more sinister problem on my 300 tdi?

[THEengineer]

interesting fault happening,engine was out a week ago to do the rear crankshaft seal,today,there is intermittent steam or white smoke coming from the exhaust,but its not doing it all the time,i pulled over to check but the white smoke had cleared ,my thoughts HGF BUT i changed the head gasket about 6 months ago,done it all as per rave,there is also white smoke or steam coming from the rocker cover it has used a bit of water but this could be air due to the lump coming out waters not mixing with the oil, no loss of power,no overheating i got it home topped up the water,ran it to temp,no white smoke,revved its nuts off,nothing just a bit of blue smoke but its always done that ,so thoughts ?either head or gaskets gone or something is leaking/leaving air in from the lump coming out

 

[discomania]

What does the white smoke smell like and how does it lie/float in the air?

 

[warrior]

Water in ya fuel?

 

[THEengineer]

faults changed now,theres water bubbling out the back of a injector or the back of the lump,smokes now got a heavy blue tint,smells strongly of oil and its mis firing

 

[Brown]

It's hard to imagine how water could be coming out of the injectors! Are you sure it's not blowing bubbles out of the head gasket?

We managed to cure this on a Series many years ago simply by backing the head bolts off a fraction and then torquing them down as per the manual. Seemed to stop it blowing bubbles at any rate, and the engine remained intact for several tens of thousands of miles afterwards.

 

[THEengineer]

It's hard to imagine how water could be coming out of the injectors! Are you sure it's not blowing bubbles out of the head gasket?

We managed to cure this on a Series many years ago simply by backing the head bolts off a fraction and then torquing them down as per the manual. Seemed to stop it blowing bubbles at any rate, and the engine remained intact for several tens of thousands of miles afterwards.

probably the back of the engine,worth trying to crank down?

 

[Brown]

It's worth a better look to see where it's all coming from. Bright light and a mirror perhaps, if it's in a place you can't see easily.

That trick worked on a series engine, I couldn't guarantee it will work on a 300tdi with higher compression. But it could be worth at least checking the torque on the bolts. They can stretch slightly and the gasket can squash down a little.

 

[warrior]

I've just done my head gasket and core plugs on mine yesterday, if its by the Injector could it be an injector seal?

 

[lynall]

interesting fault happening,engine was out a week ago to do the rear crankshaft seal,today,there is intermittent steam or white smoke coming from the exhaust,but its not doing it all the time,i pulled over to check but the white smoke had cleared ,my thoughts HGF BUT i changed the head gasket about 6 months ago,done it all as per rave,there is also white smoke or steam coming from the rocker cover it has used a bit of water but this could be air due to the lump coming out waters not mixing with the oil, no loss of power,no overheating i got it home topped up the water,ran it to temp,no white smoke,revved its nuts off,nothing just a bit of blue smoke but its always done that ,so thoughts ?either head or gaskets gone or something is leaking/leaving air in from the lump coming out

Did you clean out the threaded holes in the block before refitting the head?

 

[THEengineer]

Did you clean out the threaded holes in the block before refitting the head?

no ,they seemed clean though,could that have caused it?

 

[Brown]

Did you clean out the threaded holes in the block before refitting the head?

Are you thinking the head bolts might have bottomed out on debris and not be holding the head down?

When I take a head off I like to make sure the bolts will screw freely into the block so the heads are lower than the thickness of the head. Just so I know they'll be doing their job when everything's back together.