Gray smoke from exhaust Gen 1

[gfern158]

Hello, im brand new here and was looking at purchasing my first Raptor. The Raptor in question is a 2013 with 28,000 miles on it and aside from the following issue it appears it have been well taken care of. The issue is this, a moderate amount of dark gray smoke coming from the exhaust. The truck runs fine, accelerates good and is not making any odd noises. Also there we’re no codes thrown. I know there could be a number of different reasons this could be happening but I thought I check in with the experts to determine if this is a somewhat common problem with an easy fix or if the engine will most likely need to be rebuilt. One way or the other it could give me an idea of how much to offer if I choose to take the risk. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[MurderedOutSVT]

Depending on the grayness of the smoke and without seeing it, first things that come to mind are

1, oil in the combustion chamber
2, water in the combustion chamber

 

[The Car Stereo Company]

Depending on the grayness of the smoke and without seeing it, first things that come to mind are

1, oil in the combustion chamber
2, water in the combustion chamber

equals valve cover or head gasket........

hopefully not

 

[CoronaRaptor]

Good luck on your purchase, hope you do some research with builders before hand, it's expensive to rebuild these motors atm because of parts shortages, very rare to even find a rebuilt engine. The heads and associated parts are hard to find for the Raptor engine if they are damaged (warped head, etc). I would get it checked out before hand or get it for 10k less than what you think it is worth. Keep us posted on what you do.

 

[gfern158]

Thanks for the reply’s everyone. I think this is one of those hope for the best prepare for the worst scenarios. I’m debating on making an offer of 40k only because the truck itself appears to be a garage kept 27k mile truck.

 

[MurderedOutSVT]

Pop the oil fill cap and see what lies beneath. If tjere is any sign of anything resembling chocolate milk or chocolate pudding, that is a dead give away to a head issue

 

[CoronaRaptor]

Thanks for the reply’s everyone. I think this is one of those hope for the best prepare for the worst scenarios. I’m debating on making an offer of 40k only because the truck itself appears to be a garage kept 27k mile truck.

Well, obviously the seller knows there's an issue right? He/she doesn't think it smokes like that for no reason, I hope. Sounds like a good buy, if no major parts are needed, should be a grand to fix properly.

 

[Ruger]

White smoke means water in the combustion chamber, and that means a head gasket failure. White = steam. The pressure in the cooling system far exceeds that elsewhere in the engine, so that pressure forces coolant to go where it's not supposed to. @MurderedOutSVT suggests you pop the oil cap and assess the condition of the oil. I'd do that. I think that will be most revealing when the engine is hot. You might ask for a test drive, and then do that under the hood. I'd take along a pistol or rifle cleaning rod with a small bit of clean rag on the end.

That (above) is the traditional pre-magic-coolant, polyethylene glycol era. I have no idea what color smoke the new orange coolant produces. @FordTechOne probably knows.

Blue smoke - and this is true whether it's dyno juice or synthetic oil - indicates the engine is burning oil. That indicates a likely valve guide/valve seal problem, and less likely a piston ring problem. With only 28K on the clock, this seems unlikely unless the engine has been run low on oil or otherwise abused. I think that a compression test on each of the cylinders will reveal if this is the problem, but again this possibility seems unlikely given the relatively low mileage. I have almost 94,000 miles on my 2011 and it makes no smoke.

A head gasket replacement is less expensive than an engine rebuild. If this engine needs anything beyond a head gasket, I wouldn't make the purchase. Personally, I am adverse to spending my hard-earned money to buy somebody else's problem.

 

[gfern158]

If I didn’t mention the truck is out of state so I’ve been dealing with third party inspections including two separate mechanics and the service center at the dealership (which I take with a grain of salt due them being the ones selling) additionally during my investigation I was able to track down the original owner who happened to work at the Ford dealership and stated there were no problems with the truck whatsoever and he took meticulous care of it. Guy said he traded it in back in august where it ended up being auctioned. I received a video of it running and idling as well as photos of the oil cap valve cover all of which appeared good and no smoke coming from exhaust. I’m hoping this was just the cold weather causing the smoke appearance in the pic. One way or the other if I decide to pull the trigger it won’t be without a warranty. Thanks again for the help everyone

 

[MurderedOutSVT]

If its a cold start in the cold weather, should be no issue. That smoke/staem/condensation would clear up with a quickness after it was cranked