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White smoke?

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Location
Illinois
Vehicle
2020 Explorer ST
#1
Sat and had my RTD read my cars file. Afterwards i went to start the car and it sounded like a pretty rough start with a ton of smoke from the exhaust. First time its done this. Anyone have anything similar?
 

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Location
San Francisco
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2022 ST
#2
What kind of white smoke?
That is to say, did it smell like coolant, or FUEL?

If fuel got dumped into the cylinder, a coil pack didnt fire, the ECU went too rich, etc, thatd give the result.
(When Fuel gets tossed right into the exhaust it will be white)
 

OP
J
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Illinois
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2020 Explorer ST
Thread Starter #3
What kind of white smoke?
That is to say, did it smell like coolant, or FUEL?

If fuel got dumped into the cylinder, a coil pack didnt fire, the ECU went too rich, etc, thatd give the result.
(When Fuel gets tossed right into the exhaust it will be white)

It didnt seem to have a distinct smell, all fluid levels look alright. Is it possible that the ignition cycling caused it to dump? Ive ran it pretty hard these last 2 days and nothing seems off.

What about turbo issues?
 

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Location
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2022 ST
#4
It didnt seem to have a distinct smell, all fluid levels look alright. Is it possible that the ignition cycling caused it to dump? Ive ran it pretty hard these last 2 days and nothing seems off.

What about turbo issues?
.... Is the vehicle still putting out white smoke?
YES:
Not from the ignition cycling

No:
It was likely from the ingition cycling. You must have signaled an injector to dump some fuel into the cylinder while not combusting and it was exhaled on an exhaust stroke

Turbos don't usually cause white smoke. If coolant leaked in and the impeller grabbed it, it would like launch it into the TB and keep causing white smoke, BUT it would notably smell like coolant anyway.
If it was oil, it wouldn't be white smoke, it would be at least slightly blue.
White smoke = coolant or fuel, If you can't smell it, you might have to get really close.
 

OP
J
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Location
Illinois
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2020 Explorer ST
Thread Starter #5
So its not currently smoking and has not since that incident.

I think the download file mustve signaled it, with as much as it screws with the computer it could just be a one off thing

Im gonna have a good look at the underside
 

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2022 ST
#6
I'm glad to hear it has not persisted.
 

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Location
Tampa FL
Vehicle
2022 Ford Explorer ST
#7
I had a similar issue with my 2022 Explorer ST after it hit about 20K miles. White smoke started to billow out of both exhausts on cold engine starts. I took it to Ford and they discovered oil soaked blades and pooling oil inside exhaust turbine housing. They had to replace both left and right turbo chargers, gaskets, o-rings and filters. It was all covered under warranty. I’ve put about 10K more miles on this vehicle since this repair and all has been fine.
 

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2022 ST
#8
^ And it was white? Well that is just very interesting...
 

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Location
Tampa FL
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2022 Ford Explorer ST
#9
Yep, white smoke and a lot of it from both exhausts. It would only happen on cold starts in the morning and last for about 15-30 seconds. When the engine was hot, it would not happen on restarts.
 

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2022 ST
#10
That sounds like some pandemic-era QC issue if ever I heard one. Glad they replaced it.
Just in case someone finds this years from now and out of warranty - if you're not upgrading turbos, and it's finally available, replacing the old CHRA with new should save you a mint. (IF your snails are good)
 

Cwolf747

New Member
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#11
Did you smoke every cpld start or intermittently? Sometimes it's lots of smoke,smells like oil, and the smoke hangs around. Other times it's clearly just condensation, with the occasional faint fuel smell. Of course this never happens when it's at the dealer. Smh.
 

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San Francisco
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2022 ST
#12
^ Your problem is that it only happens on cold start. There in your own pictures some form of smoke happens 2 days in a row.
Take it to the dealer, drop it off overnight, be there for initial startup in the morning.

I wish you the best of luck with that.
 

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Location
Tampa FL
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2022 Ford Explorer ST
#13
Did you smoke every cpld start or intermittently? Sometimes it's lots of smoke,smells like oil, and the smoke hangs around. Other times it's clearly just condensation, with the occasional faint fuel smell. Of course this never happens when it's at the dealer. Smh.
Did you smoke every cpld start or intermittently? Sometimes it's lots of smoke,smells like oil, and the smoke hangs around. Other times it's clearly just condensation, with the occasional faint fuel smell. Of course this never happens when it's at the dealer. Smh.
Yep, every cold start. It was definitely white smoke, not condensation. Replacing both turbos fixed the problem.
 

OP
J
Messages
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Location
Illinois
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2020 Explorer ST
Thread Starter #14
I had a similar issue with my 2022 Explorer ST after it hit about 20K miles. White smoke started to billow out of both exhausts on cold engine starts. I took it to Ford and they discovered oil soaked blades and pooling oil inside exhaust turbine housing. They had to replace both left and right turbo chargers, gaskets, o-rings and filters. It was all covered under warranty. I’ve put about 10K more miles on this vehicle since this repair and all has been fine.

Yeah mine was just one time and more of a puff and gone.

I did notice I have a oil thin layer of oil and pooling on some spots under the hood (Sturt brace and air box) But I believe that may just be from the blow off valve
 

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Location
San Francisco
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2022 ST
#15
Yeah mine was just one time and more of a puff and gone.

I did notice I have a oil thin layer of oil and pooling on some spots under the hood (Sturt brace and air box) But I believe that may just be from the blow off valve
If it's from the BOV, that's not good.
The only moving part/source for oil would be the turbos.... so for some reason your turbos would be letting out a decent amount of oil...
 

OP
J
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Location
Illinois
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2020 Explorer ST
Thread Starter #16
If it's from the BOV, that's not good.
The only moving part/source for oil would be the turbos.... so for some reason your turbos would be letting out a decent amount of oil...
Looks like I'm taking off the skid plate tomorrow. Any good places to get a view? I know the passenger side is tucked away good
 

OP
J
Messages
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Location
Illinois
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2020 Explorer ST
Thread Starter #17
Tried for a decent pic of the oil, you can see the outside of the box is wet and looks like some standing oil
 

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