Duramax took up smoking on our latest trip

[restez]

Well with smoking so out of style I can not figure out why my 2003 GMC Duramax took up smoking on our last trip. The engine is stock with no chips ect and about halfway into our last trip I noticed a little smoke coming out of the exhaust while at idle. It seems to dissapear when you rev the engine up. I have been told that this is an injector problem but the truck only has 57000 miles on it. We limped it back to Montana pulling our new Montana tonight, over 3000 miles and smoke is worse now. Motor still runs fine and got fantastic milage with a almost 15000 lb trailer. I am going to have it checked out but their are so many crooks out there that just instantly want to change the injectors at the tune of $3650.00 and up. Any tips out there?
Thanks

[SlickWillie]

So, you are out of the 7 year warranty period also? My son just got all 8 injectors in his 04 LB7 Duramax under warranty at no cost. BTW, there is a guy on diesel place that was attempting to obtain class action status on a law suit against GM over the injectors in those engines.

[steves]

Sounds to me that it is the injectors - just had friend have the same problem and he was given an extended warranty on his 2003 as there was know injector problems that model year. What ever happens it's cheaper to fix than to purchase a new one.

[restez]

Yes, I agree that it must be an injector, I am starting by taking the truck to the dealer to find out exactally what I am looking at. GM needs to do something about these injectors, they know they are crap or they would not have put a 200,000 warranty on them. Well I am pissed right off because mine just turned 57000 miles, barely broke in. Some people have told me that if you get in touch with your GM district manager that they may listen to your woes and assist you in getting the repair done even if it's out of their so called warranty. I will guarantee that if nothing is done it will be the last GM product I will ever buy.

[PapaBeav]

I had all my injectors replaced 2 years ago under the extended warranty program. If you have had your truck for less than seven years I do believe that you are still covered because your mileage is still low enough. As I recall I had a letter that stated that GM extended the warranty for my truck to 7 years or 100,000 miles.

[WorkerB]

Restez,
Go to http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/index.php
You will find lots of helpful info there. It is a forum specifically related to GM Diesel. I have the same trouble. A big contributor is the change to low sulfur fuel. Doesn't have the lubrication the old fuel had. The new fuel is really hard on the close tolerance injectors and fuel pump. Some postings suggest adding fuel additive to improve lubricity. I'm on the road and been using the additive for 2000+ miles and it hasn't helped the smoking but I hope the added lubrication will extend the life of the fuel pump.
I think there is an extended warranty on the injectors to 200K miles. The problem is that some dealers look for an excuse to get out of honoring the extended warranty. Other dealers welcome the work. Good Luck in resolving your problem.
John WorkerB

[mlh]

what other model years of duramax trucks are effected by bad ingjectors.

[PapaBeav]

quote:Originally posted by mlh

what other model years of duramax trucks are effected by bad ingjectors.

From GM:

Models: 2001-2004 Chevrolet Silverado
2001-2004 GMC Sierra
2003-2004 Chevrolet Kodiak
2003-2004 GMC TopKick
Equipped with 6.6L Duramax Diesel (RPO LB7 - VIN Code 1) Engine

Full reply: http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=304674

[indy roadrunner]

I have an 06 and on my last trip I started seeing some black smoke coming out and I have low mileage less than 50000. I bought some Diesel Kleen by Power Service at Walley World and poured in the tank with a fresh load of 40 gal of diesel and it hasn't smoked since and I have ran almost a full tank through it. I also blowed out the air filter but it did not seem that dirty. I'm thinking I had a fouled injector and this additive cleaned it.

[Ed Benson]

My '03 LB7 experienced a misfiring injector at less than 30k miles. My dealer cut to the chase and replaced the full set and informed me of the warrenty extension for the injectors on the LB7's.

I just turned 64k last week - we use this rig for towing mostly - so we don't rack up alot of miles on it. Since the first winter I owned this truck - purchased new - I have been using Power Service additive religiously in the winter - every other tank or so during the warmer months.

Check with your dealers for the warrenty extension - as has been said, just depends how hungry some of them are as to the treatment you will get.

Ed

[restez]

Well I bit the bullet, took the truck to the dealer yesterday and they checked it out. Called me late yesterday afternoon and told me that number 8 cylinder injector was bad. My truck was put into service in early 2003 so the 200,000 warranty does not apply even though it has 56000 miles. I have always used power service additive in mine and it does help from knocking, ect but it does make the fuel much more expensive. They said that they will have my truck done late friday and to bring my checkbook! Well not as bad as I first feared, the tests they did showed all injectors were in great shape except number 8 which was almost not working at all. Hell I didn't even feel a power loss pulling the 35 foot Monty back from Canada. Dent in my wallet $1262.00. I am still hoping that someone gets a class action suit against GM for these faulty injectors because there are a hell of a lot of these Duramax's running around and the dealers are just making a killing changing injectors.

[Tom S.]

quote:Originally posted by restez

Well I bit the bullet, took the truck to the dealer yesterday and they checked it out. Called me late yesterday afternoon and told me that number 8 cylinder injector was bad. My truck was put into service in early 2003 so the 200,000 warranty does not apply even though it has 56000 miles. I have always used power service additive in mine and it does help from knocking, ect but it does make the fuel much more expensive. They said that they will have my truck done late friday and to bring my checkbook! Well not as bad as I first feared, the tests they did showed all injectors were in great shape except number 8 which was almost not working at all. Hell I didn't even feel a power loss pulling the 35 foot Monty back from Canada. Dent in my wallet $1262.00. I am still hoping that someone gets a class action suit against GM for these faulty injectors because there are a hell of a lot of these Duramax's running around and the dealers are just making a killing changing injectors.

Yeah the first thing you want to do is start running around yelling I'm gonna sue you ba$tards.

Actually, the FIRST thing you should do is ask the dealer to set up an appointment so you can speak to the GM Regional Rep. The Rep has the power to waive your costs. If he/she doesn't the next step is to contact GM customer service. And after reading your last post, I will offer some advice: you get more bees with honey than with vinegar. When dealing with warranty and non-warranty issues, be polite. I've done it and got many things fixed that were no longer covered by the warranty, including radios, seat covers (2x), cooler lines and even a camshaft/valve problem.

[NCFischers]

Good advice, Tom. I've always found that the nice but firm approach works best.

[SlickWillie]

I don't think you can put enough sugar or honey on this to get warranty coverage. GM will deny any warranty they can now days, and they are definitely within their rights here. 7 years or 200,000 miles, which ever comes first. Even if still in warranty, they can smoke at idle, and the flow rates can still be within specs where they will not change. There is a way around this, but it wouldn't do any good in this case, so I won't get into it.

But on the other hand, GM has never solved the injector issue on the LB7 engines. They merely prolong your misery. I've read where folks have had the injectors changed at least twice under warranty. Seems some think if GM and Bosch would release the patent on these, someone would design a better injector. I see absolutely nothing wrong with the desire to see class action on this issue.

[Tom S.]

quote:Originally posted by SlickWillie

I don't think you can put enough sugar or honey on this to get warranty coverage. GM will deny any warranty they can now days, and they are definitely within their rights here. 7 years or 200,000 miles, which ever comes first. Even if still in warranty, they can smoke at idle, and the flow rates can still be within specs where they will not change. There is a way around this, but it wouldn't do any good in this case, so I won't get into it.

You are posting based on assumptions and you know what they say about the word 'assume'. GM replaced the leaking transmission lines on my truck a month ago - despite being out of warranty for more than a year - for no charge. I didn't have beg or plead, they just smiled and said, "We need to fix this, and we will". Perhaps GM knows they need to do whatever they can (within reason) to keep customers content. But that's an assumption on my part!

[SlickWillie]

Tom, I would suggest your lines were replaced as the result of a service bulletin (#08-07-30-049A: Transmission Oil Cooler Line Leak (Replace Affected Cooler Line) - (Mar 18, 2009). Surely you read on the forums how many warranty issues are denied? The injectors on the LB7 engines were given an extra 100,000 miles and 2 more years. I recall one of our Canadian members that was denied warranty on the injectors while still under that warranty. If I was a dealer, I would try to get the injectors done under warranty if it was a customer that bought multiple vehicles from me. However, if Joe Citizen walked in my shop, and was not a good customer, I would deny the out of warranty service.

I sure don't feel I am assuming anything. I am glad they changed the leaky lines for you, but even with the TSB, you were most likely an exception rather than the average recipient of out of warranty service.

[restez]

Well got the truck back late Friday and it runs like a dream again. The number 8 injector was bad and they replaced it. All others were still within factory specs. One note though, I have a K&N air filter installed on the truck and the flow meter was broken so appeared ok but needed cleaning very bad. My fault The dealer gave me the GM regional number and a case number so I am going to put on my best behavior and give them a call later this week when she is back in her office. I have been in the service industry for 40 years and know very well that honey works better than vinegar. Will let you know the progress.

[Art-n-Marge]

What about the future injectors? Do you know if the injectors being replaced are any better? While I am happy that restez was able to get the one injector fixed, aren't the other 7 potentially as bad? How much would it have cost to get all 8 replaced? If they are just replacing these injectors with others of the same design and quality, won't you expect to encounter this once again?

Believe me, I am not brand bashing, because with my '06 Ford PSD it has its own set of problems, but when things get fixed I always hope it gets fixed better than it was. I have to leave it to the manufacturer and their representative dealer/service/technician and we all know what that means - pay some $$$s, but we'll be back to pay more $$$ and not all dealer/service/technician are the same.

You gotta have the product but it comes with its problems, you just hope to minimize the cost as much as possible. This has been a very good series of posts so far. You just can't beat gaining knowledge about things from others who are unfortunate enough to be able to pass them on. Thanks all!

[exav8tr]

Art, That is EXACTLY how I feel about the graphics on these rigs. I think I would need some reassurance that the new injectors were an upgrade and not merely the same injectors, just installed at a later date. I have about 52k on my '08 and so far, knock on wood, have not had any engine problems. They did just do a recall on my truck which has, or should I say had, a heated windshield washer fluid container. They had problems with it early on overheating. The fix at the time was to install an inline fuse. Well since then there have been more problems so GM decided to disable the heating portion and in so doing issued me a $100 check. Imagine how I felt, going to a dealer for repair, getting the repair AND getting a check for $100.00. The way I travel, north in summer and south in winter, I would have probably never needed a heated windshield washer fluid reservoir anyway. I feel like I hit a small jackpot!!!! YAHOOOOOOO!!!!!

[Clemson1881]

The new injectors have been improved according to a GM service manager I met camping at Ocean Lakes a couple of years ago. GM discovered the issue near the end of the 2004 model year and had Bosch to improve the durability of the injectors. I was told if your truck was built after March/April of 2004 you're OK. My truck is a 2003, but was built in October of 2002. I have the non-improved injectors. There was a recall issued in late 2004 or early 2005 to have an improved diesel filter installed on the early Duramax engines. I got a recall notice and had it done. The recall letter stated the improved filter would help protect the injectors. One of the main reasons the injectors were splitting was from them getting clogged. These trucks have a high pressure fuel intake. I have changed my filter at 15,000 miles and only used the AC/Delco improved filter. Recently AC/Delco has came out with another better filter. I just put one on last month. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but if I have problems in less than 200,000 miles GM will have a hard time getting me to accept them not taking care of it. They are well aware the injectors in the LB7 engines are not durable enough, and it was a design flaw in my opinion.