You guys and gals helped me out with my black smoke and a lot of you suggested replaceing the EGR valve and it cured it.

New problem same F-350 6.0 super duty engine.

It has started blowing out white smoke/steam when started. It clears up after 5 minutes of highway travel.

What do you think the problem may be.

Is it white smoke or is it steam? Big difference there?
What is the general temps at night?

BANDAID said:

You guys and gals helped me out with my black smoke and a lot of you suggested replaceing the EGR valve and it cured it.

New problem same F-350 6.0 super duty engine.

It has started blowing out white smoke/steam when started. It clears up after 5 minutes of highway travel.

What do you think the problem may be.

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It is getting colder outside, and white smoke on start-up is unburned fuel. Sounds fairly normal for a diesel when it is cold outside, once the engine warms to normal temperatrure completer combustion occurs and the unburned fuel & white smoke go away.

Refresh our memories on specifics of your truck, mileage, modifications, repair history?

Did you get the oil leak fixed on your 7.3L?

first thing to do is check your coolant level. take your cap off and look inside the degas bottle becasue the outside can bemisleading. if you have plenty of coolant, mark your level with a sharpie and keep driving and keep an eye on it. if it is low, it may be a egr cooler seeping a little after sitting for a while.

if the coolant level is ok, then it could be white smoke whick to some degree is normal for a diesel depending on ambient air temps (30's or 40's), but if it is higher than that you may have a glow plug issue of some kind.

When my EGR went bad it look like a steam engine. it was leaking coolant in the exhust pipe. my .02

It was cold (45-50) and raining. There was no fuel odor in the smoke, but could have smelled coolant. The white smoke looked a lot like steam vapor.

The coolant bottle appeared empty, then when I unscrewed the cap, air rushed out and coolant returned to bottle. I have had trouble with coolant blowing out of the closed bottle. It appears that the bottle is pressurerized, could this be caused by the turbo?

While driving at 60mph there is no visable white smoke. But when stopping back at the station and strarting to back into bay, the white smoke appeared again and filled up the bay. It cleared up in about a minute.

sounds like you have a egr cooler failed. the egr cooler can cause excess pressure in the cooling system, but majority of the time the head gaskets are to blame for excessive cooling system pressure.

The vehicle has less than 40,000 miles but is a 2004. Any chance there is a recall, or warranty coverage available on this?

To repair egr cooler or head gaskets do they have to remove the cab? This is an ambulance and there are a lot of electrical connections between the cab console and patient compartment.

BANDAID said:

It was cold (45-50) and raining. There was no fuel odor in the smoke, but could have smelled coolant. The white smoke looked a lot like steam vapor.

The coolant bottle appeared empty, then when I unscrewed the cap, air rushed out and coolant returned to bottle. I have had trouble with coolant blowing out of the closed bottle. It appears that the bottle is pressurerized, could this be caused by the turbo?

While driving at 60mph there is no visable white smoke. But when stopping back at the station and strarting to back into bay, the white smoke appeared again and filled up the bay. It cleared up in about a minute.

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Well with the "Rest of the Story" I am with BTH on the problem, egr cooler and/or head gaskets. White smoke only at start-up on a cold engine is much different than white smoke anytime the vehicle slows down.

bowtiehatr said:

sounds like you have a egr cooler failed. the egr cooler can cause excess pressure in the cooling system, but majority of the time the head gaskets are to blame for excessive cooling system pressure.

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the cab will not have to be removed for any repair on the 6.0. removing the cab is the techs preference, some do and some dont. there is no warranty on egr coolers that i know of.

I would be willing to bet they dont pull the cab due to all the connections...
If they do its there responsbility to make sure everything is hooked up and working correctly before the vehicle leaves...

bowtiehatr said:

the cab will not have to be removed for any repair on the 6.0. removing the cab is the techs preference, some do and some dont. there is no warranty on egr coolers that i know of.

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I agree with Bowtie that the cab doesn't have to be removed. My 55 year old back doesn't like the strains like it used to. That "in cab repair" is made for the Dr. Pepper swilling young guys. Oh, the connections in question are removed anyway, cab on or cab off.

I have scheduled a trip to the local Ford dealer for next Thursday. I only hope they have a good diesel mechanic.

I have been thinking about taking it to a local heavy truck shop but I am concerned about any possible warranty or recalls out there for this problem.

I drove it today for a quarter mile and coolant is pouring out of the muffler and tailpipe.

where are you located?

BANDAID said:

I have scheduled a trip to the local Ford dealer for next Thursday. I only hope they have a good diesel mechanic.

I have been thinking about taking it to a local heavy truck shop but I am concerned about any possible warranty or recalls out there for this problem.

I drove it today for a quarter mile and coolant is pouring out of the muffler and tailpipe.

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Ambulance warrenty's have been extended due to a class act settelment, I would check with your local dealer or PM me the VIN # and I can run it for you to check. I work on them every day, is this a truck or a van? If you have coolant coming out the pipe i'd be willing to bet the cooler is shot.

bowtiehatr said:

where are you located?

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We are located 6 miles east of Lynchburg, Virginia on Rt 460. Or 100 miles west of Richmond/Petersburg.

d-kuzmen said:

Ambulance warrenty's have been extended due to a class act settelment, I would check with your local dealer or PM me the VIN # and I can run it for you to check. I work on them every day, is this a truck or a van? If you have coolant coming out the pipe i'd be willing to bet the cooler is shot.

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I will check on the VIN today. This is a F-350 truck.

BANDAID said:

We are located 6 miles east of Lynchburg, Virginia on Rt 460. Or 100 miles west of Richmond/Petersburg.

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well, too far away for me lol.

you have the vin, i can check it for you.