Freelander 1 2004 TD4 blue smoke, no power loss.

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fraggz

Member
Posts
63
so, been working on the car to fix a couple of faults identified during the mot. completed those yesterday and went to nip it up for the retest, driving up the hill and it starts chuicking blue smoke out the exhaust.
now, i had been getting whitish smoke for a while, presumed it was down to the glow plugs (which i have ready to go on, next job) but this time it was definitely blue and a lot of it.
ive checked the crankcase breather (modded version) bit oiley but nothing jumps out as being faulty.
no splits or lose intercooler pipes.
im wondering if its a) turbo fault (turbo replaced in 2017, 2nd hand) or, b) valve stem oil seal.
the smoke kinda built up, if i held the revs at 2k it wouldnt smoke straight away but would get worse the longer i held it. ontop of that, i didnt notice any loss in power either.
for some time, ive always had a bit of blue smoke on start up but nothing major and it cleared after a minute.
im trying to eliminate the cheapest/easiest things first. before i start attempting to pull pipes off the turbo of taking the rocker cover off.
anyone have an ideas?
thanks
 
got it jacked up and had a good look round underneath, spotted this at the turbo inlet, surely oil there is not a good sign? but confused because the turbo wasnt noisey and there was no loss of power.
im thoroughly baffled. inlet pipe coming off tomorrow, so i can have a feel at the shaft and diagnose if i have to do the horrible job of a turbo change, again!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/BNyyZ6bAmRLPoMmz7
 
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The photo is not really showing anything ? it's to close, have you checked the EGR and manifold + MAP sensor for gunk, hopefully it will looking nothing like this one below, which got changed out Monday.
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What does the MAP sensor look like .
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I think your photo was or is supposed to show something like this.
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Is your air filter clean ?
 
hiya, thanks for the reply, ive pulled the pipe off to the turbo from the maf and theres definite movement in the shaft in the turbo, its not massive but its enough for me to know the bearings are done.
i think ive caught it just as its started to go.
small amounts of oil through the intercooler hoses too, but again, nothing major.
and i wiped out a smidge of oil from the inlet and a fair bit from inside the inlet pipe.
now gonna pull the exhaust off the turbo and confirm it.
and then the horrible bit starts, the last time i did this job i really struggled.
but, im sure it'll go better a this time! haha.
can get a 2nd hand turbo for £60, so fingers crossed
 
ok, not what i was expecting. no oil in the exhaust. its sooty but not oiley.
thats thrown me now.
so, im guessing the movement in the turbo shaft (up and down, not in and out) isnt as tale telling as i thought.
i'll work through the things you highlighted and see if they shed any light on this.
 
dont forget the turbo turbine shaft runs on a film of oil and there should be a certain ammount of play

This is true, but unless the OP has a DTI, it's pretty hard to gauge the exact figures.

A turbo would normally have a dry bearing clearance of 0.010" to 0.020" radial play and 0.001" to 0.004" axial play.
 
afternoon gents. not laid hands on the freelander for a couiple of week, apart from removing the inlet manifold to check for fouling and to give it a good clean. there was a fair bit of gunk in it, oily soot. but nothing id call bad.
as for the problem, im still non the wiser. im not thinking its the turbo. im leaning towards the valve guide oil seals.
but having been reading up on the actually task of removing the camshafts, to get to the seals (and possibly having to remove the head) it feels like im slipping down a rabbit hole.
im certainly not gonna start pulling things off till i know exactly whats needed to be done, tools needed, etc
is setting the timing a difficult task? i read that you need a certain tool kit for doing it, is that true?
and ive read that its possible to do the oil seals without removing the head (with the right tools) is that accurate?
one thing thats also pushing me towards the vlave guide oil seals, my other half was driving the car shortly before the incident after the mot. she was sat at road works for a while,
once she got going again, she said she glanced in the mirrors and and saw lots of smoke, after about half a mile the smoke cleared and it was fine. to me that sounds like an oil seal gone.
any thoughts ?
thanks
 
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