A puff of smoke on startup, after car wash

[crackerjack1957]

In a build like that.... no way I would put stop leak in.

 

[Burla]

In a build like that.... no way I would put stop leak in.

I hear ya, and I have heard some bad stories over the years, but also have seen this vid below. Maybe some of the new ones actually work? But it looks like his isn't leaking anyhow, so good that.

Do Head Gasket Sealers Actually Work (FULL 2yr TEST with Engine Teardown)

Replacing a blown Head Gasket can be difficult and expensive. Sometimes your car is not worth fixing and this is where a head gasket sealer in a bottle comes...

youtu.be

 

[Bigskyroadglide]

I'm still getting heavy smoke on startup, enough to fill my two car garage with visable smoke, but after that it goes away and no smoke till it sits for about 6 hours. The smoke is whiteish grey, as seen in my previous video. Not certain why it's suddenly happening but, doubtful I'll do any stop leak.

I'm eliminating things one at the time, i went to a different station today and filled up with real gas, to dilute remaining fuel in tank and I've added redline s-1 fuel treatment to the tank and will run this tank of fuel out to see if that has any impact. Then change oil.

As seen and heard on the videos, truck runs and idles fine with no issue.

The startup smoke does not have a sweet sticky smell, so I'm leaning more to oil or fuel. Having done my best to eliminate concern about it being water or antifreeze.

Ultimately the cause will reveal itself as I will not baby the truck or the engine because of startup smoke. Time will reveal an answer of some type.

 

[KalboKalbs]

I'm still getting heavy smoke on startup, enough to fill my two car garage with visable smoke, but after that it goes away and no smoke till it sits for about 6 hours. The smoke is whiteish grey, as seen in my previous video. Not certain why it's suddenly happening but, doubtful I'll do any stop leak.

I'm eliminating things one at the time, i went to a different station today and filled up with real gas, to dilute remaining fuel in tank and I've added redline s-1 fuel treatment to the tank and will run this tank of fuel out to see if that has any impact. Then change oil.

As seen and heard on the videos, truck runs and idles fine with no issue.

The startup smoke does not have a sweet sticky smell, so I'm leaning more to oil or fuel. Having done my best to eliminate concern about it being water or antifreeze.

Ultimately the cause will reveal itself as I will not baby the truck or the engine because of startup smoke. Time will reveal an answer of some type.

When it is revealed, please share.

 

[Burla]

I'm still getting heavy smoke on startup, enough to fill my two car garage with visable smoke, but after that it goes away and no smoke till it sits for about 6 hours. The smoke is whiteish grey, as seen in my previous video. Not certain why it's suddenly happening but, doubtful I'll do any stop leak.

I'm eliminating things one at the time, i went to a different station today and filled up with real gas, to dilute remaining fuel in tank and I've added redline s-1 fuel treatment to the tank and will run this tank of fuel out to see if that has any impact. Then change oil.

As seen and heard on the videos, truck runs and idles fine with no issue.

The startup smoke does not have a sweet sticky smell, so I'm leaning more to oil or fuel. Having done my best to eliminate concern about it being water or antifreeze.

Ultimately the cause will reveal itself as I will not baby the truck or the engine because of startup smoke. Time will reveal an answer of some type.

you have a catch can?

 

[JHoward]

you have a catch can?

He said he has one and checked it already ...

 

[Bigskyroadglide]

you have a catch can?

Yes, it's empty and gets emptied every oil change. Thought about taking it out of the loop to see if anything changed

 

[Wild one]

I'm still getting heavy smoke on startup, enough to fill my two car garage with visable smoke, but after that it goes away and no smoke till it sits for about 6 hours. The smoke is whiteish grey, as seen in my previous video. Not certain why it's suddenly happening but, doubtful I'll do any stop leak.

I'm eliminating things one at the time, i went to a different station today and filled up with real gas, to dilute remaining fuel in tank and I've added redline s-1 fuel treatment to the tank and will run this tank of fuel out to see if that has any impact. Then change oil.

As seen and heard on the videos, truck runs and idles fine with no issue.

The startup smoke does not have a sweet sticky smell, so I'm leaning more to oil or fuel. Having done my best to eliminate concern about it being water or antifreeze.

Ultimately the cause will reveal itself as I will not baby the truck or the engine because of startup smoke. Time will reveal an answer of some type.

Run a finger around the inside of your tailpipes,if it's oil smoke,your finger should pick up an oily residue on the inside of the tailpipes.
Hey beaters never die,lol.
Just razzing ya Big,trying to make you have something to laugh about

 

[Bigskyroadglide]

Just spent an hour on the phone with Edelbrock. Great company, super helpful. Gave me a list of things to check along with part numbers to replacement parts if needed. They recommend, taking catch can out of loop to eliminate any potential issues, replacement of pcv valve, and indicate, even though iridium plugs, probably want to change them at around 30k miles.

Told me to do compression test when plugs were out to check to see if compression down on any one cylinder and if no, then may need to change intake gaskets (they use 6.1 gaskets) under supercharger as they have a tendency to flatten over time and let oil leak in from either last 2 cylinders on passenger rear or first 2 cylinders under oil fill.

He seemed very helpful and said given the issues I described. Thinks oil is pooling somewhere and that's why smoke is present at startup.

Work starts on these issues Wednesday. More to come....

 

[shopman]

Possible ring with boost.

 

[Bigskyroadglide]

Possible ring with boost.

Always a possibility but it will be last thing checked. Especially if compression test is consistent across cylinders

 

[nuckinfutz]

I went through many touchless car washes and never had a problem until I changed my air filter and noticed a gummy residue on it. Didn't occur to me that the truck running (summer a/c) and the cold air intake sucked up all the suds and moisture into the filter. Lesson learned. No problems otherwise.

 

[Marshall]

Looks good now.Might have just been some water in the exhaust system,either from the under carriage wash,or a couple short trips where the truck didn't get enough heat into the pipes to evaporate the condensation

That's my thought, I have got water in the back end of the exhaust when pressure washing
It should have all dried up after 20 mile drive, but???
I would just drive it for a while, if you are like my wife and have to fix stuff that's not broke, you could pull a plug from each cylinder and check them and look at the top of the pistons.
and while its open, check compression.

One other thought, check all the rubber hoses for a crack that let some water in that would get sucked into motor, brake booster, bottom air box, etc.

 

[Tunaman]

In my opinion care wash had nothing to do with it. Run it, if there's something wrong you will be the first to know!!

 

[Dusty]

My son-laws F150 would do this sometime, especially after a rain storm. If I remember correctly it was an intercooler issue.

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33-gallon fuel tank, 18” wheels. Build Date: 3 June 2018. Now at 111060 miles.

 

[Bigskyroadglide]

Thanks for the response Dusty. Good information. I believe I have it narrowed down but will not know for sure until Saturday.

To provide a brief update, I've taken the catch can out of the loop and the amount of start up smoke has been reduced by about 50%.

Examination of the catch can hoses, has led to a conclusion that the shorter hose which goes, in this instance to a connection under the supercharger is collapsing after startup and anything flowing from the catch can pools in the hose till the trucks engine stops and once stopped the vacuum is released and whatever oil that has collected flows into the intake thus creating smoke on the next cold start. Why it does not do it on warm start. I'm not certain. Maybe it needs time, like 6 hours. That's still to be determined.

I got the pcv valve part number from the supercharger manufacturer and that arrives on Friday. It is a 6.1 hemi part and screws into a port on the supercharger. Once the pcv valve is replaced on Friday and with the catch can out of the loop, im hopeful a drive Friday night will prepare a smoke free cold start on Saturday.

If no, then I have 16 new plugs, intake gaskets, (intake gaskets are again 6.1 items,) a video scope and a compression tester set aside for Saturday.

As a last resort, I'm certain I'll have a direction from the video and compression test.

 

[Bigskyroadglide]

Results of compression test below. No real findings other than oil present in number 7 spark plug hole and plugs were hand tight. No ratchet used to take them out.

The others were almost identical. Gap upon extraction was.33 , tuner recommended gap was .32. Plugs were in for 30 k miles

 

[Bigskyroadglide]

Well, cold start this am, no smoke. My conclusion based on everything I encountered. Oil in spark plug tubes on cylinder 7, occurs because of leaking valve cover gasket. Plug change had two impacts. First oil in spark plug tubes drained in cylinder upon spark plug removal. 2nd installation of new plugs resulting in them being tighten to 13 ft lbs. No oil present doesn't have ability to leak into cylinder to cause smoke on startup. Plugs being tight leaves no pathway for leaking into cylinder.

Solution is replacement of valve cover gaskets. Damn, I hate taking all that $hip back apart to replace covers gaskets.

If no other update, this was the fix.

 

[Bigskyroadglide]

Replaced the drivers side valve cover gasket yesterday, what a PIA. I can now see why the book says its a $500 plus repair. I think I had almost every component on that side loose or unbolted.

So previous to replacement at about 500 miles both spark plug tube were full of oil, when taking the cover off, the gasket for those tubes fell out when cover was removed.

Anyway, it's fixed and tomorrow's 500 mile drive will reveal if I did a good job or if I get to do it again. Based on no oil leaks and no smoking, I think it will not be a problem.

PS, working around the supercharger was easier than I thought it would be.