White/Grey Smoke & Strong Fuel Smell

[jasonlepak]

So last week I was driving down the highway with a heavy load...
I usually keep my engine brake on while I'm in cruise control so that if I needed all I had to do was tap the service brakes and let the engine slow me down.

The last time I used the engine brake, when I went back to accelerate I started getting white smoke out of the exhaust.
After pretty much limping it home for a whole day that white smoke turned to a light grey smoke when I accelerated a little harder.
For the most part I do feel a slight misfire, but it idles good still.

Tomorrow I plan on doing a coolant leak test with my pressure tester... And I also had the dealer order me an injector leak test tool (little block of aluminum for $250) which I will also be picking up tomorrow.

The truck currently has 1,128,477 miles. About six months ago I blew two injectors somehow at the same time (according to the dealer I brought it to) and after they replaced cylinder 1-2 injectors it ran good though I could still feel a slight miss.

I have no history on the engine other than what I did to it which isn't much because the guy I bought it from didn't have anything because apparently he was an idiot.

I put just over 100k miles on it aready (I've only owned it for a year) and so far it's been a great truck.
This week I'm replacing pretty much the whole front suspension, outer tie rods, king pins and front tires since the old ones are wearing bad after only 55k.


So... What I'm getting at is that when the first two injectors went bad, the engine ran horribly and I lacked power but I wasn't really getting any smoke out of the exhaust even though when I tried turning off the truck it would try to keep running.

Now, the engine for the most part starts and runs like it should and shuts off immediately like it should... Yet I'm getting a lot of white'ish smoke out of the exhaust and I'm getting a strong unburnt fuel smell inside the cab.
So if it should happen that once I do the injector leak test and find nothing blowing bubbles, what would be the most likely cause?

I do know that the EGR cooler has been replaced because it has no paint on it and I'm not getting coolant in my oil or vise-versa as far as I know... Last time I checked was the night it first started blowing smoke, but will be going through everything thoroughly tomorrow after I get back home from the dealer with my parts.

[snailexpress]

If you have 871 or newer engine could be a aftertreatment injector leaking badly in exhaust.

[Brock]

I'm with snail. My guess would be doser injector stuck open or bad injector.

What year is this truck? Which isx? Where are you located? You never know, maybe another member is near you with a laptop.

[jasonlepak]

It's a Cummins ISX 871 sitting in a 2009 Peterbilt 387

I live in Mauston, WI (30minutes north of Wisconsin Dells if you know the area)

I am kinda hoping that it's an injector because I found a company that rebuilds them for $150 each and I was planning on sending the four "older" ones.

That does make sense, although would that fail from using the engine brake?
Like I said... I let the engine brake slow me down while I was hitting an offramp to a truck stop and that's when I noticed the white smoke.

As far as the after treatment system goes, I'm under the impression that sometime had it disabled or whatever because occasionally I'll try doing a forced regen, and nothing happens.. When I go through the mountains with a heavy load or accelerating hard and then stopping somewhat quick, no exhaust temp light like I'm used too from driving the last Freightliner Cascadia I was in.
I haven't actually looked into the canister yet, but everything points to the dpf not even being there. Plus, I have my own little scanner that reads/erases codes and gives me basic data streams... And it' always says that the soot level in the dpf is "low"

On average, does anyone know the dealer cost of a new dozer?

[Nilao]

That is usually an indication of a cracked dpf filter. Also, check your downpipe as it's more than possible it has a hole in it which will give you that smell inside the truck. My friend pops his once a year till he fixed the mandate. The downpipe is the braided Stainless steel one after the turbo.

[snailexpress]

Take a look around after doser clamp next morning if it wet. open the valve cover to check overhead. Mechanics are not proof to human errors. Could be something wrong overhead after injector replacement.
As for parts price. Try to negotiate. Last Saturday I went to local Volvo for cab bushings. He was trying to charge me $102 each. After I told him the online price is $30 and with overnight shipping I have $100 save he dropped price to $42 each.

[jasonlepak]

(03-20-2017 )Nilao Wrote:  That is usually an indication of a cracked dpf filter. Also, check your downpipe as it's more than possible it has a hole in it which will give you that smell inside the truck. My friend pops his once a year till he fixed the mandate. The downpipe is the braided Stainless steel one after the turbo.

I did replace the downpipe already probably 3-4 months ago with new gaskets and clamps.

What I'm going to do tomorrow is start with the injector leak test. If I see no bubbles, I'll pull apart the dozer injector and check my entire exhaust for leaks.
One thing I did do with the exhaust on this truck is I removed the stack and right after the DPF can I just took the top of the stack and band clamped it to the end...
I pull a flatbed and most loads that require a smoke tarp I can get out of if my exhaust is under the truck... The exhaust tip though is about a foot from the front drive axle and is pretty much pointed at the ground... Even when I idle (which I don't do often because I have an APU) I still don't get any exhaust smell inside the cab.

I was planning on doing a complete overhead since I took these next two weeks off, though I was kinda expecting to be replacing fuel injectors.

In any case though, I'll let y'all know what I come up with even if I have to buy my own insite setup since I found an Inline 6 on ebay last night for a decent price... Or I'll find an Inline 5 somewhere.

Thanks for the advice.

[Brock]

My suggestion..... get a damn computer hooked up to it now! How are you gonna find the problem if you don't even know if the mandates intact? Insite will tell you if the doser is firing, it'll give you pretty much everything you need to know about this issue.

[jasonlepak]

(03-21-2017 )Brock Wrote:  My suggestion..... get a damn computer hooked up to it now! How are you gonna find the problem if you don't even know if the mandates intact? Insite will tell you if the doser is firing, it'll give you pretty much everything you need to know about this issue.

Calm down Brock
Take a few deep breaths.

I know I'm here asking for help... But let me tell you about me.
Before I sat in a truck for a living, I was an ASE mechanic for about 12 years.
I know that OE scanners are better than aftermarkets.
I on the other hand like to get my hands dirty by actually looking at everything and doing manual tests before I let a computer tell me what's wrong...
This is how I learn not only how things work, but what it takes to disassemble, inspect and reassemble everything.

As well, I can also afford to let my truck sit and maybe even throw an in-frame at it.
Not that I'm the type to brag, but I've only been driving a year and a half and already made my last payment two weeks ago on a 2009 peterbilt.
While I don't want to get stuck on the side of the road 1,000 miles from home, this isn't exactly a lifestyle to me... It's just something I stuck my foot in to see what it's like.

My only problem is all of my mechanical experience is on cars, light trucks and motorcycles.
All of this DPF crap is new to me and while I can definitely do without it, I do want to learn the hard way on some things because occasionally I learn better that way.

Ps. If it makes you feel better, I just ordered an Inline 6 and am currently installing Insite on my diag laptop. ;)