[mark1234]

Need some advice.


I have a 2002 2500HD, with 320,000 miles. The other day it started smoking from the vent tube, and has a diesel or oil smell. I took it to the dealer, and they said the pressure to the injectors all read correctly, and no check engine codes were tripped. The tech felt it was probably a bad O-ring or gasket? (I don't remember what he exactly said.) He did say it would cost at least $7,000 and it wasn't worth it to fix. He also said he thought the truck could last another season or so, and to just keep an eye on the oil level. After leaving the dealer, I've noticed the fuel economy has dropped off, and it is starting to burn oil.

Not sure about the tech's recommendation, and was wondering if other people have experienced similar problems. Also, how difficult is it to fix? How many hours can I expect to pay a shop to fix this? Or is something I can undertake myself? If I can't get much for it on trade in, I would be tempted to just keep it to work on myself.

 

[AFMAX01]

Did they check compression? it should be about 350 per cylinder but your ok if its at least over 300, any less then that it is probably a blown gasket. If its high like 400, i would check your injectors again. Also if you do have an injector causing higher compression it is usual to see another cylinder showing slightly lower compression due to the engine trying to comp the high cylinder. Any bubbles or high pressure in your coolant? Balance rate numbers can be deceiving sometimes.

 

[mark1234]

Unfortunately, I do not know the numbers of the test. He simply said everything was good.

Is compression something that I can check?

 

[AFMAX01]

yeah you can check it yourself. Remove the glow plugs and thats where you plug in to test it. I want to say the dealer will usually charge about $200 for them to do it, you can buy the kit from Harbor Freight for about $20-$30, and you get to keep it! ha. Be careful taking out your glow plugs, would also be a good time to inspect and check the operation of your glow plugs too but it you arnt having issues with those you dont really need to do that. Not to knock the tech who did the work or anything but it sounds like he was trying to keep it cheap for you and just didn’t run the compression when it sounds like you really do need that done just to make sure your engine is good. If you have a bad head gasket, piston, or rings it will show in the compression test and you will have excess blow by from your crankcase (vent tube). But some smoke out of your vent tube is normal

 

[mark1234]

Ok. I'll check the compression and report back. The truck starts fine and runs fine except for the smoke.

I stopped at the dealer asking about trade in value, and they said maybe a couple thousand dollars. For that amount, I'm inclined to keep the truck and just work on it myself.