Another Smoky Landie?

Hi all,

i recently took the plunge and bought myself a 1982 series 3 land rover series 3 diesel. Its in need of a little TLC which should keep me busy over the comming year but as im new to these vehicles could i have some advise on if this smoke is normal or if its my head gasket going already

Engine starts with ease, doesn't really need the plugs
Does not seem to knock or loose power (but this is my first one so i have nothing to judge it against)
Oil is black and not milky or brown
there are no bubbles in my expansion talk but water in rad is either rusty or contaminated. It doesn't not feel oily when i dip my finger in so an tempted to say it is just rusty.
Does not appear to be leaking coolant. (i dove it from Derby to Birmingham and still has water in the rad)
but there is what looks like white smoke....

youtube vid:


I dont have any service history but milage is 66,000. either the speedo was changed before 2011 (when mot started recording milage) or this is genuine.

Any advise is welcome

Anybody live in or around Brum?

OAT coolant can look like rusty coloured water, dip your finger in and either smell it or taste it if you're feeling brave.

Is the smoke just there when the engine is cold or does it clear up when it's warm?

If the coolant is rusty get it drained flush including the heater matrix to improve the heat. Refill with Blue antifreeze ASAP. Running just plain water will corrode the aluminium on the head.

White smoke suggests overfuelling. Could be the injector pump needs adjustment. Had S3 diesel but not an expert. Eventually I converted to petrol.

8igal said:

Hi all,

i recently took the plunge and bought myself a 1982 series 3 land rover series 3 diesel. Its in need of a little TLC which should keep me busy over the comming year but as im new to these vehicles could i have some advise on if this smoke is normal or if its my head gasket going already

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Didn't see anything there that would give me concern on an old diesel. As above, give it a good rad and block flush, and put antifreeze mix in. Tappets could probably use a check!

I agree with Turboman here.. that sounds nice and crisp for a 2 1/4 diesel and it's well within limits for the sort of smokiness you'd expect: These were not exactly the cleanest and sweetest smelling engines ever designed: The probable cause of a little blue smoke on on of these is that the compression is a tiny fraction down which is usually nothing to worry about and is caused by valve seat height: These engines are very sensitive to compression and if the seats have been cut more than once it becomes completely impossible to get the exhaust much cleaner than that. Back in the 1980s I managed to get hold of a load of new Santana heads which were brand new and it was possible to get an almost completely clean exhaust. The other thing which has a huge effect on blue smoke is camshaft timing: These engines are timed on "exhaust peak" and that means that you need to line up with the timing marks exactly at the middle of "exhaust peak" and not at the moment it is first reached. Your engine sounds as though the camshaft must be pretty much spot on. I've never heard of white smoke caused by over-fueling as someone said. White smoke on one of these usually means that either there is a restriction in the inlet tract or else the head gasket has gone. Black smoke does indicate over fueling though. Its very common to see rusty looking coolant in these engines, however if it is orange OAT antifreeze then I'd strongly advise against it unless you are at the very least using modern silicon hoses. OAT doesn't work at all well in older engines. It has been known to attack seals, hoses and even the soft solder on copper cored radiators. Blue 2 year coolant or a proper classic car coolant like Evans or Forlife will be safer.

sounds slightly sweeter than mine and mine is smokier - is that even a word -

passed its emissions even with a probe

All looks fine to me and sounds good. Perhaps a service is in order.....air filter clean (check air intake flap opening in good time with throttle so as not to starve air), oil, filter and coolant drain. Remember to use old type antifreeze.

Wait until the temperature drops at the weekend.....you'll see much more smoke then, particularly when cold engine and probably try to further convince yourself that the head gasket has gone! All about right for an old 2.25.

I went through your same thoughts & feelings when I got mine and it took a year or two before I was completely convinced that these old technology diesels do smoke a little, especially so until up to running temperature.

Before I parted with my series three 2.25 diesel I got it running pretty much smoke free. Having had a hotspot drop and do lots of damage I replaced the head, skimmed the top of the block by 10 thou and new piston tops 10 thou. New bearings, timing chain and a careful build and set up of pump timing. Injectors set at 130/135 bar and it was good. I binned the throttle butterfly in the intake and fitted an electric vacuum pump. It ran well with little or no smoke but took a lot of effort to get to that stage, a friend set the injectors for me after I had paid to have them done and found them anywhere from 120 to 165 bar. The setting of these alone and a fiddle with pump timing was the key.

Land Raver said:

All looks fine to me and sounds good. Perhaps a service is in order.....air filter clean (check air intake flap opening in good time with throttle so as not to starve air), oil, filter and coolant drain. Remember to use old type antifreeze.

Wait until the temperature drops at the weekend.....you'll see much more smoke then, particularly when cold engine and probably try to further convince yourself that the head gasket has gone! All about right for an old 2.25.

I went through your same thoughts & feelings when I got mine and it took a year or two before I was completely convinced that these old technology diesels do smoke a little, especially so until up to running temperature.

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Agree about the service, although his fuel filter looks like it has been changed recently, so lets hope air filter has too. Tappets would be well worth a check.
Most of the forty or so old diesels I have owned made a bit of smoke on startup, and often a puff under full acceleration. I don't worry about it at all, provided the vehicle starts and runs well, and passes MOT emissions if needed.

divie said:

Before I parted with my series three 2.25 diesel I got it running pretty much smoke free. Having had a hotspot drop and do lots of damage I replaced the head, skimmed the top of the block by 10 thou and new piston tops 10 thou. New bearings, timing chain and a careful build and set up of pump timing. Injectors set at 130/135 bar and it was good. I binned the throttle butterfly in the intake and fitted an electric vacuum pump. It ran well with little or no smoke but took a lot of effort to get to that stage, a friend set the injectors for me after I had paid to have them done and found them anywhere from 120 to 165 bar. The setting of these alone and a fiddle with pump timing was the key.

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Good effort! Effectively you have made that into a new engine, so it shouldn't make much smoke. Most at 100k plus are slightly worn.
Quality of injector and pump rebuilds is widely variable. Some of the cheapies you might as well not bother IMO.

Get it on the motorway and give it a good hard thrash. Half an hour on full revs should shake out the faults. Oh and take your RAC card with you.

White smoke is unburnt fuel.

Bobsticle said:

Get it on the motorway and give it a good hard thrash. Half an hour on full revs should shake out the faults. Oh and take your RAC card with you.

White smoke is unburnt fuel.

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Or a number of other things!

Turboman said:

Or a number of other things!

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Oh yea it could be injuns....................oow oow oow oww.............

Bobsticle said:

Oh yea it could be injuns....................oow oow oow oww.............

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Or cowboys!

Did ye see what I did there..................eh..................eh.............

Indians...............Injuns............engines............

Bleedin wasted ere.............

Hi all,

Thanks for your help above. Sorry i havent been on here before now our first child arrived on 19th! now the sleepless nights starts

Ive been out for a run with the landie today and it does seem to smoke less whilst on the move so ill just keep an eye on it for now and get the coolant changed. I was getting a very light steam from the top of the rad after the run (when the cap was off) so not sure if this is a worry about??

Thanks all

If the video you posted is anything to go by it sounds like you "done good".... both in the Land Rover department and the family department..... congratulations to you and to your significant other! Your Landy sounds much like my old Series 3 which cost a lot of money to get to that stage.... if you have just bought it like that then probably you have very little to worry about

bigal89 said:

Hi all,

Thanks for your help above. Sorry i havent been on here before now our first child arrived on 19th! now the sleepless nights starts

Ive been out for a run with the landie today and it does seem to smoke less whilst on the move so ill just keep an eye on it for now and get the coolant changed. I was getting a very light steam from the top of the rad after the run (when the cap was off) so not sure if this is a worry about??

Thanks all

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Hot water sometimes causes steam!
Set the tappets!
And congratulations on the new baby!