Puff the 1.6 HDI

Following on from the water leak and the fact that it did not appear to be the head gasket....
Having put the 1.6 HDI back together then lockdown hit and my local garage decided to pull the plug on doing any MOTs or work after being hounded by the Local Police....
I left the car at my mates yard as I am/was in no rush....

I started the car after it had been left for some time.... fired up first turn of the key....
as it was stored at my mates yard there was enough space to give it a run up and down....
Testing the brakes quite aggressively...
suddenly plumes of grey smoke bellowed out of the exhaust, similar to what I have seen if someone adds a gallon of diesel to a petrol car...
leaving it on tickover these plumes subsided......
This smoke had not been noticed at any time previously when the car had been left running for an hour or longer several times to check for leaks etc before assembly of the front end....
The car was left till the next day... Oil was checked... it is slightly over filled.... the first thought being the excess oil being drawn into the cylinders due to the car being driven and hard braking and thus being burnt off....

The car was started and there again seemed to be grey smoke (quite smelly) without the car even being moved...
a few revs confirmed the grey smoke....
I will drain a little oil to lower the level, however have found many articles that refer to such symptoms....
and they point to some other reasons....
The engine runs perfectly, and did previously before the strip down to find the water leak (never found so presumed thermostat housing)...
So in anticipation the theory is it could be the turbo seals...
whilst I don't mind stripping and repairing is this a viable repair?
any other thoughts?

Many thanks
P.

Hello Bigvtwin996

What might seem like a daft question but without gassing yourself, what do the grey fumes smell like?

Being to owner of an old school diesel I recognise grey fumes at startup as a sign of un-combusted diesel when my glow plugs are failing.

This won't be the case on your engine but it could be an injector problem.

If there is a definite smell of burnt oil from the fumes then that points towards excessive oil getting into the combustion process.

If you suspect an injector problem that wasn't there before the car was stood, you could wait until it's back running about and run injector cleaner through with a tank of fuel.

Hi many thanks for the reply...
I have always had Pug diesels.....
My dilemma is that it was running perfectly fine and has only been laid up for a month or so....
Prior to that it had stood much longer as the front was dismantled...
but on reassembly and testing for leaks it run for hours at a time without issue....

No warning lights, starting issues or any other problems.....

It probably does smell more like un-burnt fuel rather than oil..... I will try to double check today...

It can't be run about as it has no MOT...
I did wonder about getting a few gallons of fuel and adding some injector cleaner as the fuel level is low and probably a bit old now.....

I will report back...

Missing Lincs wrote: ↑Thu May 14, 2020 12:46 pm
What might seem like a daft question but without gassing yourself, what do the grey fumes smell like?

If it's burning engine oil the smoke will smell like burning tyres.

I did do an update edit but seems to have disappeared....

I managed to get to the car... drained about 1/2L so it is below the max fill mark....
Fired up and at a constant 2k rpm... the smoke was still evident.....
Risking life limb and lungs..... I determined it was 99% not oil burning (yes the tyre smell... I tend not to sniff exhaust fumes these days)... a few high revs and smoke still present the amount proportional to rpm...

I realised that the air filter box had not been tightened as I am awaiting a new air filter
Old filter put in and air-box screws tightened...

Restarted... and smoke was not visible or is so noticeably less...
Left running for 15mins...
It was noticed that a few drips had come from the exhaust.... condensation?
It was a yellowy oily substance.. it was probably diesel rather than oil, it was quite thin.... smell could not really be determined, bt it was definitely not engine oil - too clean and quite thin..
a few 3-3,500 blips produced a fine spray of this on the ground.. possibly the previous unburnt fuel had condensed and was being blown out....

Well I will get 10-20L of fresh fuel and premix with injector cleaner and put in the tank... and wait for teh new air filter, change it and start it up again.... and update.

I find it interesting that if the filter and air-box has to be in place or it creates this problem... possibly the Air flow metering or such requires such a sealed system and is sensitive to pressure differences, even though a filter should not restrict air flow....

I welcome any comments...

Many thanks for any responses....
(I hope that the long diagnostics and explanations are of some help to others...)
P.

Well Puff passed it's MOT today....
Was able to put it on my mates trade Ins and took it for a blast down a couple of country roads...
when starting out it was possible to see a bit of exhaust haze in the mirrors...
held it in gear and kept the revs up... and it cleared....
did a bit of low and high revs and everything seemed fine....
pulled into a lay-by and no noticeable smoke or smell....
So my conclusion there was probably sunburnt fuel in the exhaust or old crappy diesel in the system, the run had clearly allowed teh fresh diesel and injector cleaner to get through teh system....

So all good.....

Passed MOT.. this morning with a coupe of advisories....
The usual corrosion on disks... (rear) well they knew it had been standing so not a surprise...
and the rear brake balance was on the limit.... I presume a calliper is sticking....
Will see how that goes as I asked them if I could pop in in a few months of driving and recheck the balance...

Spent this afternoon cleaning the interior with teh Rug doctor.... the seats actually looked like a Bio Hazard....

Next tasks remove a locking bolt that will not undo.... and put the arch liners back on....
fit a tow bar I have acquired...
Roof bars done...

I guess work out how to connect my phone (wow technology - I hate it but probably worth using)
and how to use the cruise control

look at the aircon... (is there an easy way to see if it needs a recharge or the pump isn't working?)

So much work for a tiny leak that was never found but now i suspect it was the thermostat!!

Bigvtwin996 wrote: ↑Wed May 27, 2020 4:39 pm
look at the aircon... (is there an easy way to see if it needs a recharge or the pump isn't working?)

It doesn't have to do with diesels but I think we can sneak it past the moderators. LOL!

Use a thin diameter object to push on the centre of the schrader valves. The valves are under caps located on the two aluminium lines going from the fire wall to the front of the car, on the drivers side.
The valves are like tyre valves and if you push on the centre, like tyre valves, the gas will come out. There are two, choose one, it doesn't matter which. Remove the caps and press the centre of the valve for a VERY SHORT TIME! Beware, a volatile liquid and oil may come out!!!!! If you can press the centre of the valve in all the way and nothing happens...there is no gas in the system. If there is no gas then there is a leak and some form of damage to the system. If there is gas in the system then its the compressor solenoid or solenoid armature shims or a sensor or BSM or ECU.

I'll make sure i don't read or reply to anything not concerning Diesel Engines on this thread
(I'd best not thank Ozvtr either or it may appear I read the response)

Bigvtwin996 wrote: ↑Sun May 31, 2020 6:36 am I'll make sure i don't read or reply to anything not concerning Diesel Engines on this thread
(I'd best not thank Ozvtr either or it may appear I read the response)

I guess A/C is multi fuel so 50% diesel - so long as the big boss doesn't look you'll be fine

Serious hat on, if you need to talk about something else just start a new topic. Many people visit to search for answers and it's easier for search engines to find subjects if they have their own topic. Topics can be split but it's not always easy, especially if more than one subject is mixed in the thread.