white smoke! runs rough! ????

[7t9cobra]

i was cruising to work and it started to run rough, like it was running out of fuel. white smoke started pouring out the stack and it kept running rougher and rougher until it died. i fired it up and it did the same thing. the check engine light came on while this happened too. then i let it sit and i check under the hood for anything unussual and i find nothing. i fire it up and it runs fine. wtf??? EOT sensor??? with the white smoke i would say its timing, but i could be wrong. any ideas??
thanks
jeff

[Mach_1]

This happened to me about a month ago, when you start it does it idle normal and only run rough when you give it some gas? this is what mine did and it was the exhaust pressure sensor, there is a solid line with a "B" nut that comes off of the exhaust manifold, mine was on the left side not sure about yours, anyway the line came loose and this would not let the turbo spool up which caused a lot of white smoke from the exhaust, the turbo wouldn't spool and it ran like ****. I had a buddy that was under the hood while I was on the throttle he found it by checking for hot exhaust blowing in the engine compartment, Hope this helps.

[7t9cobra]

it ran rough at an idle. it is something electronic. when you coast downhill and barily touch the throttle, you can here the injectors. when it ran like **** i listened to the injectors and could here them missing. the check engine light was on too.

[cchase]

could be a UVC wire harness, they tend to get messed up and make the truck act goofy, I would pull the codes

[badyota82]

Sounds like your IDM (Injector Driver Module) could be going bad. This is very similar to what mine did. It started running rough, no power, a**load of white smoke, turbo wouldn't spool. Has it done it again since?? Your IDM is essentially what controls your injector timing as it recieves a signal from the computer, and then in turn send a signal to the injector to fire. Thats how it was explained to me. Mine shut down one whole side of the motor. 2-4-6-8 all dead! Replaced it with one out of a low mileage truck and viola, runs like a champ again! Hope this helps!!

[7t9cobra]

it did it again this morning. its only after its been running for about 10 minutes and then i drive it for a mile. then it starts to act up until it gets warmer, then it runs fine. its only at a certain temp. my oil pressure gauge started working since the problem started also. it never worked before. well......by working, i mean, it says it has pressure at idle, but it says the pressure drops as the RPMs go up. soooo.......ahhh! im stumped. pulling codes wont do any good unless i run them when the problem is occuring. is their a way to jumper the self test unit with a wire and a test light, instead of buying a scanner? i know on my 2.3T with the eec- IV system, i dont need a scanner. so is it the same way?
thanks guys
jeff

p.s. i know what its like to have the engine running on 4 cylinders. the plug for the injectors on one side of my engine came unplugged a long time ago. i thought i messed something up LOL