Black,

While you and a couple of others on a few different threads have raised this problem I could find no TSB, recall, or RRT on this issue. I will continue to search for a known cause and will post it here if I find anything.

 

When you were having your smoke puffs, knocking, etc, did your RPM's plummet to under 500? Also, mine only occasionally does this when its been running at a constant RPM for a long time (cruise control on the highway) then you let off before accelerating again (off-ramp)... Seriously, its driving me nuts... I'm worried its going to seriously damage something.

 

I'm not the original owner guess im hosed on that one...

 

Thats kind of what mine would do I would be on cruise control on the highway for a while would exit off and then start to go again the rpms would fall I would have a huge cloud of smoke. Can you turn your radio all the way down and see if you have a light tapping noise when your accelerating. The dealership replaced my short block under warranty but I still have the white smoke on startups. I check the oil on the dipstick more often to make sure im not losing oil because I think Im burning oil somehow and not having enough oil is why I damaged my block

 

Sounds like you are getting oil into the cylinders via the valve guide seals. Leaks in while it sit and then burns off at start-up. If they only did the short-block and didn't touch the heads, then it's likely you've had this issue from before. I had a GMC truck that started doing the same thing at 60k miles and I just lived with it. The truck was totaled in from of my house and it had 160k miles, 100k with the white smoke at startup.

 

That depends on how many miles were already on the truck when you bought it and whether or not you were diligent in seeing to it that the 100k mile power train warranty was transferred to you. This little detail is extremely important, but so too is having regularly scheduled maintenance performed when it is due.

The remaining original factory warranty is transferrable to every subsequent owner provided the factory is notified promptly of each transfer to each successive owner. Nowadays you can even do it online.

Factory warranties, which include the original bumper-to-bumper 3/36, the 100k mile drivetrain warranty and any Chrysler Factory Extended warranty plans are all transferrable to subsequent owners provided each subsequent owner follows the required procedures to make it happen. Many people don't know this or else drop the ball in following up.

Any of these warranties can also be voided by failure to follow and perform regular maintenance items. That's not to say that these services have to be performed by a dealer, but if by someone other than the dealer then the burden is on you to maintain meticulous records & dated receipts showing what was done and when (date & mileage). If you can show that you are qualified, you can even perform many of these service items yourself, once again provided that you keep impeccable records & receipts and a log showing what you did and when you did it along with dated receipts for the required items (oil, filter, spark plugs, etc). It's against the law for them to try to force you to bring it to the dealer for service, but they can require irrefutable proof that they were performed when due. (and it's generally pretty easy to tell if it wasn't)

Tip: Photocopy the receipts as some auto parts retailers use thermal printers and their receipts fade over time and become unreadable.

 

2009 did not have the 100k transferable powertrain warranty, that had a non-transferable lifetime powertrain warranty.

however, it is a good point that he should check in case someone had purchased an extended warranty for it.

 

Capn,

2009 did not have a 5/100 powertrain warranty that followed the vehicle. That started in 2010. The 2009 had a Lifetime Powertrain warranty that was only valid for the original owner.

If it's a Chrysler Service Contract, it can only be transferred within 60 days of purchasing the vehicle and you need the previous owners signature to transfer as they are giving up their right to a pro-rated refund by signing it over to the next owner. One other note, Chrysler Service Contracts on vehicles with a Lifetime Powertrain are not transferable at all except in the states of Florida and North Carolina, and even then the powertrain does not transfer, just the upgrade plan. So in essence, even if you could transfer the service contract on a lifetime covered vehicle by it having been purchased in one of those states, you would not have powertrain coverage.

 

Thats what im thinking is happening to. Is this something my warranty would cover(valve guide seals) I have the extended warranty also on my 09 till 70k miles. Is this something I could just live with and check the oil on the dipstick more often to make sure it doesnt get to low to do damage to the motor? Im really losing faith in the dealership to find what the cause of the failure was in the first place and I cant afford to give my truck up for 2 weeks at a time either.

 

First of all it doesn't take 2 weeks to fix your truck unless they have it parked out of sight behind the shop. Believe me, no one's putzing with it all that time and not getting paid for their hours. Secondly, based on these symptoms I think if it were mine I'd pull all the plugs (mark them so you know what cylinder each came from) then with all the plugs removed I'd hook up a good battery charger to it and run a compression test. This simple (and cheap to even pay to have done, typically 1 hr labor) should either eliminate or else help pinpoint any cylinder, head, valve or valve seat issues. All cylinders should test to within 10 pounds of each other and any that deviate by 20 pounds or more warrants a teardown. That's when it gets expensive, but at least'll you'll know and stop chasing your tail. I hate to see someone keep throwing money at something while guessing what it might be. For what all you've been through already I'd say a compression test would be the next best diagnostic step.