03' 6.0 - grey smoke, rough idle and black soot

[wiseman4]

I have an 03’ Excursion, purchased in May of 2003. Which, according to every forum I’ve read means I have a pre May 2003 6.0 diesel and I get the impression that can be a bad thing. I have had the usual warranty items replaced: one turbo, 2 fuel injectors and several computer code upgrades (I know this is minor compared to others, but I won’t get into the two times I had the Rear Diff. partially rebuilt by Ford). We took a 2800 mile trip from Colorado to Seattle and started with 99,700 miles on the odometer. On the return leg when I was about 40 miles from my house I started seeing medium grey smoke in the mirror (not as dark or as thick when compared to the smoke from the bad fuel injectors). I pulled in the driveway and noticed the at-rest idling exhaust sound was now doing a “thumph, thumph, thumph” sound, instead of the normal diesel purr. After letting it set for a few days I started it and it still does the “thumph, thumph” sound for a minute or two between 4-5 minutes of purring. I have started it several times since then (still starts great) and it’s still the same thing. I have noticed that each time I start it I have fine black soot, like black baby powder, shoot out the exhaust and onto my garage floor. During the trip I averaged over 19 mpg and had no problems until I was 40 miles from the house. Each fuel stop was at a name brand, typically a Flying J truck stop. Other items of interest: I had Ford change the oil just prior to leaving, all fluids are still normal, temperature changed with each state we went through on the way back – in the 60’s in Oregon to below freezing and 10” of snow in Wyoming, then back to the 60’s in Colorado. The only time we stopped on the return trip was for food and fuel, 1400 miles and 20+ hours. I know that it is at least one revision behind on the computer code, the code I have is the one that makes it “buzz” for 30 seconds after turning it off. I have a short video clip (with sound of course) of the exhaust doing the “thumph, thumph” thing that I can email if that will help. Before someone gets on the Dodge Cummins bandwagon, let me remind you that Dodge does not make an Excursion equivalent. Any feedback would be appreciated.

[westcoaststrokin]

Well you are not going to get any bandwagon stuff on this site. I would love to help but I are pretty diesel stupid. I will however keep this thread bumped until you start getting some sort of response. Oh and by the way to the ORG!!

[westcoaststrokin]

Bumpin for ya.

[shu873]

Welcome to the forum man. We've got some pretty knowledgeable techs that run around on this site, hopefully one'll be along soon to help you out!

[LTJDS]

Bump 4 ya, have you been able to rent a scan tool and see if she is throwing any codes ??
Welcome

[mschn99]

Honestly..the problem sounds like a dead injector to me....the first 03's were netorious for this. Smell your oil on the dipstick...if you smell any fuel....or notice its over full...DONT DRIVE IT.....

have codes pulled and see whats there...and did you go over 100k on your trip?? (asking if it could be under warranty still)

[Blue01F250]

Yeah - he definately went over the 100K on the trip - started the trip w/300 miles left and went 1400 miles one way....


Welcome to the ORG! glad you have you and hopefully you'll get your Ex back up and running soon!

[wiseman4]

Thanks everyone for the quick response. I didin't know I could even rent the tool for the codes, I'll check into that. The oil level is still full, but I'll verify it's not over-full and smell it for fuel. Current mileage is equal to "murphys law", about 102,500!

[Blue01F250]

yah - that always sucks - i'm at 94K - but is an 01 so no more warranty for me....

[wiseman4]

I smelled the oil, it just wasn't that obvious to me. I tried blowin' my nose between sniffs of each (kinda like a self calibration), but I don't think I smelled fuel in the oil. I even took the oil fill cap off and stuck my nose down it, didn't really smell a diesel fuel smell. I never noticed if diesel oil smells different then gas engine oil. I still change the oil on both of my gas trucks, just haven't started with the diesel. I looked at the oil level and it does look a little over, but then again I didn't see what it was when I left for the trip. I have just been trusting the Ford mechanics to not overfill it. Every time I have checked the oil level it is always full and I've never seen an oil drop under it. What's the typical cost to rent a scan tool to check for codes? Do you rent them by the hour or by the day? I’ll sniff the oil again another day.