Exhaust stack

[merrick4]

For some reason my 1 month old reefer unit is jet black where the exhaust is hitting it . The guy who installed the reefer unit said it shouldn't be that black that it might not be I think he said injecting the mixture right. I asked the dealer but he just looked at me like I had two heads. Now the side of the trailer is getting black too. I look at the trucks going by and most don't seem to be that bad. So I'm wondering if I might have a problem?

Thanks

[Blind Driver]

Are you referring to the exhaust from the reefer or the truck? Blue Beacon can fix that problem for you.

[Blind Driver]

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[merrick4]

Sorry from the truck.

I can't give any advice other than the inside of my stack pipes are clean as a whistle and I never see black smoke. I'm guessing something must be wrong and to take it to another dealer.

[merrick4]

Thanks Steve. I remember you saying that about how clean your stack is so that got me wondering. I'm not having good luck with these shops and was hoping to get a better answer here.

Excuse me Mr. Bob H any help here would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

[no_worries]

You'll see that on a lot of vans going down the road. Especially if the stack is pointed straight back instead of to the side. You have an EGR engine, right? Have the dealer check your EGR valve. When it goes bad you get a ton of black smoke. Also, there are probably a couple of sensors. I don't know specifically what Detroit has, my Cummins has two that are related to the EGR. When those get dirty or start to go bad the EGR valve won't operate correctly, and again you'll get black smoke. The first generation of EGR engines was notorious. They've gotten better, but from what I've heard, if you've gone 300,000 miles without having to replace the valve, you're on borrowed time. Any dealer should be able to diagnose the problem, although, as you know, I'm partial to the engine manufacturer as opposed to the truck maker for any engine problems.

[merrick4]

Hey no_worries thanks a lot, I really appreciate that. Just out of curiousity, when you say on borrowed time, what happens when they fail?

Thanks

[no_worries]

When the EGR valve fails you'll have black smoke pouring out of the exhaust and you'll experience a drastic loss of power. It will act a lot like a clogged fuel filter. You'll be able to limp along but I do mean limp. From what I've been told you're not damaging the engine when this happens, so that's a small consolation.

This happens with a complete failure. There should be signs leading up to this. You really should get some fault codes leading up to it and you should notice increased smoke from the exhaust...if you can see yours.

[bob h]

Thanks Steve. I remember you saying that about how clean your stack is so that got me wondering. I'm not having good luck with these shops and was hoping to get a better answer here.

Excuse me Mr. Bob H any help here would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

if it's an isx, it may require a software update. the dealer will know by checking your engine serial # and the ecm software revision #

as was already mentioned, a stuck egr valve will also load the stack with soot, but, it's usually accompanied by a check engine light