Community Forums

wmw · 10-19-2009, 10:16 AM

Hi I'm the proud owner of a new to me 2007 Adventurer38J 8.1 W24. I am currently in transit from the Seattle area to Quartzsite Arizona. I'm at Hill AFB near Ogden UT visiting with Wife's relatives. My Question is this, I noticed that I have a lot of soot around both my exhausts. The engine has worked perfect for the last 900 Miles no trouble codes or lack of power. The MH has 20,000 miles on it. When I'm going down the road there is no visible sign of smoke from the exhaust. Should I be concerned or is that normal? I'm thinking that she is running rich, my average fuel mileage has been around 5.9 mpgs. I have been cruising at 60 to 63 mph.
Someone told me that it may be caused by idling the engine too long. I run the engine when I park to extend slides and jacks.
Thanks for any reply
Woody 2007 Adventurer 38J 8.1 W24

edgray · 10-19-2009, 12:51 PM

WMW: First let me say WELCOME to iRV2.com and the Workhorse forum in particular. We're glad you joined and posted. Also, congrats on the W-24.

To answer your question, black exhaust is considered perfectly normal and is not a reason for concern. ED

Full-Timers · 10-19-2009, 06:08 PM

Yes the soot is considered normal due to the length of the exhaust pipes. I would be concerned however with the mileage. I believe most of us are getting better than 5.9 mpg.

Photog · 10-19-2009, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wmw

I'm thinking that she is running rich, my average fuel mileage has been around 5.9 mpgs.

Before I did the Ultrapower upgrade, my mileage was right at 6. I picked up 1mpg to 7 after the upgrade. Some do better, some worse.

wmw · 10-19-2009, 07:05 PM

Thank you all for the replies. I'm glad to hear that the soot is not a problem. I thought that the poor mileage was due to the engine running rich, however my driving may have some bearing on the mileage. I went over Snoqualmie pass at 55 mph. So going over mountain passes a little slower may improve the mileage. Also for some of my trip I had a 20 mph head wind. Me and the Wife really like our new to us MH. It has a lot more power than my previous MH that had a 460 Ford with Banks. My toad is a Subaru outback.
Thanks again Woody 2007 38J Adventurer 24W

Davel · 10-19-2009, 09:27 PM

wmw,

The soot you see is normal. When gas had lead in it the exhaust color would be a light tan on a clean running engine. The coloration was caused by the lead. Now that we are "unleaded" black residue is normal.

While your mileage should be a little better, there are so many variables it's hard to go by one trip. You have a pretty heavy coach plus the weight of your toad, plus the head wind, plus the terrain should explain some of it. Driving habits make a big difference as well. Get a few more trips under your belt and then see how it does.

Enjoy your new toy....

Dave

UFO Pilot · 10-19-2009, 10:07 PM

My previous Coach was a 37' Fleetwood on the W24 chassis. I got 6 to 7.5 MPG with an average of about 6.6. I did notice the black smoke on mine.

DAN L · 10-20-2009, 01:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wmw

Hi I'm the proud owner of a new to me 2007 Adventurer38J 8.1 W24. I am currently in transit from the Seattle area to Quartzsite Arizona. I'm at Hill AFB near Ogden UT visiting with Wife's relatives. My Question is this, I noticed that I have a lot of soot around both my exhausts. The engine has worked perfect for the last 900 Miles no trouble codes or lack of power. The MH has 20,000 miles on it. When I'm going down the road there is no visible sign of smoke from the exhaust. Should I be concerned or is that normal? I'm thinking that she is running rich, my average fuel mileage has been around 5.9 mpgs. I have been cruising at 60 to 63 mph.
Someone told me that it may be caused by idling the engine too long. I run the engine when I park to extend slides and jacks.
Thanks for any reply
Woody 2007 Adventurer 38J 8.1 W24

have you replaced your air filter element? i went with a K&N oiled gauze low restriction element. S&B also makes a quality oiled gauze filter that is a little thicker. they both are cleanable and can be re-oiled and reused indefinitely.
the pn for the k&n is: 33-2062-1.
the pn for the s&b is: 66-2014D.
i installed a SCANGAUGEII unit to monitor the transmission temperature, water temperature, fuel trim, air-fuel ratio and other parameters. i got my sc2 from mileage pros online. OEMY, a sponsor? of this forum sells them also for about $160. if you buy from oemy, your sc2 will have all of the x gauge items installed for your moho.
i had to enter them in the unit myself. i got the info from a pdf file from linear logic, the manufacturer of the sc2 unit.
when your air-fuel ratio is indicating 14.7:1, you have the perfect ratio.
check my previous posts to see a picture of my installation and more info about the sc2.

RoadRohrers · 10-20-2009, 05:40 AM

I had the soot problem on my Ford F53 with V-10. Soot generally equals unburned fuel. I did not consider it normal, but the Ford folks could've cared less. Found an obscure page on internet (wish I had saved) with talked about the adaptive capabilities of engines. Seems ECM can learn backwards. Look in your owners manual to see if there is a procedure to follow if battery power is disconnected from the ECM. In my case, I disconnected the battery again and followed the procedures to the letter in the manual. This process cured my soot problem. Of course, this was on a Ford and not the 8.1, but it might be germane.

DriVer · 10-20-2009, 06:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DAN L

i got my sc2 from mileage pros online. OEMY, a sponsor?

Dan, Although we very much like what Oemy does here for our members he is not a sponsor/advertiser.

Dwain · 10-20-2009, 02:46 PM

We have an '02 HR Vacationer, 35' with the 8.1 although I think I am on the W22 chassis. We have experienced the soot issue since we took our first trip. We have discovered it to be more noticable when we are traveling with an enclosed trailer with us, as the soot appears to swirl between the motorhome and trailer. Speckles everywhere. Washes off easy enough, just kind of an annoyance.

We tend to run between 7 and 8 miles per gallon, regardless if we tow anything or not. Very little difference noticed unless we experience strong headwinds or a lot of mountain pass travel.

Full-Timers · 10-20-2009, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wthomas1

... I did notice the black smoke on mine.

I hope you meant black soot. There should be NO black smoke.

DriVer · 10-20-2009, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Full-Timers

I hope you meant black soot. There should be NO black smoke.

FT, Right on! Black smoke - no good!

wmw · 10-21-2009, 09:08 AM

The dealership checked the air filter before I started the trip. I had a k&n filter on my previous MH and probably will go to that when its time to change the filter I got. The sc2 is a great idea, I may look into it when I get settled in AZ.
Woody