Maybe this is nothing, but want to make sure. Went out of town Friday and left the truck parked just outside the garage. Got home Monday night and needed to move it out of the way. Started it up and backed it out of the way and shut it off. Went out to run an errand this afternoon and noticed it was running just a little bit rough when I first cranked it up. Looked in the rearview and noticed a cloud of white smoke. Jumped out to take a sniff and it didn't smell like burned oil at all. After a few seconds, idle smoothed out and smoke was gone. Truck ran fine to town and back. I'm thinking this was just maybe some extra fuel from the quick cold start and shutdown from last night?

If not, what could be going on?

 

Unburned fuel is black. What did the smoke smell like, and what do you consider a cloud?

 

White smoke is water or coolant. Could just be water in the gas but could be the start of something major. I'd hit the gas with some stuff to remove the water and keep close tabs on coolant level...

 

X2!
throw in a compression test for the heck of it, rule out warped heads and head gasket

 

My errand was long enough to bring it up to operating temp. I went out later today to make a grocery run, after it had cooled back down and it started fine and no smoke. Not sure what the deal was. I was basing my assumption on the fuel on my daughters mazda rx8 she used to have. That rotary engine was prone to flooding and when i would finally get her to crank up, similar white smoke would pour out of the exhaust for about a minute and it would run rough as hell for a while as well. It would usually be followed by a cel for a cylinder misfire or over lean condition. I got no codes on the ram.

 

Mine does it also if I just move it in the driveway and shut it off, (cold start..move to cut grass..etc) My 04 5.7 did it my 05 does it. Seems it just loads up a bit with fuel and then burns it off the 2nd time you start it. If it clears up after a few seconds I would not worry about it at all.

 

My '08 Hemi did it last week, only then have I ever seen it. It's either only done it once or I've only seen it once. The wind blew it towards the front so I saw the cloud. Mine never ran rough just a grey/white smoke. My buddy works at a Dodge dealer and said to clean a few things.

 

I have never noticed it or it has never happened before but it is rare for me to just start it and move it. I gave my daughter my garage spot and so now we have to play "musical vehicles" sometimes. I would say that "running rough" was an over-statement on my part. It was more like a small stammer right at startup. I just had to move it again, so will see if it happens again later when i go back out.

 

My guess would still be a little bit of water/condensation in the fuel...

 

Perhaps condensation as it was relatively warm when we left here. Then a big cold front came through over the weekend and then things warmed back up again. It's relatively warm again here today and after doing the cold start and move this morning, I went back out again later (had to make a Cope run) and it started up fine with no smoke.