Blue Smoke Blues...Thoughts?

[Diabolic]

I have a 97 Powerstroke, and yes I realize this isnt the obs section, but I have E-Fuel, spider with intercooler, Upgraded HPOP, 160/30 Injectors, and a KCTP38R Turbo. I figure it's more like a newer Powerstroke 7.3 than an obs Powerstroke 7.3. I'm getting a light haze of white then blue/gray smoke when the truck is under a load, say 10psi, and lugging at lower 1500ish rpm. It does clear up once the boost hits 15-20 psi and it nears 2600-3300 rpm. It also has a really strong odor of fresh burnt motor oil when it blows the blue/gray smoke.

At wot the ICP pressure looks great at 2500-3500, IPR% is 38-40, fuel pressure is 55 psi. I pulled the downpipe and its sooty black and dry as a bone. I flipped the oil cap and it just lightly vibrates, but when removed it does have a steady stream of blowby smoke, 300,000 miles. The Provent 200 catch can will gather about 1-1.5 quarts of oil every 3000 miles. It has no oil leaks, and runs like a champ. On cold mornings 50 or below, it will fire right up, shake for 4-5 seconds then smooth out. White smoke heavy for 8-10 seconds then just a light haze of white for 1-2 mins. If I plug it in at night, I get just a very small puff of white smoke. I have checked the fuel filters and there is no oil in the diesel. I'm stumped here. Maybe valve guides? Turbo has about 1600 miles on it. I'm certain its burning oil because of the smell when it blows the smoke.

 

[Arisley]

How old are the injectors and who built them.

 

[Diabolic]

2 years and 3 months with 33,000 miles. Full Force Injectors.

 

[psduser1]

Oil rings are toast. Quart+ in the catchcan in 3k miles is a lot!

 

[Diabolic]

Oil rings huh? Other than the smell and oil in the catch can, any harm driving it like that?

 

[psduser1]

Other than using excessive oil, no.
Some guys have had injector issues, in the past with injector prongs, poorly built injectors, etc., which I think arisley was getting to, but imo, with those miles, and the amount of oil in the catchcan, I'd lean towards a looser bottom end, lol.

 

[Diabolic]

I may just live with that. It’s alwats 2.5 quarts low at 3000 mile oil changes. 1quart in the catch can and the rest burned or dripping from the dipstick. I just fixed the dipstick leak so it may end up 2 quarts low. Makes 40 pounds of boost with the KCTP38R , bellowed up pipes, and the 160’s. I’ll start saving for a rebuild.

 

[Arisley]

Might want to do a compression test to verify. 300K is getting up there in miles but not that bad. My truck had 380K on it when I sold it and still had good compression.

 

[dmd]

Why would you let it get low on oil and not just add some?

If mine is down a quart I add one, it is part of maintaining a vehicle.

 

[Diabolic]

I dump the oil from the catch can back into the engine. I always fill it with 4 gallons or just a little over full. I don’t see being a quart low hurting anything.

 

[psduser1]

Might want to do a compression test to verify. 300K is getting up there in miles but not that bad. My truck had 380K on it when I sold it and still had good compression.

Absolutely accurate.
Compression rings and oil rings don't do their respective jobs the same way, though, which is why an engine can have a good compression test, and still burn excessive oil.

 

[Diabolic]

Ok, so something new today. I ran a buzz test and all passed, cyl contribution test and all passed. In total it sat at idle for 15-20 mins. I jump in and drive off under light but sprites acceleration. Huge cloud of what looks like white smoke. I let off then slowly rolled back on the throttle and no more smoke. This was a large plume of smoke. Would it pass the cyl contribution test twice in a row with low compression?

 

[Arisley]

I dump the oil from the catch can back into the engine. I always fill it with 4 gallons or just a little over full. I don’t see being a quart low hurting anything.

Don't reuse the oil in the catch can, that crap is used up.

 

[Arisley]

Why would you let it get low on oil and not just add some?

If mine is down a quart I add one, it is part of maintaining a vehicle.

If I ran mine full, it would use a quart in about 500 miles, if I ran it a quart low, it would stay a quart low for 5000 miles. So when I did an oil change, I only put 14 quarts in it.

 

[lincolnlocker]

Oil rings are toast. Quart+ in the catchcan in 3k miles is a lot!

Yep... but the ccv also helps seal the motor when sucked back to the intake.

I dump the oil from the catch can back into the engine. I always fill it with 4 gallons or just a little over full. I don’t see being a quart low hurting anything.

For the love of god dont dump that chit back in the engine.. is the ccv routed back to tge intake? What oul are you using?

live life full throttle

 

[dmd]

A quart low is below the hatched lines? The hatched lines are in the normal range. Maybe
he means it is in the normal range but not to the MAX line.

Mine too will burn the top quart if full, but I never run it low. Always in the normal
range.

Mine goes through two quarts between 5000 mile changes. I add a quart around 3000
miles to keep it in the normal hatched zone. Been like that since new. Doest smoke
though.

 

[psduser1]

Ok, so something new today. I ran a buzz test and all passed, cyl contribution test and all passed. In total it sat at idle for 15-20 mins. I jump in and drive off under light but sprites acceleration. Huge cloud of what looks like white smoke. I let off then slowly rolled back on the throttle and no more smoke. This was a large plume of smoke. Would it pass the cyl contribution test twice in a row with low compression?

Sure.
The big puff of smoke is from the idle time. Excessive fuel (engine oil) in the cylinder. Jump on the throttle, cylinder pressure spikes, and all the fuel gets burnt at once. Wah-la, puff of smoke, and the cylinder is clean again.

 

[Diabolic]

The oil in the can still looks clean with no water in it. I wonder why it’s loading up with fuel now? It’s really runs smooth. I’m going to check compression this weekend.

 

[psduser1]

The oil rings aren't doing as good of job keeping the oil scraped off the cylinder wall at idle, and the cylinder wall isn't hot enough for the oil to flash, until you actually jumped on the throttle a bit. Cylinder temps rise, pressure rises, and the engine oil is burnt off. When I typed excessive fuel, I was referring to engine oil that is not being removed by the oil rings, not actual diesel fuel.
Another source of excessive oil consumption can be worn valve guides.

 

[Diabolic]

So what’s the consensus about the Prvent 200 I have? I removed it last night and all my bluish smoke has gone away along with the burning oil smell. I’m wondering if it isn’t a restriction and increasing my crankcase pressure.