Diesel Smoke Reduction - A Cure??

[M47Rman]

Originally Posted by paranoid

M47 Man where were you a year ago, When everywhere I went it was new engine new turbo minimum of £2000 plus labour!!!!!!
I was a apprentice trained mechanic for ten years and it just didn't seem likely after 80'000 for it to be valve seals, but after just buying the car I was in a bit of a panic!!

I knew all along it wasn't an engine failure as such, but at first it seemed like a blown turbo but there wasn't really a pattern. Now I get a puff of blueish white smoke every 100th start nothing much to see at all. When I first got the car if the car sat idleing for a couple of minutes and you drove off the first time you lifted off really couldn't see the car behind, I changed the Air filter as it was solid, this helped obviously, but seemed to go worse after I changed the oil and put the oil in too quick (I squeezed the bottle ) I presumed this filled the rocker area up, after another oil change a couple of months later (just to get things cleaned up, see if more crud came out) smoke was nearly down to nothing, at the moment it hasn't belched for at least a month

Afraid to say a year ago I was still playing with our much loved Discovery Tdi, which was another of my 'engines' at Rover! Sadly, it had to go this year, and although I (we) loved the 75 when I worked on it, right from the start of the development programme, it has taken us this long to actually buy one! Still hopefully I can help a little now.:lol:
Andy

[pondweed]

...another special 'bit' to buy!
first person to look at it again, will you get a proper spec for the bolts? Any one know best place for cheap ones of these things (that you use once in a year max)?
Not going to go near it till I have the right tool....

[Paranoid Carlos]

These are them...............http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/QUALITY-FEMALE...QQcmdZViewItem

[Paranoid Carlos]

Just took PCV off and cleaned it, filter was thick with grime but cleaned up well with engine cleaner and a brush then brake cleaner and a final hot wash with washing up liquid, the rubber diaphram bit was strange though, sucked on it and it seemed to move in a 2 position way not smooth, took it to bits it was half full off fresh looking engine oil ? cleaned it all out put filter back in and operation was smooth when sucked, I'm wondering if this was related to when I put the oil in to quick, that was nearly a year ago, but it 's easy to see that it couldn't get out once it was in, Engine fumes are massively reduced even with all windows open which is what I was after.......

A tip though I had to remove leak off pipes from the injectors (one clip holds them on, watch it doesn't ping off) to get the unit out, no way would it come out without removing it.

[M47Rman]

Originally Posted by paranoid

Just took PCV off and cleaned it, filter was thick with grime but cleaned up well with engine cleaner and a brush then brake cleaner and a final hot wash with washing up liquid, the rubber diaphram bit was strange though, sucked on it and it seemed to move in a 2 position way not smooth, took it to bits it was half full off fresh looking engine oil ? cleaned it all out put filter back in and operation was smooth when sucked, I'm wondering if this was related to when I put the oil in to quick, that was nearly a year ago, but it 's easy to see that it couldn't get out once it was in, Engine fumes are massively reduced even with all windows open which is what I was after.......

A tip though I had to remove leak off pipes from the injectors (one clip holds them on, watch it doesn't ping off) to get the unit out, no way would it come out without removing it.

Sound intriguing. I don't suppose you took any pictures of the oil in the valve?
Glad things seem to have improved for you
Andy

[Paranoid Carlos]

Filter was claggy but not solid with gunk, the rubber diaphram had fresh oil either side of the rubber but strangely non appeared to have come out the hole out the top? It held vacumn when sucked and I checked carefully for pinholes or leaks. not sure of the direction of flow of fumes in the vent system so I don't know if there is a link to the rocker area, where the oil filler is.

Smell is definately reduced though I was wondering if the passages could be cleaned somehow?

[M47Rman]

Originally Posted by paranoid

Filter was claggy but not solid with gunk, the rubber diaphram had fresh oil either side of the rubber but strangely non appeared to have come out the hole out the top? It held vacumn when sucked and I checked carefully for pinholes or leaks. not sure of the direction of flow of fumes in the vent system so I don't know if there is a link to the rocker area, where the oil filler is.

Smell is definately reduced though I was wondering if the passages could be cleaned somehow?

If, when you filled the engine with oil, you managed to fill at a higher rate than the engine was able to drain down to the sump, it is possible that the head and rocker area became full of oil, and that the oil then ran into the breather system. As I recall, and you may be able to confirm this, but I think the engine is inclined backwards, so any oil in the head would run in the direction of the breather system. I have to say though, I would be very surprised if it was possible to get into this situation. However, as they say, anything is possible! As for cleaning the passages, I can't remember the construction of the labrynth in the breather system, but that would be the only passages you could clean as such. In order to clean the 'drain legs', which drain the oil down from the cylinder head to the sump, you would have to locate them in the head. I have never done that, in the past we only looked at the drains with the cylinder head off, and I don't think you want to go to that extent!
Just out of interest, have you cleaned the inside of the intercooler pipes? These definitely get clogged up with oil debris, indeed, I believe there is a service interval for removing the intercooler and flushing out its internals? Be aware though that once the intercooler hoses have become impregnated with oil, they can be very difficult to secure, and removing them will only make them more likely to blow off under pressure. If you do remove them they need to be thoroughly cleaned, and I would recommend using new clips when refitting them.
Your inlet manifold will also suffer from oil gunge, and can also benefit from a clean, although this is obviously a fairly large job. Unfortunately, the manifold has to cope with oil, and egr, and the resulting gunge is truly horrible - cleaning it is not a job for the faint hearted!
Andy

[Ti Rich]

Right, did mine today and after 52k miles it wasn't bad at all. I think that the quality of oil used and the amount of short journies will have an effect on the amount of build up. I do very few short journies and use Mobil 1 oil.

Still cleaned the filter and removed the inlet manifold too which again wasn't too bad. Gave the ports in the inlet manifold a clean with a dirty rag and put it all back together.

Have to say that the car is running very smooth indeed - especially at tick over where the engine appears to be almost silent.

So well worth doing this, took about 2 hours including the inlet manifold.

[M47Rman]

Originally Posted by Ti Rich

Right, did mine today and after 52k miles it wasn't bad at all. I thing that the quality of oil used and the amount of short journies will have an effect on the amount of build up.

Still cleaned the filter and removed the inlet manifold too which again wasn't too bad. Gave the ports in the inlet manifold a clean with a dirty rag and put it all back together.

Have to say that the car is running very smooth indeed - especially at tick over where the engine appears to be almost silent.

So well worth doing this, took about 2 hours including the inlet manifold.

Quality of oil will have a BIG effect on the sludge build up. Also more low speed, short journeys = more EGR = more sludge. No EGR at full load, so everyone with a diesel should just drive flat out everywhere (officer). Or you could just blank it off, but where is the fun in that?!
Andy

[eVoHicks]

Guys, I aint the best mechanic in the world but I have had a quick look at PCV today. The small pipes that run along the top of the injectors hold the PCV in place, thats the bit that slowed me down. I wasn't sure what to do with them, I unclipped the spring clip just under that pipe (on top of the injector) but it wouldn't lift out, can someone give a noob mechanic some anti-noob instructions on this bit please :P

I have a service and MOT next weekend, so the idea was to clean it when the new oil was in otherwise it would still have dirty oil in it.


Andy