posted this in disco section but no answers

posted this in disco section but no answers, so thought i would try in here

its a 300tdi disco 1, that is now virtually undriveable because the smoke behind me is unbelievable, you cant see for 300yrds and more, takes ages to clear too

had numerous issues with this car i thought it might have been a number of issues relating to one problem, however i seem to be solving one issue at a time, so far, i have had the block rebored and rehoned all the shells replace, all the seals on the block done, changed oil pump, pressure relief valves in cylinders and by pump, this sorted my oil pressure problem out and my oil leaks,

i have just put a second hand head on, reseated valves and replaces stem seals, this solved my ticking problem

i replaced glow plugs this solved my rough running whilst cold

i still have 2 issues, one being starting it when cold, i believe that is the starter,

however my main concern is the embarrassing amount of blue/white smoke i get until the engine is warm, once engine is warm it disappears, my investigations so far have included, taking off the hose from inlet box to intercooler (pipes coated in oil), taking off the hose from intercooler to turbo (pipes coated in oil), taking off hose from turbo to air intake box, (pipes coated in oil turbo end but not air intake end), then i took off the breather hose which was thick with oil and this seems to be the point of origin, chased it back up this pipe to the cyclone breather.

is the cyclone faulty??

i have taken the breather hose off the air intake hose at the moment, to see if it stops pooling up the oil mist into the intake system. it was ok the first run i did yesterday, there was a little smoke but cleared up real quick, yesterday afternoon however i tried to drive my mrs and kids 2 miles to there nans, i got half way there and had to turn back, smoke was worse than i have seen in, still oily in smell but more white than usual, im wondering if by taking the breather off that i have allowed condensation to build up, or interrupted the air/fuel balance which i presume would also cause white smoke

is it only when engine is cold? as it could be a leaky injector

johnlad said:

is it only when engine is cold? as it could be a leaky injector

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up until yesterday only happened when it was cold, ive had new injectors and copper washers, it is definitely an oil issue as the inlet hose from the cyclone breather right to inlet manifold is drenched in oil, when the engine is running there is an oil mist traveling though the intake system.

Make sure your turbo isn't leaking oil from the turbine shaft seals otherwise you could end up with a run away engine . I would clean out all the pipes, pull the intercooler out and wash it out (it may have a pool of oil in it), flush the cyclone and make sure that it is clear so that any collected oil can drain out in to the sump return pipe (the bottom pipe). From what you are saying it looks like you have covered most of the oil ingestion routes (rings and valve guide oil seals), just ensure the turbo isn't the cause. Turbo shaft should only have a very small amount (barely noticeable) of radial (sideways) play and no axial (back and forward) movement.

Kwakerman said:

Make sure your turbo isn't leaking oil from the turbine shaft seals otherwise you could end up with a run away engine . I would clean out all the pipes, pull the intercooler out and wash it out (it may have a pool of oil in it), flush the cyclone and make sure that it is clear so that any collected oil can drain out in to the sump return pipe (the bottom pipe). From what you are saying it looks like you have covered most of the oil ingestion routes (rings and valve guide oil seals), just ensure the turbo isn't the cause. Turbo shaft should only have a very small amount (barely noticeable) of radial (sideways) play and no axial (back and forward) movement.

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turbo was replaced 2 months ago

mastersdave2 said:

turbo was replaced 2 months ago

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Did you have this issue before the turbo change? New doesn't mean it can't go wrong and could be a case of premature failure of new turbo (was it an OEM Garrett or a pattern Britpart?)

Kwakerman said:

Did you have this issue before the turbo change? New doesn't mean it can't go wrong and could be a case of premature failure of new turbo (was it an OEM Garrett or a pattern Britpart?)

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reconned garrett, and yes had the issue before hand, i had multiple engine issues, including oil light flickering after it had been worked then dropped down to idle, this turned out to be 3 ceased open oil quirt bolts which was found on engine refirb, was running rough which turned out to be 2 issues fuel sender unit was screwed and when cold glow plugs were not working, both have been replaced and is now running ok, had a starting issue hard to turn over when hot, i think we have isolated this now to the starter motor, and the last issue being the copious amounts of bellowing white/blue smoke,

i have all the intake parts on my desk next to me, the cyclone hose to the filter/turbo hose was almost blocked with thick creamy grey oil, the filter to turbo hose is just black with clumps on the rubber walls of the hose, just tested the play on the turbo and seems pretty tight, the turbo to intercooler hose is coated in thin black oil, the intercooler its self just has oil residue on it no fluid oil in it, the intercooler to inlet box and the inlet box is dripping with black engine oil, it seems to me that the source of the oil is from a faulty/dirty cyclone, the oil is being misted by the turbo, goes though the intercooler where it is cooled and turned back to oil, where it gets blasted into the intake,

unless anyone else has any suggestion, or can someone confirm this?

Try running it with out pipe from intercooler to inlet manifold you may have to give the inlet manifold a bit of a clean but u can see if it's intake side or Engine as someone else said oil on the inlet side will give u the blue smoke also I can't remember but on a coach I was working on a seal went inside the pump and it was mixing oil in to the Engine that way

Worth trying it with the pipe removed from the intake manifold as hodgey suggests, interested to see what happens when you have a fully cleaned set of pipes / cyclone back on it. I assume it isn't breathing too heavily when you take the oil filler cap off?

Had a simular problem advanced the pump a bit and the smoke disappeared

ok, so pulled all pipes off, unbelievable amount of oil in the breather pipe to the point where it was almost blocked on the plastic 'L' pipe, cleaned all the pipes, was just about to put it together, thought 'i'd best clean oil off around the turbo, this then dislodged a thick bed of oil grime in the housing, in turn freed the propeller of the turbo making it very obvious the amount of play in the bearing, so my issue seems to the turbo

so i guess now i have a different question, this is my second turbo since october, can the cyclone breather be causing the problems (im thinking contaminated oil, baring in mind the grimey oil in the housing)

if this is not a possibility how can i check the oil flow to the turbo itself?

Sounds like the turbo is the cause and all the oil in pipes issues are the result of it leaking. Looks like you are getting a good oil feed to the turbo at least. As it looks like the turbo is going to have to come off it may be worth checking the turbo oil return pipe (the one on the bottom) isn't blocked, in the back of my mind I think there may be a restrictor in it (not 100% sure - may be another engine type I'm thinking about) but at least check it is free from sludge / debris etc). Turbo should have a very small amount of up/down play (0.25 to 0.5mm ish) as the shaft is normally running in an oil bath when oil system is pressurised and no end-to-end movement. If you can move it enough to make a rattling noise its buggered. Have you tweaked the boost pressure or had a play with the injection pump settings as getting that wrong can / will cause premature failure?

the search continues for a 300tdi turbo, seems like the turbo fairy has been and snapped them all up, been searching for a week now and cant find one that i can afford, if any of you fellow land rover owners have a spare one knocking about that you will either donate or sell cheap please let me know, im now in desperate need

If it was only reconditioned a couple of months ago have you been back on to the supplier for a warranty claim?