I hotshot & I have alot of people ask me what I do about sleep since DOT doesn't allow us (truckers under DOT rule) to sleep in the truck (3500)because minimum room length wise is 75". I tell them "personally", I have to get a hotel room every night. I have had ALOT of hotshot to ask me why their trucks smoke so much the next morning after idleing all night.

Question: Some hotshots say that they do sleep in their trucks BUT, when they leave the next morning, (some say imediately, some say about 5 minutes after getting on the road) thier trucks smoke like a frieght train. I have seen this. Some say its really bad to the point of not being able to see the traffic behind them. Some say its smokes bad but not as bad as that.

Atleast 100 people have asked me about this & what causes it & does it hurt ANYTHING? I personally don't know what to tell them. Any help on this? :badidea: ??????????

fuel washing of cylinder walls? try installing manual high-idle and setting it up to 1100 or so during the night.

I will guess at it.

It's probably white smoke, and the engine probably runs just fine while it doing it.

A byproduct of burning fuel is water vapor. Perhaps it is condensing in a cool area of the exhaust system, and when you take off, you build up heat in the pipe and boil it out.

I will guess at it.

It's probably white smoke, and the engine probably runs just fine while it doing it.

A byproduct of burning fuel is water vapor. Perhaps it is condensing in a cool area of the exhaust system, and when you take off, you build up heat in the pipe and boil it out.

Very plausible theory but, I once had to spend the night in mine and let it idle for the heat. WOT on the freeway ramp and it put out lots of black smoke for about half a mile then was fine. Doing the same with the car several times in winter produced white steam but the truck was black smoke I saw in the sunlight. Soot collecting in the exhaust system with the low speed and pressure of the exhaust at idle? Interesting question and I'd sure like to know just how damaging, if at all, prolonged idling is. Ideas?

Hmmm...

Cat does not get hot enough to burn off the carbon, and when you finally light the cat off, it smokes?

There is something called "wet stacking" that happens to some diesels when idled for prolonged periods, but I do not know much about it, nor whether it applies to our trucks.

Actually, I dont know about every one, but I do recall some saying it was white smoke. The one time I seen it, it was white also. I thought the guy blew a gasket. I really thought the guy lost an engine.

I would really like to hear what everyone with an opinion thinks or knows about this, as well, if it is harmfull to the engine or any componates.

If we let the boats at work idle for a long time they will smoke white, which is fuel for a few minutes or until running wide open.

Diesel boats, right? Maybe just my truck but I'm quite sure it was black. The first think that crossed my mind was wondering if it would clog or overheat the CAT. Also if I putt around town at 25mph for a while, engine fully warm, then hit the highway at WOT, I kick out black smoke for a about 10 seconds. Pull off the interstate, fill up, pull back on the ramp at WOT and no smoke. Normal? Build up in exhaust system? Have seen video of McRat driving and he leaves lots of smoke - blue colored that seemed to emanating from the back wheel wells.:D

"Wet stacking" sounds the best to me! All diesels will do this. Without a fast idle, as the motor cools not all fuel is burned, it hangs around in the exhaust manifold and the chambers, that is untill one hits the highway and heats it up. I've seen this in my trucks and the big rigs after idling for extended periods. A few miles and it's cleaned up. In the articles I've read about it, they say as for wear and tear, it's the same as running down the road. 8hrs of idle shows the same wear as 8 hrs motivating down the road. Hey, sometimes you just gotta do it! Beats a froze up diesel on a frosty morn in the middle of (insert your nightmare here)! Beats a sleepy day of cruising the desert too! IMHO of course!:blahblah:

We let ours run all night on a regular basis. We have never seen the smoke, but sometimes they are running a little rough in the morning. A few miles down the road and the engine is back purring like a kitty.:)

Ever looked at the turbo after all that idling? Does it leak a little? I just wondered because a couple times we've left a tractor idling for a long time, trying to jump another vehicle or because we got sidetracked, and you come back to the turbo leaking oil. As soon as you rev it up it quits. It seems that it can cool enough to increase the tolerances and allow oil by.

Yes we did notice a lot of oil. PCV relocate seems to have taken care of that.:)

1 hour of idling = aproximately 33 miles on any internal combustion engine...

From what I have heard, it usualy doesn't last very long. To the best of my understanding from some who have mentioned it, the white smoke doesn't last over 2 to 5 minutes. I can't say for sure but thats the impression I get/assume/understand.
I dont know about the turbo leaking.
I feel confident that the mystery has been solved but, just for additional info anybody else have thoughts on this? Or maybe had a problem because of it? Tell us your thoughts, opinions &/or experiances.
Good job guys, I atleast have some knowledge that I can pass on to others as well.

rick do you use highidle?

It is the fuel hanging around in the com. chamber. Is a diesel idles it cools off rapidly, therefore some of the fuel is not burned and it hangs around.


Nar, it is strange that your tractor does that as we leave our heavy equipment idling for extended periods (sometimes 8 hrs or more) and I nor the mechanics have ever noticed oil leaking around the turbo.

rick do you use highidle?

No, but sometimes in the winter the engine will cool off enough to trigger the ECM's high idle warm up feature. Usually it will wake you up when it does.:)

I read an article somewhere a while back that talked about idling diesel engines for extended periods of time, and IIRC, the gist of the article was what many have concluded here already. The idling diesel engine will cool off so much that not all of the fuel is burned completely. This will result in the unburned fuel collecting in various places, and when the engine heats up, you see the smoke. Can't remember what color it would be, but it makes sense to me that it would be white, much like the smoke that you see when you first start a diesel engine in the cold.

The smoke is probably related to wet stacking. Wet stacking in very harmful to a diesel engine especially over time. As I understand it, unburned fuel coats the cylinder walls and two harmful things happen. One, fuel is not a good lubricant and therefore your piston rings are experiencing more wear and two, excess fuel makes its way into the crankcase and dilutes the oil. Also, running an engine for longer periods of time below normal operating temperature could cause sludge buildup problems.

A long low idle here and there isnt going to do much or any damage, but adding a fast idle will probably be best. Fast idling greatly reduces the effects of wet stacking and also helps keep the engine temperature up. I remember someone did a check to see how much fuel our engines use on fast idle (PTO fast idle, "cold" fast idle probably uses more) and they came up with 1.6 gallons per hour, just FYI.

rick i thought you lost your kitty or was it you were looking for one:rolleyes:

No kitty, most of the time!):h