Exhaust smoke

[llamagear]

This is my first Ram. 2019 1500 Bighorn. I was loosing coolant accompanied with thick white smoke from exhaust. The oil cooler was replaced. The coolant problem seems to have been resolved but the exhaust smoke is still there. I live in Indiana and I know the cold temp produces the exhaust smoke. But the last several days the temp was warm enough that I thought the smoke would go away. My question...does this year Ram produce so much condensation in the exhaust system that the smoke is normal or might I still have an internal problem?

 

[mikeru82]

It’s good to provide some information when asking for help. You provided us with year and model, but not which engine you have. Or whether you are the original owner or not. If not, how long have you had the truck? How long have you noticed this smoke?

Cold weather doesn’t cause an engine to smoke, but one could easily mistake what they are seeing for smoke. In cold weather it’s actually moisture being cooked off in the form of steam. And will diminish as the engine and exhaust warm up. If you’re actually seeing smoke you have an issue. One thing that comes to mind is does your truck have a catch can installed either by you or a previous owner? If so it may simply need to be emptied. If not, you might check your pcv valve. The first thing you need to do is determine exactly what you’re seeing coming out of the exhaust.

 

[HemiDude]

Is it possible that there is coolant sitting in your muffler that hasn't burned off? How much driving has occurred since your repair?

 

[Snekpete]

1) Google AI has gotten really good!
2) Thick white coolant smoke cannot be a result of the oil cooler, the only thing the oil cooler can do is leak coolant onto the ground or directly into the oil.
3) Thick white coolant smoke in the exhaust would be a head gasket or similar problem that lets coolant into the combustion chamber.
4) The dealer fixed one problem, the "cooler" leak, but there is probably another one causing the white smoke.
5) This oil "cooler" is more woke idiocy from the RAM managers trying to warm up cold oil to save a few pennies of fuel.

 

[456MORam]

1) Google AI has gotten really good!
2) Thick white coolant smoke cannot be a result of the oil cooler, the only thing the oil cooler can do is leak coolant onto the ground or directly into the oil.
3) Thick white coolant smoke in the exhaust would be a head gasket or similar problem that lets coolant into the combustion chamber.
4) The dealer fixed one problem, the "cooler" leak, but there is probably another one causing the white smoke.
5) This oil "cooler" is more woke idiocy from the RAM managers trying to warm up cold oil to save a few pennies of fuel.





View attachment 212107

Or…. The “oil cooler” is Ram being forced to engineer to Woke Idiocy beyond their control.

That said, I’ve watched my digital temp gauges on a few occasions and it does use coolant temps to regulate high oil temp as required. So I mean if it can heat for efficiency and cool for thermal management, good concept that could have use a more robust integration.

 

[HemiDude]

1) Google AI has gotten really good!
2) Thick white coolant smoke cannot be a result of the oil cooler, the only thing the oil cooler can do is leak coolant onto the ground or directly into the oil.
3) Thick white coolant smoke in the exhaust would be a head gasket or similar problem that lets coolant into the combustion chamber.
4) The dealer fixed one problem, the "cooler" leak, but there is probably another one causing the white smoke.
5) This oil "cooler" is more woke idiocy from the RAM managers trying to warm up cold oil to save a few pennies of fuel.





View attachment 212107

Have to disagree with number 5, as my 2002 Pathfinder had a heat exchanger running through the oil filter housing.