Smokey MG ZT Dizzler..... possible why's?

[purplebargeken]

Mate of mine just bought a 2003 MG ZT 2.0TDi manual thingy. Lovely, lovely car, great bodywork, great interior. 165K on the clock. Good MOT and a bit of tax. Drives wonderfully well. Looks like a 60K car, it really is that nice.

 

Bloke who sold it said it smoked at times. He said that he had replaced an injector and the remainder came with the car. It's had a new PSV (I think), oil, filters and fuel pumps. 

 

Small puff of blue/grey smoke on take off and a bit more on the overrun. At idle, clouds of stuff wafting round. Almost smoke machine amounts.

 

I am clueless about modern diesels. He paid £500 for it and can spend a couple of quid on it. It is well worth sorting but it would be helpful to have some kind of an idea as to what the heck it could be. I was thinking to have a look at the EGR valve and clean that out for starters. 

 

Cheers

 

Ken

[Pillock]

Just on takeoff or all the way through the rev range?

Any noticeable increase in smoke when the turbo spins up?

[purplebargeken]

No, smokes most at idle. Turbo seems fine, no excess smoke when hooning. Just a small puff of blue/grey smoke at take off and a little more on the overrun, but as mentioned tons at idle. Drives lovely, plenty of oommph. 

[cort16]

If it's on it's original turbo then at 165k that's be what I'd suspect first.

[purplebargeken]

Thinking:

 

Clean EGR, clean MAF, test the injectors.

[purplebargeken]

Ok, thanks. Anything else to think about?

[Pillock]

I don't think turbo. Turbo is grey or black smoke on boost. Sounds fuelish, leaky injectors?

[CortinaDave]

inector leakback test - throw away the EGR and fit a straight through pipe. My EGR was CAKED - 5mpg gain with it ditched

[cort16]

Attention to detail 1 out of 50 I didn't read this bit

 

At idle, clouds of stuff wafting round. Almost smoke machine amounts.

 

You can do a leak off test on the injector returns to see if they're working as the should. Failing that you can pull them and take them to a diesel specialist to get them tested. If it's the same as the 320d you;ll need to remove the inlet manifold to get them out then they'll either just come out or you'll have a war and need to get a special puller.

 

 

http://www.uniteddiesel.co.uk/tips_docs/Bosch%20common%20rail%20diesel%20injectors%20checking%20back%20leakage.pdf

[cort16]

Can you get an adaptor for the egr? On the 320d it bolts right onto the inlet manifold.

[twosmoke300]

Even if you took brand new injectors to a diesel specialist they would say they are knackered.

[CortinaDave]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ROVER-75-MG-ZT-EGR-BYPASS-KIT-/181143205606?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item2a2cf9f6e6

 

thats the EGR bypass I have. Well worth it. more power and better MPG.

 

EGR = the worst EVER idea.

[scooters]

Take off inlet manifold it will be caked with crud. Blow torch to burn it out if it is steel. If plastic use carb cleaner...lots and lots of it and bottle brushes and a set of overalls don't rely on keeping the overalls.

Change the fuel filter. The current one will have bacteria in it. Blank off or r replace the ear.

 

Your vehicle has all the symptoms of short journey common rail issues. The so called mechanics will pull in their laptops which will tell them to replace injectors. It won't solve the problem. It's a simple matter of cleaning out the inlet popes from the tar and crud the ear valve has dumped in there

[purplebargeken]

Cheers guys. I'll pass all of this on. Much appreciated.

 

Ken

[Albert Ross]

Also just take a look at the air filter..... it might be clogged. Black smoke is either excess fuel burning (as opposed to white smoke - unburnt excess fuel) or insufficient air for the correct amount of fuel.

[alf892]

Valve guides?

 

Symptoms are of oil burning.

 

 

White smoke on a diesel is too much air.....excess fuel is always black

[Danblez]

I would put money on turbo seals. Almost exactly the same symptoms on my 924. Just occassionally at first it would pour thick white smoke on idle but not when revving and then be fine for weeks days on end.

 

Eventually they let rip and idle was like a James Bond smoke screen but on boost it would pretty much disappear. It turned out the seals in the hot side had gone and so as the exhaust gases heated up the turbo the oil leaking into the exhaust was pretty muh burnt off. This started to build on the overrun until it started chucking it out again when idling.

[New POD]

Black smoke on a diesel, only requires the fuel to air ratio to be a bit too much fuel, by a very small amount, and lots of carbon particles will be extruded from the exhaust.

[dean36014]

Also check the pcv filter, they block up causing smoking. Only about 7 quid for a new one and cured many a cdt with smoking problems. 

[Station]

Do the mk3 Astra Isuzu turbo diesels have EGR?

Mine is slow. And shit. And doesn't give incredible mpg that would make the awful performance forgivable (I had to change to 1st gear up a slight incline the other day - it really is that worryingly bad at low rpm). And then it ran out of puff in 1st.

[Lacquer Peel]

I don't think so, they don't even have an ECU. Check the usual things like turbo, intercooler and fuel pipes/filter.

[Rusty_Rocket]

Do the mk3 Astra Isuzu turbo diesels have EGR?

Mine is slow. And shit. And doesn't give incredible mpg that would make the awful performance forgivable (I had to change to 1st gear up a slight incline the other day - it really is that worryingly bad at low rpm). And then it ran out of puff in 1st.

 

These are very basic, totally mechanical (in the mk3..) and bad performance is probably a turbo problem.  The pump/ injectors are usually bulletproof- the pump is a near-identical Japanese copy of a Bosch VE.  We get a regular 55mpg out of ours, with all types of driving; town/ A-Road/ Motorway.

They're no sports cars but you get a definite 'kick' when the turbo does its thang.

[purplebargeken]

It was the injectors. They were comprehensively knackered and a real bastard to get out. All is well now though and smoke free.

 

Thanks for the input guys.

[scooters]

Monitor it...unless the intake system has been cleaned and egr addressed the injectors can fail again. Knackered injectors is often a symptom of a sooted intake system and unless it is cleaned they will fail again and soon