Excessive white exhaust while driving F450 diesel

[Monty-Rob]

Lately I have noticed a lot of white exhaust smoke coming out the tailpipe.
Normally when I see warning on dash for cleaning exhaust there is only a little white smoke now it continues for a few minutes...I am like a smog machine going down the road.
A Ford dealer here in Fort Mill,SC could not find anything today....thoughts...suggestions...we'll see if the smoke continues today..

[RooDude09]

If it's cloudy white smoke it could be the turbo's internal seal leaking out the downpipe. Seams like when they leak and go through the dpf the smoke it very white. Coolant is usually more grey and dissipates like steam. Take a look at the exhaust see if there is anything leaking out.

[shum02]

45Ricochet wrote:

Bionic Man wrote:
I thought white smoke was usually bad injectors....

Yes that might be true with a Cummins. Ford 6.4 all bets are off as to WTF is going on.
Not sure but the 6.0's had a small? issue with the FICM which could be very hard for die hards to understand :W
LINK
Those years of PSD's literally ate batteries thus the failure of the Fuel Injector Control Module or FICM.
I am not sure if the 6.4 PSD uses the same flawed technology or not. I am certain the radiators all have some kind of problems if not serviced per schedule. I know my Cummins also has a filter on the coolant side, I assume it's from knowledge of past failures on SOB's.
Everyone loves the beach sand....

White smoke and lots of it could also be a stuck EGR valve. Not sure on the 6.4's but my 6.0 will leave a smoke screen if it happens. Running her hard or towing/hauling heavy keeps this from happening :B

[hotpepperkid]

That's why Im keeping my 7.3. No cat no regen and no dpf

[drittal]

White smoke can be coolant getting into the combustion chamber. Check your coolant level and oil level and color. If it is way full and looking like chocolate milk you got problems!

Making oil refers to oil level rising due to coolant or fuel.

[Monty-Rob]

I am thinking that I am not driving the truck enough on longer distances.
Drove on highway at 65/70 and smoke stopped on my next short trip to the grocery store...hope that is it
Boy...do I like this site...I always get a pretty good response...thank you everyone

[Turtle_n_Peeps]

FishOnOne wrote:
I've noticed this with the 6.4's on the road too and some smoke really bad. I would keep a close eye on your radiator and oil level making sure you're not loosing radiator fluid or making oil.

Making oil? And why would an engine do this? :W



OP, semantics make all the difference. Is it a LOT of smoke or just a little? Is the coolant dropping?
Is this a lot of smoke? What does it smell like? Is it gaining oil? Does it look like this? Or this? Or this?
EGR coolant failure


Could be lots of things. A top few for a 6.4 not in any order:

#1. ERG valve.
#2. EGR cooler.
#3. Head gasket.
#4. Failed injector

#2 is not likely because it takes the whole engine out unless it's a small leak. #8 cylinder fills with coolant and BOOM goes the engine! None of these are good news and all are very expensive. I know you don't want to hear this but it's the truth.

Good luck and let us know what you find out.

[45Ricochet]

Bionic Man wrote:
I thought white smoke was usually bad injectors....

Yes that might be true with a Cummins. Ford 6.4 all bets are off as to WTF is going on.
Not sure but the 6.0's had a small? issue with the FICM which could be very hard for die hards to understand :W
LINK
Those years of PSD's literally ate batteries thus the failure of the Fuel Injector Control Module or FICM.
I am not sure if the 6.4 PSD uses the same flawed technology or not. I am certain the radiators all have some kind of problems if not serviced per schedule. I know my Cummins also has a filter on the coolant side, I assume it's from knowledge of past failures on SOB's.
Everyone loves the beach sand....

[Bionic_Man]

I thought white smoke was usually bad injectors....

[rickeoni]

2008 >2010 regen in two different ways. Passive when the truck is being worked hard, such as towing or climbing hills with a big payload, this generates enough heat tl remove contaminents frkm the DPF. If you are driving soccermom style it needs to go into active regen, the rear injectors on each cyclinder bank are timed to dump fuel in longer resulting in raw fuel being dumped in the DPF and burning the soot resulting in billowing clouds of white stinky smoke. Could also be a bad intercooler, that has water intrusion. The new 6.7 have an SCR and DEF to eliminate the raw fuel usage resulting in a much cleaner exhaust. That is why EGR and DPF delete kits are prevelant on pre DEF diesels.

[ACZL]

Another possibility is if driven in temps near and below zero, you'll get white smoke. Our semis do this along w/ my F350 and TDI. On the other hand, if it does it in warmer temps, you may have other issues.

[rickeoni]

Probably an active regen vs passive. Mine blew tons of white smoke during regen when I was not driving it hard enough. Scared the bejeezus out me the first time it happened.

[lawnspecialties]

What about that issue they had with moisture in the exhaust or something similar? Its been over 5 years since I had mine but it would do that after excessive idling and especially if I floored it after some light cruising.

[ford_truck_guy]

Mine hit a point where it was going into regen about every 50 miles for 20 miles at a time. Ford also told me it was because my longest drive when not towing ( daily driver) was 10 miles at a time.. It would not get a good cook off to clean , so it clogged...

[Monty-Rob]

2008 F450 with 75,000 miles.
Ford thought I needed to drive it longer distance to burn off particulates