Help Needed White smoke out the tailpipe and loud knocking

[JRJ04]

Well I thought an oil leak was a problem, i was driving tonight (just put the DP tuner back in) and laid into it (not hard) and then let off and all of a sudden there was a really loud knocking sound and i looked behind me and there was smoke galore.

I pulled over into a parking lot and looked and the smoke was white. I shut the it off and went out and looked and it was still kind of coming out of the tailpipe.

What in the HELL has happened to my truck now? Did I blow a headgasket and now coolant is in the cylinders? Did I throw a rod? God forbid did I crack a head? Something tells me the DP tuner was the culprit. I think I might have to let it go cause Lord knows this repair is gonna kill me.

Someone please help me. I had to get a tow truck to drag it to my house and its going into the shop Monday.

 

[patrickc]

PM sent

 

[JLDickmon]

head gasket maybe, cracked injector cup more than likely.

Dude, I said it before and I'll say it again, if you didn't have bad luck, you wouldn't have any.

 

[straitcountry]

sorry to hear about your truck. I know the bad luck feeling. all 2 of 3 times my truck has had transmission troubles I am on vacation and the third I am about 1.5 hours away.

Jay

 

[Zookie400]

did the smoke smell like maple syrup? that would be a coolant issue.

if it burns and tastes like fuel, i would agree with JL on the injector cup.

 

[JRJ04]

i was honestly so ticked/ scared that i couldnt tell. im gonna go sniff my tailpipe cause it was like steam coming out. My questions now.

how common is it for a 7.3 to have headgasket issues? does the whole cab have to be pulled to replace them like the 6.0?

injector cup...explain a little more if you would. how hard/expensive of a job is that.

finally, do i trash the tuner all together or was this just a coincidence that it happened with it?

 

[JRJ04]

Update

I went out and had a look. No leaks anywhere than I can tell. Oil level seemed ok and oil did not seem to have coolant in it. Coolant leve had dropped significantly, but did not seem to have the smell of oil in it.

Does this point to a HG issue?

 

[DaveBen]

The loud bang has me disturbed. I have not heard of a 7.3 blowing a rod, but there is always the first time. Does it start? Is it knocking loudly? Leave the radiator cap OFF and see if you can feel any gases coming out. That would point to a Head Gasket. I don't know of any test that you can do in the driveway for the Injector Cup. Good Luck, and get a good MANUAL like from www.helminc.com

Dave

 

[JRJ04]

what would casue coolant to drop like that though? who would be willing to guess how much this is going to cost me? under 10 grand, more? should i trash the chip?

 

[DaveBen]

There is no vacuum in the cylinders, so the coolant is not leaking into the cylinders. If the head gaskets were leaking, you would see gases in the coolant. The coolant would outgas into the recovery bottle and overboard. Intake manifold could let coolant into the cylinders and that would cause steam. It would run badly, missing.

Dave