how much smoke is normal?
 

I have put a few thousand mikes on my new to me 02 and was wanting to know what amount of black smoke is normal? Can a dirty air filter cause more smoke? I can make my truck smoke any time I want by putting it under load, I dont notice much if any smoke otherwise? truck is a 02 4x4 5 speed manual, 180K, it has edge chip, and what looks like a fairly dirty K&N filter, truck runs great, in the last 3 tanks I have put 16oz of quicksilver oil, going to change to the cheap stuff soon though. Thanks

Yes a dirty air filter contributes to more smoke. What stage are you running on your chip and is the pump wire tapped / stealth plated? Do you know if you have larger injectors ? Do you have gages on your Edge? What are your boost pressures / fuel pressures ? I know, lots of questions, lol . There are a few things can cause more smoke. Im sure others here will come back with more help for you as well. :c: pt

Easy to explain:
diesels start to smoke at a 20:1 value air/fuel, that means decrease fuel or increase the amount of air.
Or different expressed:

In that moment the engine starves for air you start smoking. Diesels are build to run with excess air, that means there is more air in the engine than needed to burn the complete injected fuel.