Blue smoke on start up any ideas.

My 2004 td5 disco has started throwing out loads of blue smoke on start up and runs rough for a while, but soon clears when warm and starts running smooth again. When hot if I go to start her up she takes a little cranking before starting this has only just started happening so yesterday I did a intercooler clean and map sensor clean. But this morning the same thing any help greatly appreciated. Cheers

Blue smoke is oil so you rae burning it, worn bores/rings or simple worn valve seals if TD5s have them.

sounds like its getting in the bores over night so could well be valve stem seals. A pressure check will rule out the piston rings

do you keep an eye on the oil level?

As above sounds like piston rings.
Have also heard the headslike to crack on the TD5's ££££

pston rings would tend to burn oil all the time blue smoke when running

Not nesercirely as they would expand when hot and create more compression

Cheers Guys and thanks for all the input, after bugging numerous people at work with this problem a mate has a mate who is a senior mechanic at the land rover stealers a quick chat over the phone with him he says in 10 years he has never seen a Td5 with a valve stem problem and is more likely a injector seal problem I will be taking it up either this weekend to him or in two weeks time so I will keep you posted.
Once again thank you for your help

cgreenuk said:

Cheers Guys and thanks for all the input, after bugging numerous people at work with this problem a mate has a mate who is a senior mechanic at the land rover stealers a quick chat over the phone with him he says in 10 years he has never seen a Td5 with a valve stem problem and is more likely a injector seal problem I will be taking it up either this weekend to him or in two weeks time so I will keep you posted.
Once again thank you for your help

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check your oil level too just to be on the safe side. TD5's like to crack the head and then top the oil up with diesel.

Cheers Ratty very good advice have been looking for the lighter stuff on the dipstick.

ratty said:

check your oil level too just to be on the safe side. TD5's like to crack the head and then top the oil up with diesel.

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That's what I thought but bet the LAND ROVER guy didn't mention that cos I was ment to be a re-call but they were too tight and fitted different heads to the later ones and keeped quiet

Are you sure it's blue not white? What does it smell of? If it's oil it is more likely to occur when hot, and it will smell of oil or burning. If it's greyish white it's unburnt diesel, will smell of diesel and means your glow plugs aren't working. If it's white and smells of anti-freeze then it's coolant and on a TD5 probably means cracked head.
Have a sniff. I'd bet on diesel.

Blue smoke means you are burning oil. If it was an injector seal faulty you wouldn't burn oil due to that. Your mechanic's guess is wrong.

It could be:

1. Turbo seals worn allowing oil to pass into the intercooler. The oil settles overnight and when you start the engine the following morning the turbo pushes it through the intercooler and into the engine, hence blue smoke initially.

Clean out the intercooler and the rubber turbo pipes and check for wear on the turbo itself. There will be a small amount of movement as the turbo runs/floats on a film of oil.
PS Just noticed you have cleaned the intercooler, did you find much muck in there?

2. Re the rough running initially it could be: air leaking into the fuel system; tired fuel pump. I would purge the fuel system before starting the engine by turning the key to pos II and leaving for 3 mins, then start the car. Any difference after that?


Overall it sounds to me like you may have more than one problem??

Problem solved after much discussion on smoke colours we decided on white ish. She started running great again after a new tank of fuel. Thinking back she started running bad after I put in £60 of fuel from a garage I don't normally use. I don't have a sensor on my fuel filter I don't know why. This apparently would have told me there was water in the fuel. Thanks for all the invaluable help I have received on this matter, one thing I won't be doing is filling up from that garage in Swaffham the one which isn't attached to the posh supermarket, you know who you are! even though your power jet wash is the cheapest.

The intercooler was cleaned with paraffin overnight and did not yield much muck, 103,000 miles but may have been cleaned previously.

Well done! That's one that wouldn't have occurred to me. Last had water in fuel in my dad's car - must have been about 1958...

Scab a sensor filter off a peugot/citroen with an XUD diesel from a scrapyard.That or some volvos. Or drain the bottom of your filter every week ! Can you do that without a computer on a Td5?

Oh,and you could try chucking some meths into the tank,the alcohol will absorb the water. What else it will do to a Td5 I dread to think ! Probably expensive !

Cheers guys, Shocker it is interesting to know that these parts can be found on other vehicles as when I get to the scrappers if they have any landys in they are normally stripped to the bones. Does anyone else, know of other parts wheels, engine, lights, mirrors etc which can be sourced for parts. cheers

Most volvo have bosch electrics and filters,the marelli alternator is widely used on rover and GM vehicles - look for ones with A/C to get the 100a unit,all the rovers of the similar age group have common bits....its really a case of either searching the part No.s on the net and getting cross ref or having a loolk and noting it. When I worked on other vehicles,years ago,I would look for ,say,the ford usage of a hella headlight that was identical on a volvo (fr'instance!) and order it as a ford part at less than half the cost.

Excellent stuff cheers.