Pungent smoke and it’s identification

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CPD1973

CPD1973

Active Member
Posts
177
Location
West Coast Scotland
Completed work on other vehicle and now need to sort out my 1986 defender 110. This is my workhorse and I use it for towing my twin axle trailer with up to 2.5 tons. It’s only ever drives 2 miles as I live on an island..... but it does have to go up some steep loose dirt hills with all that waight in the back..... 2nd gear low range diff lock gets me up the hills.... it’s pretty bloody scary as I’m not sure that my current brakes would hold me if something went wrong and I came to a stop....... I will be dealing with this after I sort out the smoke.
So the smoke, I am assuming it’s the clutch as it’s arid / pungent and a fine blue haze and makes your eyes water...... god knows what it does to my lungs.... I drive with my head out the window, I am only using it for absolute essential trips. Gears change fine, clutch works fine...... but when you go up those hills it’s a smoking nightmare and now most of the time / even on the flat. It’s diesel and stranded gear box. Is my vague interpretation of this smoke correct or could it be something else ? I am handy with tools and not scared to have a go. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Blue smoke will almost certainly be burning oil, if its not using any oil you have a fueling problem hence the making your eyes water.

If a clutch was smoking that bad it would literally be dead in minutes.

What engine?
 
@lynall It’s the standard 2.5 diesel and it’s done 230 thousand miles...... it’s a great truck and as I don’t need an MOT living here it will hopefully keep serving me well for many years. I have had it for six years so far without a problem but only very minimal maintenance...... I am now getting much better at this and taking it seriously. Interesting what you say about the clutch, not sure if this is good or bad news.......
 
Blue smoke on starting and then clears up when warm...... will check tail pipe tomorrow. No black smoke. Always starts after 15 seconds on the glow plugs. No lack of power or anything unusual, just this insufferable blue haze that’s becoming a serious health hazard and must get fixed. Thanks.
 
CPD1973 said:
Blue smoke on starting and then clears up when warm...... will check tail pipe tomorrow. No black smoke. Always starts after 15 seconds on the glow plugs. No lack of power or anything unusual, just this insufferable blue haze that’s becoming a serious health hazard and must get fixed. Thanks.
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take the filler cap off and see if it chuffs hard with smoke from the engine, see if its black and oily round the manifold to down pipe
 
As James is asking, is the smoke coming from the exhaust? Clutch smoke will not be. Has this suddenly happened or has it got worse with time? At 230k the engine Will be due a rebore, but if the smoke has appeared suddenly it may be something else.
 
Check all your oil levels (engine / gearboxes etc) and look for wet areas underneath, you may have a oil leak which is dripping on to a hot exhaust and burning off.
 
I would look at it on a cost basis and start looking for a 2nd hand lump as it will be way cheaper than rebuilding yours, plus a swap is diy territory and you can play and learn on the old engine at your hearts content and have loads of spares to boot.

A dirty bodge is to do an oil change and run it on nice thick 20/50, I recently read on another forum where a guy had a really shagged engine, so shagged it smoked like a trooper and had low oil pressure, so he ran it on 85/140 gear oil and did so for many miles/years!
 
I think the other posts here have coverd the smoke problem,however what is the condition of your bulkhead and are there holes letting exhaust gas/engine fumes in ?
With a trailor of that weight you need the brakes to work and in your case a method of putting on the hand brake [ pull cable from the cab maybe ] in an emergancy may be good.
 
zeaphod said:
happened or has it got worse with time?
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It’s become noticeable fairly quickly, about six months ago it would become Smokey only when going up the steepest hill and has since then got worse quickly.

Kwakerman said:
Check all your oil levels
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Going to check them all today and will change the oil and filters to see what effect this has.

lynall said:
I would look at it on a cost basis and start looking for a 2nd hand lump
Click to expand...
Good idea, that’s what I have done on my front axle, got a second hand one and taking my time rebuilding it, became confident and was then able to temporarily repair the one on the truck to keep the show on the road. I expect there is not a huge demand for this engine / hope..... and I can track a good one down, but for the short term I need to make this one safe to drive.

tottot said:
holes letting exhaust gas/engine fumes in ?
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It’s a seriously basic truck...... lots of holes all over the place, no linings at all, Canvas with permanently open back........

Some really great information here and as I am serious about sorting this out I will get on and start following up on all the ideas you have passed on. Due to various reasons I am pretty short on cash (island life.... homesteading.....) my plan will be.

1. Check exhaust for moisture and around filler cap.
2. Extend my exhaust (as it finishes at the back axle.....,..
3. Not sure I can sort the holes out as it’s an old truck, chassis is fine but the bodywork is really rough.... will look at gunking up some of the holes in the bulkhead and floors...... but none of the doors fit well and the windows rattle as they are the non sealed slide type.....
4. Change the oil and filters, check gear box oil and diff oils.
5. Give it a good clean with the pressure washer....

Ok time to get outside and start the day. Thanks again for all the help. Colin
 
lynall said:
A dirty bodge is to do an oil change and run it on nice thick 20/50, I recently read on another forum where a guy had a really shagged engine, so shagged it smoked like a trooper and had low oil pressure, so he ran it on 85/140 gear oil and did so for many miles/years!
Click to expand...
I ran my N/A on 20/50 for years - it sounded better and leaked less than on 15/40. Halfords do a mineral 20/50 for older engines.
Having said that, the fact this has happened within 6 months suggests something else - which might just be an injector. It would be worth trying a good dollop of Millers fuel additive (other brands exist) to see if it helps.
 
Changed the engine oil today and filter, went with the 20/50 sounds good when running.
6C79DF55-AB4F-4964-AB39-5DC37E82FAC5.jpeg

Changed the fuel filter.
Had a look at the air filter and it’s totally black....... will order a new one ASAP
The oil filler cap is very very loose, it’s a push fit but the rubber is done and it just rattles about...... will try and track down a replacement
The auxiliary belt is totally loose....... and looks like it’s already on full tension so a new one of those is needed.
Put in some diesel treatment.

Will see how she runs tomorrow.

Need to change the
transfer box oil.
Gearbox oil.
Axle oils.

The exhaust is running very dry and I held a bit of kitchen towel over it for 60 seconds to see what was coming out. Photo to show.
No obvious signs of smoke from anywhere but the exhaust but will give it a clean up and test run tomorrow.

How do I know if the injectors are all ok ?

When I started it this morning before changing oils it would run for about 4 seconds and then chuff out blue smoke, this would repeat every 4 seconds until it warmed up. No black smoke of any kind even when you give it a good rev.

Thanks for all the good pointers so far.

Col
 
I agree with the above, I'd get your exhaust sorted as a priority, at least a temporary sealed pipe extention to the rear to take the fumes away from the cab.
Theres life in the old landy yet but if you breathe those fumes in they may not be any left in you.
 
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