6.4 woes

mn_sclb

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My 6.4 has been ... being a 6.4 and I'm a little confused on what is happening. It all started a week ago, when I got my mini maxx. I flashed with hd300 lbf @ 3 all the standard jazz. On the first start after the flash I started it back up (it had been running for 3 hours before) it sounded like it was running on 4 cylinders... injector clack similar to that of a 7.3 and LOADS of white smoke. Scared the crap out of me so I shut it down and waited 30 secs then restarted, it started perfect and idled like a top.. hmmmm.

Over the next couple of days on cold starts it would have a little vibration for the first 10 secs on start up.. no CEL, but just being cautious if pull codes and find cyl 1 & 2 balance, cleared and waited to come back but it never would until the next cold start.
The vibration was accompanied by white smoke, that would eventually calm down into a haze.

I've been monitoring it pretty closely. 4.8k was the rail pressure at idle. That stayed very consistent and wouldn't really fluctuate, and if it would it'd usually go to 5.3 for a fraction of a sec. EGT at idle was about 360 after driving in my normal fashion. ECT never got hotter than 196 Ever, and EOT was always 2-3 degrees hotter.

Now getting into the real issue... last night I stopped at a gas station to grab snacks lol and left the truck running (my fault for getting relaxed with it) and was in there BSing for 5 or so mins with someone. While paying for my items I look out of the window to see the truck BILLOWING smoke.. I quick threw my money at the cashier and ran out to the truck, and it's doing the exact same thing it was doing when I first tuned it. Quick shut it off and took a moment to see what the minimaxx was logging. Peak egt 380, last recorded rail pressure 4.8... hmmmm. Turn it back on, completely normal idle aside from a VERY small misfire that could only be felt if I sat in the truck and didn't move a muscle.

Drove it home (2 miles from home) and parked it. Went out today and tried to start it today. Fired right up, still had the slight miss but that evened out after about 30 secs and never came back. Now it's back to idling like a top & everything looks normal on my mini, actually EGTS are 80degrees cooler (only let it warm up to 130) . Blowby is about the same as it was in the "6.4 tick" thread, the haze now has turned into a fog. I went to go smell it.. and I actually thought I needed and eye wash station it burned that bad. Like breathing it made me feel like I was going to vomit, and had a sharp Kerosene note to it.

The truck has been VERY reliable and a strong runner, but I knew what I was buying with it lol. Someone put my mind at ease, if any of this sounds familiar. Thanks -RJ


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mn_sclb

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Things I've tried: I put 12v to the starter lead- cranked consistently. 1 cyl did sound faster than the others but it was so slight you could barely tell by ear.

I also started it last night @ 1am and it had a very clear 1-2-3-4-5-6-7- -1-2-3-4-5-6-7 . Shut it off, turned it back on, gone and idling normal.

I was thinking injectors the whole time, but that skip made me think mechanical failure (which shouldn't be possible to disappear within 10 secs of a key cycle) wouldn't an injector show on my rail? Or pw? (That was the only pic that very rapidly fluctuated)


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mn_sclb

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Never actually set off a CEL. Only soft codes. Coolers are gone. Butterfly had to stay since it was ******d with GEARBOX-Z


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sootie

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how many miles on it?

if you take the oil fill cap off with it running, is it a steady stream or a puff-puff-puff in time with the engine.

Whats your oil level like-overfull?

it could very well be injectors but not necessarily.
 

mn_sclb

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330,170

It's definitely a puff, but has no real pressure. https://youtu.be/UtDvUGnbVWA I'd say since I recorded this, it's become 5% worse

Oil level is okay, actually maybe half a qt to a qt low (it leaks , and over the coarse of a month-or-two it's hard to see such a small amount on it)


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sootie

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do a compression rest. you may have a piston issue. (if you have access to IDS, do relative compression and see what it says)

If no compression issue:

Remove your cps and take a small screwdriver and see if your tone ring has broken off the crank. I have seen it where trucks will have symptoms similar to yours and only freak out if the truck idles for too long. If the tone ring is bent (so the sensors cant read the whole revolution) or the tack weld that holds it to the crank is broken, it can cause this.

(if you have access to IDS, go to the power balance screen and hit the hashtag at the top of each injector. this will turn compensation of and it shouldn't go into "freak out" mode)
 

mn_sclb

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Ahhh I think we're getting somewhere . It did throw a code (I think) it pertains to what you just said . It was just weird to me so I figured it wasn't important. I don't remember the number but I remember the description on my mini being along the lines of "GM Crank position signal A" looked it up and didn't find anything (for fords) so I cleared it, that came back several times in a day. But finally stopped the next day


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mn_sclb

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Small semi update: changed tunes last night and turned Lbf to 1 took the truck to a buddy's shop (20 or so miles) EGTs did seem higher I'd touch 550 accelerating to 45 (but I could just be worrying) it didn't misbehave until the last mile or so. Pulled codes (again no CEL) no misfire codes but there was a p1366. At that point, we did fuel filters, drained the tank and refilled with Fresh fuel. Started.. idle was a little choppy but that smoothed out, the fog has tuned back into the "wisp" it always had. The normal diesel smell is starting to return and it no longer burns my eyes.
I ordered 2 injectors as a back up so if this doesn't help, then I'll check out that ckp, then next week we'll pull out #1 & #2 and do a compression test from there.

Edit: I don't plan on continuing to drive it if the problem returns, I just had get real info from when it was happening (and not surprised by it lol)


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sootie

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did you cut the upper fuel filter apart and see if there were any sparkles?
 

mn_sclb

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Update: changed #2. It revs better and returns to idle better. Also the tick is gone. But still smokes.

So I figured out how to make it re occur, basically if you start the truck after sitting overnight (ect 45-50) it runs perfect and does not smoke.

If you let it idle to warm up once the ect gets to 85-90 you can audibly hear the idle change then the smoke starts.. it starts as a wisp, then gets more and more as the truck warms up.

Once up to full operating temp (ect 185) the smoke happens when the truck idles, once you get moving you get one big POOF of smoke (depending on how long it's been idling) then clears up again until you're at a red light for more than 15 seconds again.

I've been watching it for the past couple of days and it won't always freak out, but today it did. The only thing in common between them is that is at EXACTLY 80 degrees.

So I took pictures of right when it started to, when it went full retard.
36f9b7aa7149e868abf73f013f342368.jpg
847a4c93fc434e2b589ac9cf865bb0e5.jpg
20a363deec73610e347ea8321167a9f2.jpg
0f4f5d45e770141d9f4c0d6d1d0d0389.jpg
bd7cbebb496e47870160fa3e0a553b02.jpg
d27f009f57d55ff73bcd38f17e2eb4ec.jpg
this is all within 60 seconds of each other.
 
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mn_sclb

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@AOD yeah I figured. At this point I just want real stuff to look at for others who might having similar probs.

I did #2 in 3 hours. I kinda looked at the #1 bank and was wondering if the AC canister had to come out ?


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