poor mpg and white smoke/misfiring HELP

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phippsey27

New Member
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130
Location
doncaster
Hi, new to forum so hello all, i have a defender 200tdi and have very poor MPG only 20-25 mpg at 50-55 mph. on start up she misfires and tonnes of white smoke but after a little thrashing she calms down, misfires seems to dissapear and only a small amount of exhaust smoke, i have changed 1 injector as when cold if i cracked number1 injector, smoke seemed to calm down and no diffence in engine noise this continued with new injector fitted too, as when others were cracked she started running bad again. but when she is warm if number 1 injector is cracked she runs badly just the same as the other 3, but still poor MPG any help much aprechated
 
Sounds friendlier. :p Can't say I have many solid ideas that I can put forward. My 200TDi when it's very cold will start a bit rough and blow out some white smoke, but clears quickly as soon as driven off and returns a good 30MPG or so on longer runs at around 50MPH.
 
No expert but it could be poor compression on no1 which would give poor combustion which may improve some as the engine warms up. Could be a duff heater plug but rough running should only last a few seconds.

Maybe sticky piston rings, valves....even tappets widely out. Compression test time I think.
 
Sounds like you need to adjust tappets or worst senciro bent conrod.
Only reason I say this as a mate had a 200tdi with a bend conrod and it had the same symptoms as yours but may be wrong
 
Oh! White smoke is a sign of incomplete combustion. Or water getting in to the cylinder and it's actually steam!!! Pump timing can make them white smoke badly from cold which will clear but it often returns if left to idle for a while. Has it had a cam belt changed using the ti-pex method? It may be worth checking. It's easy to do you just need the tools and a Haynes manual. You don't have to do a full strip down to do it. Takes half an hour or so:)
 
Oh! White smoke is a sign of incomplete combustion. Or water getting in to the cylinder and it's actually steam!!! Pump timing can make them white smoke badly from cold which will clear but it often returns if left to idle for a while. Has it had a cam belt changed using the ti-pex method? It may be worth checking. It's easy to do you just need the tools and a Haynes manual. You don't have to do a full strip down to do it. Takes half an hour or so:)

Unsure what the ti-pex method is. Can u Inlighten me please
 
Ti-pex method? :)
It's a cheating method of doing timing belts if you don't have the timing tools. You just mark the pulleys and the engine with ti-pex for timing marks, change the belt making sure your marks all line up. Job done! Quick and easy?
It works fine on old petrol engines, but pump timed diesels and modern petrols it's very hit and miss, you can have two belts that seem identical but are very slightly different lengths. The result is that your pump isn't timed to your crank precisely. So your pump timing is out! I got sent on a cam belt training course years ago they made us time up an engine with the proper tools then change the belt using the ti-pex method, and try to fit the timing tools, they wouldn't fit. It was a quad cam v6, by the time you got to the furthest pulley from the crank it was over half a tooth out! If you have that on an injection pump its timing is way out and it can go either way!
Long story short you must use the timing tools or you could well have a problem, if you're lucky the difference will be minimal and you won't really notice, but it can make them smoke like a bitch from cold start and loose performance/economy. It's a definite possibility for your fault, like wise if the belt's on its last legs the timing can change slightly.
For what it takes to check and adjust its worthwhile. Only problem is getting the tools. I had my crank pin made and the pump pin is a standard drill bit size.
 
Ti-pex method? :)
It's a cheating method of doing timing belts if you don't have the timing tools. You just mark the pulleys and the engine with ti-pex for timing marks, change the belt making sure your marks all line up. Job done! Quick and easy?
It works fine on old petrol engines, but pump timed diesels and modern petrols it's very hit and miss, you can have two belts that seem identical but are very slightly different lengths. The result is that your pump isn't timed to your crank precisely. So your pump timing is out! I got sent on a cam belt training course years ago they made us time up an engine with the proper tools then change the belt using the ti-pex method, and try to fit the timing tools, they wouldn't fit. It was a quad cam v6, by the time you got to the furthest pulley from the crank it was over half a tooth out! If you have that on an injection pump its timing is way out and it can go either way!
Long story short you must use the timing tools or you could well have a problem, if you're lucky the difference will be minimal and you won't really notice, but it can make them smoke like a bitch from cold start and loose performance/economy. It's a definite possibility for your fault, like wise if the belt's on its last legs the timing can change slightly.
For what it takes to check and adjust its worthwhile. Only problem is getting the tools. I had my crank pin made and the pump pin is a standard drill bit size.

Thanks very much. I will check this fingers crossed its something simple.


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Timing sounds suspect, but also check the two banjo bolts on the input and output for the pump if they got swapped can cause this; why they're not different sizes....but it can happen.:(

Check the lift pump also, still no -joy...HG ?
 
Well compression test ok. New injector new injector copper washers on all ,new fuel piping ,glow plugs replaced and all working,no leaks anywhere.could it be the timing as only recently began to miss and I have not changed cam belt ( am going to thought and make sure is ok) tappet Clearence ok. So anyone have any more ideas as I've run out. Also no signs that head gaskets gone. The only thing I did notice is the manual lift pump has no pressure when you pull the leaver. Surely this could not be the fault. Could it ?


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All the pattern lift pumps are pretty poor quality wise and is always the worth a check.
If its on the cam the lever is loose so you will have to turn the motor.
Mine went and drove okay but was losing what little power it had at higher rpms, new allmakes pump (ebay 15 quid) and normal service was resumed.


Lynall
 
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