get pissed when ppl think somethings wrong and are wasting tehre time..but that person pay multi thousands of dollars for a truck and deserve a vehicle thats not going to act up with only 40 000 miles on it. we mechanics are getting paid usually pretty friggen good to fix these vehicles..so why does everyone freak out? and if you dont know what your talking about and give someone false advise then why would you expect them to trust you again..it all comes out to be personal opinion.. now if u bag your truck of course somthings gonna go wrong and it has been shown that if u baby it still sh*t goes wrong.. so if your that concerened try and take it to another dealership for an opinion. our truck did it to..we didnt lose performance and the oil level never went down..we never found out what happen and it still blew black smoke...