09 F 250 blowing white smoke
 

So my 09 F 250 with less than 30,000 miles has started blowing white smoke out of the tail pipe! It's not all the time, just sporadically. This all started after it tried to go into the regen mode but only popped up on my display for a few seconds. Any thoughts on what this is? The dealer seems to think it's no big issue until "it starts happening all the time or the check engine light comes on" Not so sure what I think about that. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks

Chris

Does the 09 have the EGR? I think that white smoke is coolant getting into your exhaust from what I've read on previous posts.

09s do have a egr. and they are a better design than the 6.0 they still make a blockoff. does the white smoke smell like diesel? if so it could be an injector

I would suspect coolers also. The 6.4l has 2 coolers for the egr system and can be somewhat of a pain in rear to diagnose. Closely monitor the coolant level, maybe mark the level on the bottle and watch what ot does after a few hundered miles or so. We have seen a few of these with cooler failure, but not typically with so low miles on the clock. Also radiator leaks are somewhat common and can lead to premature cooler failure sometimes, so check that out. Ford also released a bulletin that stated some white smoke on accel could be related to condensation in the intercooler system that builds up and is forced through the engine on hard accel. Just telling ya what I know about possibities.

Threadjack: Bawshogg, my 08 6.4 seems to always use a bit of coolant, maybe a half gallon every 8-10K....never thought much of it, as there are no visible leaks. Worth a visit to the dealer for a fix, or just the nature of the motor?

No motor should ever "use" coolant. It's going somewhere if you are noticing a loss. It's either falling out on the ground somewhere, or it's going out the tailpipe. In rare situatuions soemtimes it ends up in the crankcase(oil), but you should see it on an oil change as the oil will look creamy like chocolate milkshake. Most common on the 6.4 is the radiator.

Ha...after reading your post, I went outside and crawled under her...there is a coolant dribble off the lower driver's side corner of the radiator...and a healthy oil leak at what appears to be the front cover right behind the crankshaft pulleys.....ugh. Time to call my dealer...glad it's got a warranty.....

Sounds about right. If you are under 36k it should be covered,as far as the radiator is concerned. Make sure your dealer inspects the t-stat also, kindof a funky setup and is what usually causes the radiator failures. I know ... sounds bazaar, but this comes directly from Ford. Radiator is not covered under Powerstroke warranty and they ain't cheap.

Thanks for the feedback! Its at the shop now and I'm rolling in a mini van! I feel like I need to call the dealer but I would feel bad calling them and "suggesting" these possibilities. Would that be rude of me?

Chris

I would wait untill you see what they come up with. If the situation isn't getting resolved then you may wanna just ask in the form of questions if this info may help. It is ultimately up to them on how/what gets fixed, regardless of what you know. Ford is paying the bill.

Ok sounds good, I will await their diagnosis before I ask questions. If it is the radiator, I assume its only covered until 36k and not the 100k warranty

Why is a truck with 36k miles on it leaking oil and coolant. i drive a Chevy and have 191k on it, first oil leak was rear main at 150k.

well my 2000 f250 has 252,xxx never leaked a drop of anything

nice!!!

Must just be a shi**y Ford. Why do these things always have to turn out this way? Nobody asked about your damn Chevy. But on a side note, WHO GIVES A F! If things never broke why the hell would there be a WARRANTY?

Correct.

I typically turn my trucks every 2 or 3 years.... Primarily Fords since 99.....couple of really good 7.3's, couple of 6.0's that left me on the side of the road....last truck was an 06 Cummins Dodge...awesome 5.9 motor, but the rest of the truck was a pile of crap. I love this 08 PSD, it's the nicest truck I've ever had. The mileage blows however, but it will pull a house.

Haven't tried a Chev yet, but I love the Allison tranny from driving a few over the last few years. Can't quite fall in love with the looks of the current generation GM HD trucks, though.

If it were available, I'd buy a 08-10 Ford SuperDuty, with a 5.9 Cummins and an Allison trans.....problem solved.

Chill the f*ck out Bawshogg. You are the one who turned it into a Chevy vs Ford thread. I think that most people will agree that both a coolant and an oil are pretty uncommon in the first 36k miles of ownership.

You guys up the in the northwest are wound so tight - no wonder seattle is the suicide capitol of the country.

Who did?

Meathead, you'll LOVE the new 6.7 when you're ready for a new one. We are the number one truck dealer in our state and have 16 certified diesel mechanics and we have yet to see one problem with it.

Yup, The 6.7 has been pretty solid so far. I would put the Torqshift6 up against ANYTHING Allison has to offer. That thing is a beast. Take a look under one if you get a chance and peep that thing. It's monsterous!

I think your wrong. All I have tried to do is help the OP out with a little knowledge. Don't care how, why or when his issues started, just tryin to help. I never said the "C" word. You did.

I drive a geo metro with a tempo motor and a toyota 5 speed. While towing my supra 22ssv my blinker comes on and will not shut off. Should I get a gmc with high miles or a ford with low miles to park in the driveway because my metpoyota kicks all ur trucks ass.:D Oh and I don't know shizzz about why your truck is leaking and am not gonna suggest you buy or do anything, maybe sombody else on here can help.

WOW! Nice job.

Where's Lon when you need him?

Haulin ass in his H2! Where do ya think?

Sorry for the hijack, but what kind of economy do you get with that F-250?

HAHA bawshogg! Just got word and its an injector......plan on crawling under the thing and inspecting the radiator before I leave the dealers lot. SS I get 10.8 to 11 MPG

Thanks!

Thinking about getting one?

Dangggggg. I do better than that towing. Goooo Cummins.

here we go......now its going to turn into a dodge vs. ford vs. chevy thread. Bawshogg, how do you a suppose an injector has already gone out?

It happens ocassionally. Most of the injector failures can be linked back to fuel quality issues for the most part. Have you kept up on your fuel filters? We have been recommending filters every 10k, but we also have awefull fuel quality in Oregon. Typically when the 6.4 has injector issues they like to "make " oil. You will see the oil level rise as mileage gets extended out between oil changes. Ford originally said 10k between oil changes, but that has been pulled back now. We are recommending 6k ourselves

Goooo 6.7l . Stellar mileage so far on those.

It was a joke and I'm sure your poor mileage has alot to do with the bad injector.

he looses that dpf and he will too. the poor mileage is government related

I have changed my fuel filter every other oil change and I do my oil change every 4000 miles! I know it might be overkill but I would like this truck to last! I would love to get rid of the dpf but I also like my warranty. With the injector going out it makes me wonder what im in for. Also the dealer is recommending a transmission flush and the injectors cleaned for close to $500! Is that really necessary? Maybe I should have just gone with a gasser :)

The diesels definetly are alot more to deal with a s far as maintenece goes. DPF delete is NOT the way to go untill you are out of warranty. The diesel injector flushes are gimmicks. Don't fall for that. The transmission flush is also. You can very easily change the transmission fluid yourself. The trans has a drain plug . Simply drain and fill it with approximately 9 qts of Mercon LV. Your trans has a a temp. sensing cooler flow valve and they are very tough to properly flush. MOst of the time the flush is a complete waist of fluid and money. Don't tell them I told ya so though.

I was going to ask them to change the speaker fluid and headlight fluid while they had it there. My plan is to do the transmission myself over the winter, as long as I have some tools and mu purse is there anything else I need?:p

Got froggy with a new superduty today.Dont think he appreciated me putting the old 7.3 on him.I do enjoy punishing the newer trucks though.
Now its a dodge vs chevy vs ford vs ford thread.

funny. i usually think my 7.3 is fast, chipped exhaust and intake no injectors or hpop or any real performance mods i ran a 6.0 the other night and he wooped my ass bad,

true. but i would have the stuff in my garage for the day it was out of warranty

I upgraded my turbo and wastegate,plus my truck is two wheel drive coming in fifteen hundred pounds lighter than a crew cab 4x4.The wastegate is the real problem though.

yeah my truck weighs in around 8200# , been thinking about going for it but its expensive. how much boost you getting? i was thinking about a simple boost fooler

Egr
 

Guess where my truck is 15,000 miles out of the premier warranty? At the Ford dealer because the EGR cooler is cracked. I called Ford and complained and they are reviewing it as I'm under 150,000 miles and less than 6 years old (2006). They will contribute some portion of the repair cost - will know tomorrow how much.

egr delete

Well, my Service Advisor just called me...they need my truck for 9 working days to pull down the front of the motor for the oil leak. Plus the power steering pump they installed 3 months ago ***** the bed and needs to be replaced again. Still unsure on the coolant loss, but he said they will fond it and address it while everything is torn apart. .

Ugh....love this truck, but it's starting to piss me off. May have to try a GM product next time....

Eeeek..... So far, so good. My 6.0 hauls balls and has never been back to the dealer since minute one. 63k miles. I'll be bringing it in eventually as it's developed a bit of an oil leak around the bell housing. If the heads have to come off then I'll order some studs for it first. My dealer said they'd be glad to install them if it comes to that.

FWIW, mine lost some coolant for a while, too. Turned out to be a bad radiator cap. At four years old I flushed the coolant and replaced the cap. So far, so good.

Trans flush is a waste. Drain the fluid and replace the cartridge filter (down on the frame rail by the radiator on the right side). Top up and you're good. My fluid still looked like new at 40k miles. Maybe I don't tow heavy enough, often enough.

I'm doing engine oil at 5k with Chevron Dello 400 and factory filters. Fuel filters at 15k and a bottle of Redline injector cleaner/cetane booster about once every couple months. So far the truck runs like a clock. When it gets to 200k I'll replace it with a new 6.7.

The newer trucks, 08 and forward don't have this filter anymore. Filter is either round black cannister under bellhousing, or inside trans pan like they have always been. I have seen both styles, but 08 seems to be the only year with the small black cannister under the bellhousing.

Im not real sure on the boost but when I changed the turbo the wastegate would blow wide open and the truck would bogg down in a cloud of smoke.If I remove the programmer it wouldn't boost enough to blow open so I ordered one of those niffty spring kits for the wastegate.It works great except for the massive power it sends to the tranny.:eek:.Lets just say I take it easy most the time and change the fluid twice a year.

Quick update, got the truck back, no problems. Truck has set for close to one week because I was out of town, drove it home 2 hours, Got back in the truck to pick the boat up and now the damn CEL is back on. Auto zone couldn't read the code, called the dealer, and now its going back into the dealer on monday. Why would auto zone not be able to read the code?

Chris

Got Mine Back Too
 

Chris - got my 06 with 115,000 on it back from the dealer too - $1,300 later. Ford Motor Co completely mis-lead me saying that they would help with the cost. Not only didn't they but it cost me $230 in car rental for them to decide that.

Force them to replace that EGR cooler and the hose before your warranty is up.

its just gonna happen again, your out of warranty, delete it. this time you wont get 115k

Chris.... Autozone has remedial, basic scanners that pull OBD2 codes. They wont pull manufacture specific codes. I don't know much about the diesels, but I know they can't pull a bunch of pertinant european manufacture codes. You get what you pay for with free code reading.

Evan,
The CEL went off today, took it back to a different auto zone just for fun, this time it spit out the diesel particulate filter below threshold which is what it said last time. We shall see what the dealer says. Tom, not sure about going in and demanding them to replace the EGR cooler and hose just yet! 882001, why would you say delete it? I assume, new exhaust, chip, and air intake would fix it?

Chris

i was telling tom to delete the egr. imo its a mandatory thing on a 6.0, all the chips exhaust and intake wont fix that problem, its better on the 6.4 but still gonna be a problem and after warranty i would delete it off a 6.4 too

awesome, thanks for the input! Plan on doing all the engine upgrades once its out of warranty

Chris

For those that have done the EGR delete; how long does it take on the 6.0's? I would have to go back/forth and put it back on every two years for smogs. I'd love to remove it, though.

At the dealership and driving a fusion right now! Any body know anything about the lemon law? I know it varies from state to state but if this keeps up I just might have to see if this applies here

Chris

I want to say the lemon law has to be withing the first 12,000 miles and the vehicle has to be in the shop 3 seperate times for the same issue and the dealership was not able to fix it. I think this varies state to state and I maybe wrong, but this is what my memory tells me it is in Oregon.

Trade that baby for a '11 and smile all the way home (while skipping the gas station). I think Digg's is right. I think you've got too many miles.

That's kind of what I was thinking that I was going to be screwed on the miles. I would love to trade for an '11 but I'm sure I would lose my a** if I traded in
Chris

Got it back last night, they replaced the DPF sensor. Test drove an '11....WOW:eek: