cruddy diesel fuel leading to black smoke?
 

I had to buy diesel at a random no name station over the weekend and now on heavy acceleration (highway on ramps) my truck lets out little small black puffs each time i shift- its never done this before so i'm wondering if it could just be cruddy diesel. my injectors were cleaned and flow tested last July, my injection pump was rebuilt then too and turned down slightly- compression is equal on all cylinders so before i tear the thing apart i thought i'd ask if anyone knows if there are different grades of diesel and maybe i just got a bad batch

or maybe Indiana just sells crappy diesel fuel :rolleyes:

The puffs of black smoke happen when their isn't enough air to mix with the diesel fuel. The black smoke is unburnt diesel fuel. This happens often under hard acceleration.

so its probably not the fuel then? it never did this before

Run some fuel additive cleaner and change the fuel filter. Check air filter. Buy from another station. Etc.

I agree with Angmaar, I started getting this last Autumn without using an unbranded station and found that some of the pipeage from the turbo to the inlet manifold leaked at full boost. It was clear one day and then the next the Merc I had just removed from tailgating was no longer visible - I don't do that any more ;)

A touch of duct / gaffer tape has fixed it temporarily - well for nearly 12 months now. It may be worth giving the pipes a squeeze / pull and see if anything is loose. My gaps were on the reverse side and hard to spot without sticking my head deep into the engine bay.

EDIT - A cleaning additive is worthwhile too, maybe every 3-5 tanks depending on how hard you drive. I use Redex 0-60 which also has Cetane boosters.

changed the fuel filter and cleaned the air filter both of which did help some but the icing on the cake was draining the fuel and buying new- which solved it- Doesn't diesel fuel have to meet some kind of standards? if so this most likely would not, it came out of my tank a brownish blue where usually its a brighter, semi-clear blueish green (its a plastic super clean tank) the brown makes me wonder what the sulfur content is, probably much higher than 15ppm

Howz it running now?

You shouldn't be able to see 15ppm, or even 10x that amount of sulfur content. Sounds like it was a junk fuel load.

Some people go out of their way to make their trucks smoke by changing their fuel maps. Consider it a cool mod :thumbup:

...was that possibly "farm diesel" instead of "automotive diesel" that you got?

The local fuel stations carry on-highway diesel, off-highway diesel (farm fuel), and heating oil. The difference between all 3 is the rate at which they are taxed, and sometimes the color additives. All 3 are the same grade (ULS 15ppm).

I'm not saying he didn't get LS diesel instead, but it shouldn't cause smoke.

I have had this happen from old fuel.
Diesel also comes in different Cetane grades, but that usually causes poor idle and slight loss of performance.

My bet is on old fuel with excessive water in it. I use 'Pri-D' on every fill. PS is good and available at most truck stops.